PENANG PITSTOP FOR GUZZI OWNERS
AHIRINE AHIRUDIN
THE holy month of Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection and from sunrise onwards, Muslims abstain from food and drink. Therefore, long bike trips in the heat can be quite a challenge. However, when Moto Guzzi invited us for the Vengeance Challenge Ride to Penang last weekend, we couldn’t resist.
What followed was a 700km night ride in a drizzle and, after a short break, a long day under the scorching sun, all in slightly more than 24 hours.
It was nuts. But was surely fun! The participating Guzzi owners had assembled at Gasket Alley, the latest hub for motorcyclists in Petaling Jaya, on Saturday evening.
Just after 9pm, after the breaking of fast, a dozen Guzzi engines of various models rumbled to life and the journey began.
It started raining as the convoy was passing through Rawang, a former tin-mining town 30 minutes north of Kuala Lumpur, but Jeya Thevan, who was leading the ride, opted not to stop.
He didn’t want us to start making unscheduled stops unnecessarily.
“Some of us might feel sleepy if wedo,”hesaid.
The first planned stop was for fuel at the R&R in Tapah, Perak, about 150km from the starting point. As it was drizzling, everyone rode at his or her own pace until the next break at Sungai Perak. From there, the North-South Expressway stretched seemingly endlessly past midnight.
We reached the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge, or popularly known as the Second Penang Bridge, at 2.30am. The bridge is one of the few roads in the country where motorcyclists are required to pay toll, and they are to do so using the Touch ‘N’ Go card.
After that, we rode over the 24km bridge (16.9km over water) and made it safely into the Pearl of the Orient.
We checked into the Vouk Hotel Suites in Jalan Azlan Shah around 3.15am and, after hurriedly unpacking and freshening up, headed for the legendary Nasi Kandar Line Clear for sahur.
By the time most of us woke up from the effects of the nasi kandar’s curries, the sun was up and blazing. At 1pm, we checked out and rode the short distance to Sheng Fatt Motor, Moto Guzzi’s authorised dealer in Jalan Dato’ Keramat. The Sheng Fatt crew led us to Fort Cornwallis for a group photo session.
We rode out of the island via the Penang Bridge. After a brief visit at the Harley-Davidson of Penang in Juru Autocity, the convoy rejoined the North-South Express for the journey home.
The ride to Ipoh was less than 150km on my Garmin but it was an extremely hot afternoon and most of us were clad in leather and kevlar, which made the ride unforgettably hot.
It was tiring, even for Shaun Boulter, 52, from United Kingdom.
“The ride was tiring but it was all good fun, at least we had plenty of stops,” he said as we broke our fast at the Foods Project Restaurant in Ipoh.
The early evening ride after the breaking of fast was cooling and pleasant, for a change. We refuelled at Tanjung Malim and enjoyed the rest of the cruise back to the Gasket Alley.
Head of Branding, Liyana Abdullah, said Moto Guzzi Malaysia was hoping to change how some Malaysians perceived the Moto Guzzi bike.
“They think Guzzi bikes are slow and are not suitable for long distances, so we decided to organise this ride to show them that that’s not the case,” she said.
And she also mentioned something about Moto Guzzi Malaysia organising another ride after Hari Raya, this time in conjunction with a new bike launch!