Hiyee fellas! Been quiet for a few days. Where did I go???! Riding my RT Bertha of course!!! Hahahahaa Woke up on Saturday at home, just got this temptation to ride Bertha. One side of the brain says "Don't lah, u haven't got ur riding gear yet, dangerous" The other side counter "Ride carefully lah. Just don't to anything stupid, and Bertha will take good care of you" So, after lunch at home, I set off at around 2pm with the toughest-looking pants I have, my leather shoes, and a windbreaker. Filled up petrol somewhere near my house, then start. Destination.......Mersing. Went by the Ulu Tiram - Jemaluang way. Lots of cornering. A couple of near-misses as well coz I misjudged the sharpness of the bend. Bertha was cool and willing, its rider wasn't cool and nervous throughout. Other than that, there wasn't any problem. Took around 2 hours, reached there around 4.30pm. Went to this coffeeshop I know to drink a glass of iced milo and ate some curry puffs......and to calm down..HAHAHAHAHA. My dad used to bring me here when I was younger. While at Mersing, was thinking to myself "Since you already reach Mersing, why not go a bit further so u can practice more, get to know Bertha better?" "Where to?" ".....Endau...." "Let's do it". Finished my drink and set off towards Endau. Decided to take the coastal road passing by Pengarang. It's not the main road, lined with lots of malay villages. Avoid speeding here as there're a lot of cows and goats and kids on holiday running here and there playing beside the road. Road was quite straight, enjoyed the leisurely ride and the view. Reached Endau (a town near Pahang-Johor border) 1 hour later. Then head back towards Mersing. "Let's go back thru another road, don't go back from where you came from" "Where then?" "Kluang......." Lots of cornering again. It's worse than JB-Mersing. But this time, I felt more confident. Even though my speed never exceed 100 km/h, but I don't remember being overtaken by anybody. At times, I was half-expecting the engine cylinder to scrap the road but that didn't happen. That means.....I can go down more....but I took it slow. Remember, don't do anything stupid and Bertha will take care of you. Reached Kluang in about 1 and half hours. Went to this place my dad used to bring us to eat beef ball noodles. Dinner was good. Before I left, tapau-ed for my parents. Next.....the North-South highway back to JB. Wait....what's the distance I've covered so far? Check.....320km. Fuel.......3 more bars on the indicator. Kluang to my house in JB is another roughly 100km away. Bertha can last till 400km before refuelling? Let's find out. Went on the highway after leaving Kluang about half an hour later. Passed the toll plaza and sped all the way up to 110km/h quickly. Took less than 8 seconds. I didn't push it hard. Bertha was stable. No swaying to the side. Not much vibration at handlebar. Engine pumping consistently. Bring up the windscreen to the highest, damn...I can still listen to 933FM! Hahahahaha. Felt funny with the radio blaring at high speed. But bring the windscreen down, and I can't hear it already.With the windscreen up, I can listen to the engine as well. Sounds very confident and efficient. It's like Bertha is telling me "Come on...this is boring...u can do better than this". Set the windscreen down, cut the radio, and increased speed to 120km/h. Still feeling ok. With all the wind blowing towards me, I can hardly hear Bertha. Increased speed further to 130km/h. My god, I'm no longer a bike virgin. Here I am, breaking the speed limit by 20 km/h. I'm consistently on the right side of the road now. I was smiling inside my helmet. Now I'm the one doing all the overtaking. Just zoom past other bikes, cars.....and then I see a big truck in front. The moment I zoom past, I was hit by some kind of cross wind. Caught unexpected, Bertha was swayed a little bit to the right, but I held it back in time. Ok, got to be more alert when overtaking big vehicles in future. From then on, it wasn't a problem anymore when overtaking those big trucks. Just hold the handle steadily and we're fine. Consistently was at the speed of 120-130km/h. Didn't dare to go any faster even though I know the throttle can be twisted much much more. I've been riding the whole afternoon, I'm tired. So just went at that speed for most part of the journey. Bertha was performing well. No sign of it faltering at all. Reached my parents's house around 9.30pm. Mileage, 417km. Fuel indicator, left one bar. But the fuel warning light is not on yet. I went to bed that night with a smile on my face and slept so well I didn't even dream. Bertha is definitely much much more capable than its owner. Next day, cleaned up Bertha, wiped away all the insects that martyr-ed themselves and cleaned up all the dirt and dust all over. My head starts to formulate a plan. To get my full set of riding gear within this week; touring jacket and pants (made from the tough fabric called cordura), and riding boots. Next destination............Kuala Lumpur.