New member from down Under

[Spartan19]

Hi, I Australasian, first generation mixed parentage. I have lived a full life but lost about fifteen years due to PTSD. I served 30 years in the combat related services (Infantry & Intel Recon). I have seen active service in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as several National Emergencies during my career.


I first started riding motorbikes when I was nine years old, and I have never stopped, that is now 55yrs of two wheeled joy. I have raced almost every type you can think of, but not ice racing...LoL, Australia just isn't the place for that! I reckon I have just about ridden all types of engine configuration as well,although I have not gotten try these 270' crank twins. They really sound great! Oh, I have never owned nor am I interested in even trying, owning or buying a Harley Davidson, except for the XR750 of flat track fame.



So, you may wonder, with all this bike history...Why did I buy a Chinese bike? Well, I have two. My first was a CFMOTO 300NK and the latest is a Kinlon KBR200RT. I had surgery to replace my left knee from a bad combat insertion from a helo' both ankle and knee were broken and fractured and in the usual way of fix it fast, it wasn't the best, eventually requiring a full replacement. I down sized my 1600 Nomad to a GV650 Hyosung. The idea was weight reduction, but the riding position, while comfortable was hazardous to my new knee and bad ankle, whenever I came to a stop. My leg was subjected to a sharp impact due to the riding position.


The 300NK was more upright and my feet literally just dropped to the road as I came to a stop. It was also much better on the back , I was able to ride for a couple of hours at a time now instead of the usual 45min.


Then this week I came across something called a Kinlon KBR200RT. It was a 2012 model, complete, registered and running for $800. I liked the look of it and thought of a few things I could do with it. I need to have something to focus on, to help stave off the PTSD. So, I tend to get old or part bikes and re engineer them for kids or whatever.


This one is for me, I want a super Motard style play bike. Up close you can see it is rough, but that just presents a challenge. I think they used house paint on it. It runs, sometimes coughs and farts, but the fuel is old, the spark plug looks rusty as do all earth points. A whole new Carby is only $29 AUD and stuff like coil packs are cheap as well. Overall it has held up very well for an eleven year old dirt bike. I am more than impressed.


After I was discharged from the Army 2010, I went and lived in China for almost three years 2013-2015. I rode two different bikes while I was there, both RT style and they just never stopped. I swear I was riding on goat tracks sometimes, rural teaching was great, but I am glad my guide to the schools was light...It was like she had no effect on the bike at all.


So, I hope through here and another forum to find the help and support finding that special part, when i need it...or at least get pointed in the right direction.


Glad to be here, and I will certainly be glad to be back in China in November this year.

[cheesy]

Welcome aboard.

[Sport Rider]

Welcome! glad you have a focus for your PTSD. Have a couple friends who struggle with that stuff too. I too have a weak spot for resurrecting old bikes. I have a couple projects almost done and a little tao ATV waiting in the wings. I haven't introduced the guys here to that one yet.

[JerryHawk250]

Welcome aboard!

[Bikenut]

Welcome! Wow.. you have had an interesting life. And that is a good thing!

[bigdano711]

This....Is....SPARTAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!


Welcome!

[Spartan19]

Well, Daft ol me, I went and lost the link to the site. Then Win10 does another update as well as Firefox....
It took me a day to get back into the damn computer, seriously, what do they think of when they make these updates...


"I wonder how we can screw with those old people this time, or lets make it so they have to try and start in SAFE MODE, that will be fun!" Plicks....


So I found it and all is good, thank you for the welcome guys. Next come the questions LoL

[Spartan19]

Well, it has been just over a year almost since I joined. So much has happened in that small time frame. My wife and I went to China for the New Year, my much vaunted plans to visit Chongqing and the factory of my bike fell into a ditch... my wife invited her son and he and his friends made plans for everyday we were there. I barely got to see my friend who was waiting to take me to the factory. I guess it will be next trip.
So, after eight weeks of snow..."Some Spring" and this is Wuhan, so we are not up in the North... we returned home for a month. I needed a holiday from the holiday so to speak.
I had booked eight days in Bali and was looking forward to a simple life of eat, swim, drink and relaxing massages. Seems my wife made other plans while in China and did not tell me until the first morning in Bali. Her son was there with his three friends again. I was gob smacked! Still, it was not his fault, she invited him and he was excited. I did one day and it was white water rafting.
After that day, he showed me what the rest of the holiday was like and all I could say was, I am not up for that stuff. I am to old and to broken to be climbing up and down hills every day. He understood and agreed, then asked if it was ok for his mum to go, Oh of course I replied, she must go with you LoL. I went to see my friends in Bali, drank beer and went swimming in the pool each day. That was until an Indonesian Government man came to see me. I thought it was about the many visa applications that had been lodged due to online stuff ups, but it wasn't that. It seems way back in 2011 I was single and going out with an Indonesian younger woman. She was studying to be a nurse in Australia. Well it was around the time my PTSD was pretty well out there with the worst of it all and although we lived together most of the time, she sometimes stayed in the nurses living for study or when I was in hospital. We had talked about not making to firm a commitment until I knew I was in a better place. Then she just didn't come back and I figured it could be my moods and her study. WRONG...she was pregnant and went back to Jakarta to have the baby.
She tried to contact me, but the government would not give information out on me due to my work in the military.
So, I find out I have a 12 yr old son now. I meet the ex girlfriend and we talk, nothing is wanted other than to let me know. The Government official also explained that I was to be wary of any scam to get money from me and report to him if that was the case. I did two DNA tests, and they resulted in 99.8% accuracy. One of my medications for my PTSD was skewing the total result by .01 so it seems like it was accurate. I planned to go back in a month to see him and to spend time with him.
We return to Australia and figure a way to tell my wife the situation. WW3 does not get a look in at this time, she says it is all scams, admittedly at this time it is only one DNA test. I decide I have had enough of being fleeced of all my money by women, so I lay down some new rules this year. I have never cared about money etc, because I was military and everything was provided. So, my second and current wife spends it like water running through your hands. Not anymore, before I go, I decided I want to do some things.
I return to Bali and I have an incident on the plane, three surgical hernias and one rips open and starts bleeding internally. Somewhat painful and causes a bit of a panic on the flight, just over an hour out of Bali. Skipping all this stuff, I am grounded for 10 days until I am stable enough to return to Australia. I cannot see my son and it causes me some distress. Additionally the contact from home in Australia is not sympathetic but quite happy...FFS. So, I finally get home and get organised for surgery, this is done after waiting for 14 hours without food or water. Needless to say, my blood pressure is low and weak but they still operate. I wake up in ICU... WTF this is a simple operation, or so I was told. Nope not me, my heart stopped twice during the operation and I was barely able to maintain good blood pressure. I had all sorts of devices on me to compress every part of me to pump blood through my body.

Two days later I am finally able to come out of the ICU and into a normal ward under 24hr observation. The doctor does his rounds and then tells me that he has some more upsetting news. Laughingly, I said what, worse than my heart stopping on the operating table and all of you beating me back to life. He looked at me and said YES!
Oh well I said, might as well tell me while I am laying down and cant move. They found a tumor in your chest and we have to remove it. We don't want to cut you open again, so we are going to do it by shrinking it first and then do an esophageal removal. I looked at him stunned for a minute and then said, bugger me, you're serious right? Yes he said.
I tell you, my life could not be scripted in a soap opera, honestly! So, I am just waiting for the damn thing to lose a few more millimeters and then they will remove it completely. As to what caused it, I have my thoughts but it is not anything they have come across before as in type, location and attachment.
Who would want to come back and live their life over again, Not Me! LoL