The end of an era...

[azekeil]

Tonight marked a sad yet joyous occasion. The passing of a soul from this life to the next. I'm talking, of course, about what used to be my motorbike. ev1ldonut is now the proud owner of my baby.

Indeed, for me, I hope to go and pick up a new bike this Saturday, all being well.

Comments

[x-xsweetiex-x.livejournal.com]

Ooh!
What are you hoping to get?

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

One of these, hopefully.

[x-xsweetiex-x.livejournal.com]

*drools at purty Blackbird*
Nice!

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

I am officially jealous.

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

I am officially pensive.

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

?

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

Well, this Sat is not a done deal, and the seller is leaving it right to the last minute (Fri night) to do any work needed on the bike, so if he needs parts he'll have to postpone.

Plus there's the whole getting on a bike I can't just open up the throttle on regardless. I'm going to have to be deadvery careful. The Triumph was very sane in that respect..

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

If he's waiting that long to sort the bike out I'd be seriously put off and start looking elsewhere. There's a lot of bikes out there at the moment and there's more coming out of the woodwork by the day. Don't rush and stress yourself into getting a bike because you want one quickly. Patience will result in a better bike that's been looked after and you'll be able to buy it for better money.

The Thunderace can be very silly on the throttle at times. You learn very quickly (sometimes the hard way) that you have to feather the throttle 99% of the time to keep the insanity in check (don't want a rear wheel spin in the wet on a roundabout) but it's well worth it for the raw torque on the motorway.

I wouldn't worry about the throttle on the bike. If you can get the bike for a bargain the worst that happens is you feel intimidated when riding and you sell the bike in a months time and get something else. The more you pay over the odds for the bike, of course, the more financially damaging it'll be to change bikes.

If you want a chat on the phone feel free to give me a call.

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

Well, I know. However, this is very cheap because he's not been arsed to go about advertising it etc - I met him at an open day at Cheltenham motorcycles and it just seemed to be happy coincidence we met. It's been sat in his garage for a while which is why he needs to get it out and sort out any little problems. I've told him explicitly that if it's not right I just shan't buy it.

It's a P plate, 29k miles, with hard luggage for £2.5k. Not bad, if the bike is any good.

I hear what you're saying about waiting though. I will be strict with myself over the condition of the bike though, and I will do a bit of research before I go up so I know how much others are going for.

I'll get used to the throttle I'm sure. I want more power! :)

[stuartl.livejournal.com]

The bike does seem cheap but only by 500 squids. I'd want it to be in very good nick...

[ev1ldonut.livejournal.com]

Awwww... *big hugs*

It's gone to a home where it will be very well loved, and you can still see it regularly! :)

I bet you won't feel quite so nostalgic when you get your new one! ;)

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

No, perhaps not. But that is.. was.. my first 'proper' bike. A replacement won't ever fill that space..

[ev1ldonut.livejournal.com]

I suppose, but now it gets to do the same thing for me as well. *smile*

The motorway was so... easy on it. It was actually more comfortable than my car used to be! :)

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

It is, yes.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about how the fuel works on that bike!

Basically, a low fuel light should come on on the dash. I haven't worked out how the reserve tap works as it has no markings on it (and haven't bothered to check the [Haynes] manual), and I couldn't figure it out when I had the tank off, so I just leave it alone.

So instead I tend to think about filling up when I get above 100 miles on the odometer (although it will probably do 150+ OK). When I fill up, I always reset the odometer. Oh, and I always fill up on the side stand, not the centre stand (otherwise if you fill it right up and you put it on the side stand, fuel will leak out of the filler cap and cause no end of problems.

[ev1ldonut.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh, I was wondering how much mileage I'd get out of a tank. Thanks. :)