Updates from June, 2009

• 

  My New Bike

  Gen 22:58 on June 28, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Gladius (7), Ride Report (4), Suzuki (11), SVF 650 (4)

  I picked up my baby yesterday; Saturday 27th June 2009. With just 4 miles on her she was so pretty sat there in the showroom with her colour-matched top box fitted!

  The Gladius is definitely a nice little bike, from the moment I sat on her and started up the engine I knew we had made the right choice, she purrs like a kitten! I’m finding riding a bit scary after having been off a bike (apart from test riding the Strom) for almost three months, but the Gladius is helping me through it. Nice handling, nippy little engine, great dials and my favourite part – she tells me what gear I’m in!

  

  We did 24 miles yesterday, just a little ride around town, went to show Kev and then out on to a dual carriage-way and a country-ish road; nothing too far, nothing too fancy, just settling myself back into it. Today we have just got back from another 25 mile ride; we went down to Poole Park, stopped for a few photos then on to Sandbanks for a ride around the peninsula and a couple more photos. We finished the ride via the Wessex Way (dual carriage-way) and then along Castle Lane to home.

  

  All things considered so far I believe the Gladius was a great choice; it’s a really good first bike, I feel in control and I feel happy!

   

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  Weeeeee! Finally!

  Gen 22:18 on June 25, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Gladius (7), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), SVF 650 (4)

  After three moths of searching I have finally found a motorbike! After all the trouble, let downs and problems I had trying to find a second-hand bike I have ended up just going for a brand new one. Buying new might be a bad idea, but when I can pick up a brand new bike for only £1k more than a secondhand bike with 30k miles on it, you’ll forgive me for my choice! Here it is, the Suzuki (SVF 650) Gladius…

  

  The Gladius isn’t the adventure bike we were originally looking for, it’s no V-Strom and it’s no F650GS, we have infact gone in a completely different direction. We thought it made more sense to forget about buying a bike to do the trip on and get on with just buying a bike that would be a good first bike for me, that combined with the amount of time we were wasting looking at second-hand bikes when I should be out there getting experience led us to the Gladius.

  I’m picking it up on Saturday, I’ll let you know how I get on!

   
• 

  Welcome, Strom.

  Gary 00:46 on May 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Preparation (23), Ride Report (4), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  On Friday I picked up the V-Strom and despite the typical British weather deciding to ruin this event there was no turning back now. I was unusually nervous riding the bike home that day, I’m still not sure why but it felt very big and very different to the monster I’d just left behind. A few rainy miles later I was home where getting the bike into the garage proved to be a challenge; there’s a lot more bike to move around our driveway now and I had a couple of unsteady moments before finally getting her in safe.

  

  I was dreading rain again on Saturday but it never came, instead the wind decided to show it’s ugly face. I decided to brave it; I’m not going to be able to pick and choose the weather when we’re on the road so why bother doing it now? I rode to the Purbecks, a favourite spot at Creech Hill, battling with the wind along the way but determined to carry on. My confidence grew as I rode, learning what the bike was capable of as I went. After 50 miles my back was fine, my bum wasn’t numb and most importantly I still had sensation in my hands! I rode until I ran the tank down to empty and took her to a petrol station to fill up; the cost was £16.56 and the trip counter has been reset, I’ll keep you posted on mileage.

  

  If I was still nervous about my decision on Friday, this ride had eradicated it, I’m fully confident I’ve made the right decision now. I have a feeling this bike will eat the miles, and it’ll keep me comfortable while it’s doing it. The most unusual thing has happened too; the V-Strom’s ugly looks might actually be growing on me, I think this could be the start of a beautiful relationship…

   
• 

  Still jinxed

  Gen 20:25 on May 14, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  

  Bike number 1 gets sold from under my nose.
  Bike number 2 is a rust bucket after driving 65 miles to see it.
  Bike number 3 is sold when we ring the guy.
  Bike number 4 (we try a Bandit this time) is sold also.
  Bike number 5 I ring the garage on Monday and had arranged to drive around 40 miles to go see a Strom in Salisbury tonight, but woe is me… it’s been sold in-between.

  If I’m not jinxed then what is the problem? How hard can it be to give people my money?

  /cry

   
• 

  Insurance woes

  Gary 22:24 on May 12, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Ducati (3), Insurance, Monster (3), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  The Ducati Monster 695 is a fairly aggressive bike, its good looking and I’d say it’s also fairly “sporty” in nature. These are some of the things I would associate with high insurance cost. I renewed my policy in March 2009, I’ve been riding for almost two years now, I have 1 year no claims bonus (only 1 due to moving halfway through the year to a different insurer for the Monster) and the cost for this renewal was £195 TPF&T.

  The Suzuki V-Strom 650X is built for touring; it’s big, it’s ugly and probably the least “sporty” a bike could be, in Ben’s words “It’s a Grandad bike”. When I phoned up the insurance company I was expecting to pay around the same price as I had done for the Monster and hopefully incur no additional cost, unfortunately I couldn’t have been more wrong. The insurance company wanted an extra £241 on top of the £195 I’d already paid for the Monster, more than double the price. To worsen this blow; if I had been getting the V-Strom a month ago and not had to change my insurance to a new policy (this is costing me money bizarrely) total price would’ve only been £359 instead of the £436 I’m having to pay now.

  So just a tip to anybody planning on buying a new bike; get an insurance quote first!

   
• 

  One down, one to go

  Gary 11:09 on May 10, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Ducati (3), Monster (3), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  As you know, a couple of weeks ago Gen and I test-rode a white Suzuki V-Strom 650X. When we got back to the dealer after Gen’s ride, I asked if I was able to purchase the test-ride bike; I liked the white colour and as the bike had been used as a test-ride bike I was hoping I would be able to get a fair bit of discount for this practically brand-new bike.

  I’ve been waiting almost two weeks now to find out (who would’ve thought it’d be so difficult to get a salesperson to sell you something) but on Friday I went in to see the bike again and have now put a deposit down. The bike is going to cost £4,795 cut down from its new price of £5,450 which I guess isn’t too bad considering it’s only done 350 miles. The bike has a full warranty and the first service will be thrown in for free; something I did manage to negotiate despite my poor skills.

  

  I’m trading in my Monster 695 for this bike, I will be sad to see it go but I do believe I’m doing the right thing; for once I’m trading style for sense. Just for anybody who cares I’ll be getting £2,650 for the Monster (5,600 miles) as a part-exchange value against the V-Strom leaving me with a lovely £2,145 bill to pay – so much for that mortgage deposit!

  

  The bike should be ready for me to pick up on Tuesday so that’s me sorted for a bike, now we need one for Gen; one down, one to go.

   
• 

  65 mile waste

  Gen 20:08 on May 5, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Motorcycling (12), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom DL650 (3)

  After my disappointing weekend last week, we decided that I needed to stop hiding my head in the sand and actually go and find me a bike. I have spent a week pondering whether the V-Strom is maybe too big for me and even started looking around to see what else is out there, but I couldn’t help coming back to it. On to Bike Trader we went, found the next V-Strom on the list and phoned up the dealer. Luckily they were open on a Bank Holiday and I had a good feeling after hearing from them how nice it looked; I could finally get myself a bike and start gearing it up for our trip!

  65 miles later we arrived at the dealership; we parked up and went on in. There she was, a beautiful black Strom, I walked around the side – it looked just like the one that I lost. We walked around it and to our dismay the other side was trashed, someone had obviously dropped this bike, probably on gravel, and from the looks of it probably more than once. I probably could have gotten over the damage – I have dropped a bike before, it happens, but what shouldn’t happen is rust; rust on the chain, rust on the side stand, rust on the nuts, almost everything that was once a shiny metal colour was now rusting.

  There is no way with my knowledge of bikes that I could guess how much it would cost to fix, or even if it needs fixing, maybe this sort of thing happens to all bikes? I couldn’t buy it in that condition; no matter how much I want a bike. My second attempt of finding a bike has failed, maybe I’m cursed, or maybe there is a better one waiting for me! Watch this space and I’ll let you know how I get on!