Gary had great fun on his test ride, unfortunately I, on the other hand did not. Picture this if you will, a tiny little Gen (me) on a great big motorbike, barely able to tippy toe the floor and then being told to go and ride it.
I was wary from the get go, I should have just said no and got the dealer to put a lowered seat on the bike, but I didn’t want to be a nuisance and so carried on barely being able to touch the floor. For the more experienced rider this probably would not be a problem but for newbie like me… how do I stop?!
It terrified me to the point where I began thinking that maybe the V-Strom isn’t the bike for me, it was nice while I was moving, felt dependable and strong, but well… how the hell do I stop??!
We’ve read many forum posts and have had many recommendations and most people say to get the same bikes; there’s less spare parts to carry on the road, your machines are both capable of the same things and when it comes to maintenance there’s only one set of instructions to read! I think Gary now has his heart set on a V-Strom, so I thought I would give it another chance.
We went down to the second hand dealer where we had previously seen a black V-Strom that I have been wanting for two weeks now, I sat on it and my feet where almost flat on the ground, just an extra inch – which a moulded seat could give me, and I would be flat! We chatted with the sales guy, found out how much he would give us for Gary’s Monster in part-exchange, he was telling me about the extras that had already been fitted, and the thoughts of my bleak morning disappeared. Just as I was thinking “right, I’m going to buy this” out walks the other salesman and sticks a sold sticker on the bike…
