Toys
Guest
I'm picking up a new 640 LC4 from Fowlers next thursday. At present I ride a BMW R1150GS which until this Monday I would have said was the best bike I have ever ridden.
However, to start the story at the beginning - Last November 1st I was picking the BM up from it's annual service having spent the grand sum of £190 of your English pounds. I had left my 12 year old daughter alone at home for the first time so I was in a hurry to get back. I was progressing along Chew Magna High Street at about 25 miles an hour when a nice man in a Saab coming the other way decided he needed to turn into his drive right in front of me. Hit the front of the Saab and the full third of a ton of BMW came down on my left ankle and knee. Popped the ligaments in my ankle and the muscle behind my knee.
Forward 3 months and last week I got the BM back all fixed and shiny. Three days later as I was manouevering the bike in my drive it tipped to the left and the poor old abused leg could not hold the weight and I dropped it. Embarrassingly I could not get it back upright and had to call the AA to give me a hand. It's the fact that the GS is quite top heavy that is causing me problems, once I'm going it's brilliant but I've had a few close calls in town when I thought it was going to go, akways when I have come to a stop and the bikes on the dodgy leg. Decided that I need a smaller bike and started the search.
Thought I might like a blast from the past and tried the Triumph Scrambler and Bonneville. Scrambler's quite good fun but wanders around like a nun on a shopping trip and is gutless to boot. The Bonneville is just plain boring.
Had a look at the Yamaha MT-03 but Fowlers didn't have a test bike and the reviews I looked at said it was fun but a bit gutless. Fowlers have a Derbi Mulhacen that I liked the look of, so this Monday I booked a ride on that and as an after thought I booked a ride on a 640 LC4.
The Mulhacen is a horrible bike, gutless and it bounces around like a camel on speed. When I got back to Fowlers the salesman was obviously not interested in me and took ages to get the LC4 out and ready and I very nearly gave it a miss. I am a little lacking in the height department and I thought the KTM would be a nightmare with the dodgy knee and all.
Glad I didn't give it a miss, 100 yards out of Fowlers front gate I was grinning from ear to ear and within a quarter of a mile I had decided that this was the bike for me. I haven't ridden any other bike that I enjoyed riding so much in years (apart from the GS). I only took it out for about half an hour and my mind was completely made up. When I got back to Fowlers and told the salesman that I would take it he looked gobsmacked. He told me that he had thought I was just messing him around and there was no chance that I would want the KTM, based on the other bikes I had tried.
Sorry to see the GS go, but a friend is having it so I'll be able to have a go on it now and then.
However, to start the story at the beginning - Last November 1st I was picking the BM up from it's annual service having spent the grand sum of £190 of your English pounds. I had left my 12 year old daughter alone at home for the first time so I was in a hurry to get back. I was progressing along Chew Magna High Street at about 25 miles an hour when a nice man in a Saab coming the other way decided he needed to turn into his drive right in front of me. Hit the front of the Saab and the full third of a ton of BMW came down on my left ankle and knee. Popped the ligaments in my ankle and the muscle behind my knee.
Forward 3 months and last week I got the BM back all fixed and shiny. Three days later as I was manouevering the bike in my drive it tipped to the left and the poor old abused leg could not hold the weight and I dropped it. Embarrassingly I could not get it back upright and had to call the AA to give me a hand. It's the fact that the GS is quite top heavy that is causing me problems, once I'm going it's brilliant but I've had a few close calls in town when I thought it was going to go, akways when I have come to a stop and the bikes on the dodgy leg. Decided that I need a smaller bike and started the search.
Thought I might like a blast from the past and tried the Triumph Scrambler and Bonneville. Scrambler's quite good fun but wanders around like a nun on a shopping trip and is gutless to boot. The Bonneville is just plain boring.
Had a look at the Yamaha MT-03 but Fowlers didn't have a test bike and the reviews I looked at said it was fun but a bit gutless. Fowlers have a Derbi Mulhacen that I liked the look of, so this Monday I booked a ride on that and as an after thought I booked a ride on a 640 LC4.
The Mulhacen is a horrible bike, gutless and it bounces around like a camel on speed. When I got back to Fowlers the salesman was obviously not interested in me and took ages to get the LC4 out and ready and I very nearly gave it a miss. I am a little lacking in the height department and I thought the KTM would be a nightmare with the dodgy knee and all.
Glad I didn't give it a miss, 100 yards out of Fowlers front gate I was grinning from ear to ear and within a quarter of a mile I had decided that this was the bike for me. I haven't ridden any other bike that I enjoyed riding so much in years (apart from the GS). I only took it out for about half an hour and my mind was completely made up. When I got back to Fowlers and told the salesman that I would take it he looked gobsmacked. He told me that he had thought I was just messing him around and there was no chance that I would want the KTM, based on the other bikes I had tried.
Sorry to see the GS go, but a friend is having it so I'll be able to have a go on it now and then.
