Good afternoon (at the time of writing), all.
I'll be Steve and I'm based in Whitstable, Kent and occasionally in St Leonards in East Sussex. That's where my ratty 2009MY DL650 "Dolly" lives. She's currently parked up in my lock up, alongside "Sylvie", a 2000MY Gen 1 SV650 that has been converted to a Minitwin race bike.
I've owned a succession of bikes in my time, having got my licence in 1979. Yes, I AM that old... I was first a Kawasaki fan but then it seemed all my bikes were of the three tuning fork variety. Latterly, I seemed to have moved to Suzuki, having now owned three SV650s and now the V-Strom.
Sadly, not long after I bought her, I managed to lose ALL the keys. Soon after that, personal circumstances changed, meaning I was unable to even get to the bike, so she sat idle for two years. Having seen a post in here and a video in YouTube, my next major project will be replacing the ignition barrel. A locksmith quoted £100 to make a new master key but I subsequently found a complete replacement lock set (ignition barrel, fuel cap, seat lock and keys) for under £30 which, to my mind, becomes a no-brainer. I just need to see if the barrel is riveted in place or has Torx screws (I'm hoping for the latter), as I really miss riding, even in the overcrowded southeast.
As for Sylvie (the race bike), I bought her in 2016 with the intention of "having a go" at racing. I finally managed that in 2019, when I joined the Bemsee Rookie Minitwin class. I was a terrible racer, if I'm honest but still survived the season, finishing 7th overall. It allowed me to tick two bucket list items as well - getting my race licence and publishing a book about my exploits. While it's no pension scheme, "Sylvie & Me" has so far sold around 600 copies, raising £400 in royalties for the Kent Air Ambulance.
I'll pop in here every so often, especially if I finally get that set of locks replaced. Looking forward to seeing what things people in the group get up to. Thanks for letting me in.
Steve
