Hello All,
Nice to 'meet' you - so I need to introduce myself (as is only proper) and the message from Admin said I need try and find something funny to say (no pressure), so let's see how I go:
My name is Richard (which my Mum used to call me) - I answer to Rick, Art or whatever your conscience feels comfortable with; I live in Southampton.
I've been on two wheels since I was 16 - which now totals 31 years riding.
My bike history includes:
Multiple Scooters including the 'good old' Cub (C50 & C90!) and a Vivacity 100 (great fun around town)
Yamaha DT125
Yamaha Diversion XJ600
Suzuki Bandit 1200
BMW RT1150
Kawasaki ZZR1200 (02) - Silver (the fastest colour)
Kawasaki ZZR1200 (05) - Blue (the prettiest colour) which was my bike for the last 9 years - > 80K miles on the saddle
My riding history includes:
Daily city /motorway commutes (unless it's snowing/icy - I'm on the bike!)
Tours (with the Wife):
England (Kind of a given!?)
France
Belgium (roads are awful)
Germany
Switzerland
Austria
Italy
Luxembourg (really trying now)
Spain (just me - the hardest ride of my life - it' a long way away! ( made it in 2 days on the ZZR))
So what brings me here?
I had an 'off' on the ZZR, which believe it or not was caused by cooking oil!
It seems that an oil collection lorry had spilled its load on a roundabout.. The subsequent accident (<20 mph) cracked the engine block on the Zed, beyond economical yadda yadda, and less importantly, left me with multiple busted ribs (but not much more - thankfully).
You are taught to look out for wet weather, mud, loose gravel, diesel, piano wire across the road etc, but cooking oil on a dry sunny day of 23C - not so much..
The plus side!
Honestly, I'd started to lose my love of 'enjoying' riding, I rode to commute (hate being stuck in traffic), but hadn't gone out for 'fun', for over 2 years `now.
When given the option to get a new bike, after much consideration and research I opted for a DL650 for a number of reasons, most of which are obvious to you lot.. Knowing what I was going to use it for and the punishment I'd be giving it - I opted for a 2006 model, with 23K.
Well, they are bloody brilliant aren't they!
Obviously it's very different to my Zed, but my god what a lot of fun - really enjoying riding her - the fun of riding has been reinvigorated for me!
Well that's it - I promise this will be the longest post you'll ever see from me - and I look forward to getting to know some of you more and maybe even meeting up.
Have fun.
Art