Now I am a bigger guy (usually around 130 kg - 135 kg) so this excited me as I had wanted to get a motorcycle license for a while but couldn't see myself riding a small 250cc bike along the motorway at the rev limit pulling 80km/h. I started looking at what bikes were available and had settled on getting a Hyosung ST7L Cruiser but just had to wait for the latest shipment to arrive in NZ.
2012 Hyosung ST7 LAMS
I had my finances ready and a bike shop in Auckland had just confirmed a new shipment was arriving over the weekend so everything was looking good. While I was waiting I went in to TSS Red Baron where I had originally seen the non-LAMS ST7, to sit on it and daydream about how much fun I was going to have. I had a look around and saw the DR650
2012 Suzuki DR650SE
I had a look at the DR and to be honest I thought it looked too much like a farm bike, the seat was narrow and hard, there was nothing modern about the engine (air-cooled, carbureted engine) so my interest was short lived. That night however, I thought it would be awesome to get a bike for my son who was 9 at the time and the only real options for kids is dirt bikes or quad bikes and it would be cool if I had a bike that I could ride trails with him.
I booked myself in to sit the Basic Handling Skills test on Saturday and showed up that morning really nervous as it had been around 17 years since I last rode a motorcycle. With the changes to the licensing came a change to the BHS course and I had spent the last month gathering as much information as I could from the internet so apart from no practical experience I was as ready as I could be. The test itself went good and I easily passed the test. I finished at 11:00am and checked my phone to see if there was any licensing agencies open and there was one in Wellington which closed at 1pm so I thanked the tester/instructor and jumped in my car to make the journey from Upper Hutt to Wellington in time to sit my license. I easily passed the theory test as well and scored perfectly so I was now licensed to ride a motorcycle.
I went back to Lower Hutt and had a look at what Motomart had on offer and had spent around 20 minutes slowly making my way from the showroom bikes at the front of the shop to the used bikes near the back when I spotted her. Tucked into the corner of the showroom floor at the back of the shop was a yellow 2004 BMW F650GS.
My 2004 BMW F650GS
I wasn't even sure if it was for sale, there was no ticket on the bike and it was tucked so far into the corner I couldn't even look around the bike. I flagged the salesman who had been sitting at his desk the whole time I had been in the shop and he quickly made his way over to me when he realised I might actually be there to purchase a bike. He started clearing space around the bike to free it from the corner and I was reminded of the block game where you have to slide the blocks to clear a path for the main piece to exit.
As soon as I sat on the bike I was in love. It was comfy, and I could easily reach the ground with both feet. It had ABS, EFI, Auto choke, liquid cooling, an under seat fuel tank to keep the centre of gravity low. It did not look like a farm bike but had a sort of ruggedness about it. I told the salesman to hold it until Monday and I would get back to him. I spent the rest of the weekend reading up on the GS and by Monday morning I had made up my mind that I would not be getting a cruiser, I now had my heart set on an adventure bike. I took the day off work, negotiated a cash price with the dealer, got a cheque cut and purchased the bike and some safety gear and I was off. So began my biking addiction...
In the next part
I will give details on some of the adventures, trials and tribulations I had with the GS and lead in to the introduction of Ropata
No comments:
Post a Comment