Situation Report

I'm finally off work for the Christmas season and thought this would be a good time to write a blog to provide some background story to my current situation in relation to my motorbiking world.

This year has been a good year on balance when it comes to motorbikes, I rode the my own version of the North Coast 500 around Scotland in May (see article here), bought a project bike (above) for what I call Project Morocco (my plan to ride to and about Morocco next year), got some hands on mechanical experience and the joys of getting something working and had my first small little foray away from the tarmac, this is however counter-balanced by having both of my bikes out of action since the beginning of Autumn. My Kawasaki KLE500 had yet another issue that needed fixing and the Triumph Street Triple (675cc) developed a mean ticking noise.

This has led to me being off a bike for about 3 months at the time of writing, however it's not all bad news...

A new guy started at my job, turns out he rides motorbikes too (oh you ride too? Cool! let's be friends!). It transpired that he has done a few big trips on motorbikes and regaled me with the tale of his Scandinavian tour on a Honda Blackbird, I confessed that after doing the NC 500 I had a hankering to do some different riding which involved getting off good tar roads and on to dirt tracks. To that end he suggested I should check out some of the adventure bike festivals he had been to the last couple of years to get a feel for things and mingle with like minded people.

Turns out this was a great idea and fulled the fire some more, gave me things to look in to, advice to heed and some reading to do. Upon further interrogation of new found friend (Paul) and his own experiences, turns out he has never been 'adventure riding', but always toyed with the idea himself.

By this time I had the KLE and was working on it in secret at a friends house, getting it running, adding the various bits and pieces I felt it'd need for going off the beaten track, the long road to Morocco and the like. This nattering each Monday morning around the quick boiler in the kitchen about what I'd done to the bike, what I'd ordered and such prompted Paul to ask what it was in aid of, this led to me extending the invite for him to join me on the trip, siting that I'm looking to do things 'properly' and having a bike that can handle more than just tarmac, the kind of bike I wish I had when I was in the Highlands of Scotland, so that I don't pass opportunity by to explore the craggy little roads I'd found during route planning or passing by on the smooth tarmac.

Over months of back-and-forth on where the KLE was at and how the plans were coming together for Morocco, Paul had started to think more seriously about coming along and began toying with what would be the best option; should he ride down on ol' reliable (the Blackbird) and switch to a hire bike at the boarder crossing? Should he fly out and meet me there, then hire a bike? Should he get an old bike like I did and see how he goes before committing fully? Or should he take the plunge and get something shiny and new?

After some heavy (possibly wet) dreaming and thoughts of sandy roads he talked himself in to a new KTM 790 Adventure, a proper piece of kit, all the bells, all the whistles, the pedigree of an off-road brand and the reliability and warranty of a shiny new bike. Meanwhile in my world, the KLE was having the odd issue here and there, which left it off-road for a few weeks at a time between periods of it actually working quite nicely and allowing me to try some gentle, short off-roading for the first time and to test it's long range travel capabilities.

All was going well after fixing the KLE for the nth time, just coming back from Nick Sanders Mini Mach after rubbing shoulders with people who had much more riding experience and skill, the KLE giving me some confidence, thinking it had finally come good and that it could make it to Morocco with no issues, before just weeks later it broke... again... This also happened to coincide with the Triumph making an angry sounding ticking noise from the engine (which turned out to be terminal without a major overhaul).

This leads me to why things aren't so bad after all, yes both my bikes were broken, yes I haven't been riding in a few months, but all is not lost... Paul convinced me to take the plunge myself. I'd confided in him that it was a close call between buying a Royal Enfield Himalayan and the old clapped out 'cheap' Kawasaki KLE 500, to which he talked some sense, stating that if the KLE is this unreliable commuting 10 miles to work and back, how could I possibly think I'd have a trouble free long range trip to Morocco?

He had a fair point, but I had a fair bit of my heart invested in the KLE (even christened Kayleigh by another friend of mine). After all, I'd restored her, carefully chosen and tirelessly sourced all the blingy adventurous bits and pieces I wanted for her... But with the latest failure, she was unfaithful to me for the final time, this would be the straw that broke the camels back. Having lucked in to a promotion at work, and ensuing pay rise, I crunched the numbers and decided that, with all the cost of fixing Kayleigh so far and any further fixes, it'd be wiser to just take the dive and get something newer, proven and basic (less to go wrong).

And so here I am, I've sold off the Triumph for spares and will be listing Kayleigh soon (along with the mass of parts I've accrued) patiently waiting for my new Royal Enfield Himalayan to arrive.

Funny I should be writing this article today, as I've just received a voice mail whilst walking the dog and half way through writing this... it's a voice mail from Ian Cooper (from Cooperb Motorcycles). He wants me to call him back, something about needing to talk about the Himalayan...

It's arrived!

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