Wednesday 27 May 2015

Bicycle tick boxes nearly all done...


So i am kinda done now with needing any new fatbikes, and happy to ride what i have until the Zombie Apocalypse...
I have some Surly Puglsey 4" bikes, and the big 5" Surly Moonlander that have things covered for riding the coast around here, esp above the tideline with the 29+ wheels for trails and all the new Fatbike tyres available now,
With the Surly ECR now rolling it looks like i also got the perfect drop bar offroader for around here too.
So apart from a Surly Krampus for trail centre fun my bike addiction has flat lined...
No new hub size, plastic (carbon) electric gear option have me aroused...

So... been a 4 year gap since i sold my last motorcycle, a Yamaha Belgarda TTR 600re but after looking at new car prices (yikes!) I feel that urge again to get rolling again on two wheels with an engine again...

I miss doing stuff like this...
dualsport ttr,sunset trailride from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


I was a kinda rare oddball being a Scottish Greenlaner post Scottish Access Laws 2004 and did a lot of offroad riding offroad on motorcycles, this was all in my pre Internet days,

I don`t have any pics scanned to the pc (Don`t have a printer) but have a shoe box full of pics from some amazing days riding old roads all across Scotland...

Friend and motorcycle legend/TBM Magazine guru John Rushworth​ may have some of the stuff online that we did back then that i can post on here,
I have owned a load of 4 stroke trail bikes back then including some amazing enduro Honda XR 600s, and a XR 400r which i rode coast to coast across Scotland in a single day for charity for a workmate fighting cancer (he made it, as i did, and is still here today)

Apart from smal air cooled 4 stroke Dual Sport bikes like the Yamaha TW 125, nearly all modern trail bikes that call themselves `Dual Sport` are all roadbike type plastic. liquid cooled and too complicated for serious offroading, while specific offroad bikes (Enduro) are no use for the roads between trails and commuting,
Road bikes are well road bikes! so no use offroad, and classic bikes are affordable but reliability for daily use is an issue...

So what about a modern classic style motorbike with semi offroad abilities?, ie dirt roads and the odd green lane around the East Lothian Countryside?,
Maybe a Triumph Scrambler with a few mods could be fun... ;)

Here is a cool film from a few years back :)



Oh, of course you also need the money to buy one!, but it`s nice to dream and have goals... :)

More soon....

1 comment:

  1. I've got a soft spot for low-revving, air-cooled, 4-stroke singles. Learnt to ride on an old XL250 and although I've mostly owned road bikes I really enjoyed a XT400 I owned for a couple of years. (maybe not on the motorway!!!)
    Modern 4-strokes with there high-revs, complicated engines and lack of low-down torque don't really appeal.

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