Sleepless in Seattle... Bladeless in Northampton.

Well - it might have made a more interesting film to watch.

My beautiful Blade was sold and collected this evening.

They came, they saw, they started up and ooohed and ahhed over the gorgeous rumble and paintwork... and agreed it really was blue.

Lots of bits of paper with pictures of the Queen came into my grubby little hands (hey, I had just got in from mucking out and bedding down the horse ) as a tax disc, V5 and MOT left them.
I waved bye bye and then stood in the kitchen with my eyes shut whilst they revved away... just listening to that fantastic sound and remembering it reverberating at 157 down the home straight of the Nurburgring.

That was it.

Over.


Finished.




Finito.










Till I got a phone call 30 minutes later that he's run out of petrol and has discovered that Northamptonshire is mostly miles of Feck all, oh yeah, and his wife can't follow a SatNav and she is lost somewhere looking for a petrol station!

So, another 20 minutes go by as he pushes his bike to the nearest house and rings me back with a road number... check on multimap and find he's barely 6 miles out of town. So I say I'll be along in a bit with some petrol.

Off I trot down to the first pertol station...

... now I don't have a jerry can at home. Don't particularly need one when both my bikes have a reserve tank. In I go = they are out of stock of cans.
Well - there's another station half a mile away so off I bimble.

So, Texaco have failed me but BP with their big forcourt shop won't let me down...

... will they?


Oh hell yes - they appear to be out of stock too.



Right then - turn around, head back into town to the nearest Shell garage.
Yay - the plastic fantasic is there, promptly filled with lovely smelly fuel... along with my bike.

Off I toddle back out of town into the dark and dismal sticks of Northamptonshire and find him parked up with his missus (now found) sitting in the car. Have a bit of a chat - they decide to head back into Northampton and then take the motorway back home rather than trust to her sense of mis-direction.

So fueled up and I have to go through seeing my (ex)bike rumbling out of my life yet again , only this time I follow them...

... and about halfway back they make an unexpected turn...


... off to the left. Completely the wrong direction, leaving the main road I'd told them to stay on. So, what do I do...


... shake my head and carry my sweet way home. Now sitting here waiting for another phone call saying that they're now lost in the middle of Bedfordshire and have run out of petrol again.

It's pity I'll be off to bed soon.

[DarrenSV650S]

What you getting instead?

p.s. do you know roughly how much horse riding lessons cost?

[anna]

awwwwwwwwww K I do hope they have lots of fun getting lost on your beautiful bike

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

What you getting instead?

p.s. do you know roughly how much horse riding lessons cost?

Well, I've still got Brian the Snail (or a Varadero 125 to the rest of the world) which has performed sterling service as my commuting hackabout...

... but that too will be leaving the fold to a mate of mine - assuming he passes his CBT next week.

Then I'll be concentrating on getting my MG back on the road and maybe picking up an old XL 650 or something.

Originally Posted by anna

awwwwwwwwww K I do hope they have lots of fun getting lost on your beautiful bike

Nah - it's gone now. I have my memories and as it's gone to someone I don't know I can kid myself and live in a happy little dream world that it's off chasing rabbits on a farm somewhere...

... or is that the dog.

[DarrenSV650S]

Originally Posted by K

Well, I've still got Brian the Snail (or a Varadero 125 to the rest of the world) which has performed sterling service as my commuting hackabout...

I know a guy thats just got the bigger valadero. HUGE tank! He's got all the luggage too, so should be ace for touring trips.

Originally Posted by K

Then I'll be concentrating on getting my MG back on the road and maybe picking up an old XL 650 or something.

Is this you slowly moving away from bikes?

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

Is this you slowly moving away from bikes?

Oooooh no way.
But life 'happens', priorities change and for one reason or another I also simply wasn't using the Blade anywhere near as much as I used to. One luxury too many unfortunately.

The 125 is great, don't get me wrong, but it's doing my nut in. So that'll be replaced with similar but a bit beefier - so, uber practical but able to give it some on the rare occasions I have both the time and weather for a bit of a hoon.

Then in a couple of years I'll be well on my way towards the Black Speed Triple I've always wanted.

Originally Posted by K

Well, I've still got Brian the Snail (or a Varadero 125 to the rest of the world) which has performed sterling service as my commuting hackabout...

... but that too will be leaving the fold to a mate of mine - assuming he passes his CBT next week.

Then I'll be concentrating on getting my MG back on the road and maybe picking up an old XL 650 or something.



Nah - it's gone now. I have my memories and as it's gone to someone I don't know I can kid myself and live in a happy little dream world that it's off chasing rabbits on a farm somewhere...

... or is that the dog.

What ya got?

No 'real' bike - sad. I was like that for ~5 years after writing the CBR off. I had the Katana on the road but normally for only a few weeks at a time until something else went wrong and put it off the road for months and months. I had the CG of course but, well there's only so much you can do on that.

Bit sideways but...

I've been thinking about whether I can justify keeping the SV given the bugger all miles I've done on it this year (having only bought it last year). I have to say had I known the 250R was coming out when I looking to buy the SV I'd have got one of those.

With tyres into the equation the SV is just too expensive to use causally (for commuting), my CG is just too slow to want to use for commuting. It's fine in\around town but through 15 miles of countryside or 20 miles of motorway is just too painful unless in anything other that 'just right' weather.

Back on track...

I hope you get the MG sorted. I keep thinking I'd like a project car, but given how carp I am with my project bike (Katana) and lack of storage for anything sans tax disc I think it'd be a bad idea. Still at some point (next house?) I hope to have a driveway or something and maybe a little old mini will find a home there.

End of an era, and the start of a new one.

Hope all going well with the horse. If you do get another bike, get a trail bike.

See you at some point

Rich