I have written dozens of stories about my Dad. That is principally because, by being himself, he provides endless content!
For instance, at 73 he decided that doing the Capel 200 Enduro on a crappy little XT250 would be a great idea. It wasn't.
Having said that though, and not withstanding a couple of cracked ribs, he did finish! You can read all about it by clicking here.
I would love to say, of my father, that age shall not weary him. But he is no different to the rest of us, having not yet discovered the secret to eternal life. And at 78 he is slightly less robust than he was a few years back.
Only recently he had a slow speed departure from his KLR650 which resulted in a pretty badly broken leg and a very lengthy healing process.
Much to my relief, he sold it not long after and, for the last 18 months, he has been content to play on his GL1800 Goldwing, the VFR800, the six-cylinder classic CBX1000 and the WR250F.
You can imagine my lament when he expressed, only just the other day, that he missed his adventure bike and he would like to purchase another one! I pressed him on this, because I was more than a little distressed.
"Father" I said "Remember, do you not, the misfortune of your last ADV exploits?".
"Son" he said, "I long to explore what lies beyond the black top".
The good son, as I am, knows better than to challenge the patriarch. So the challenge that presented itself to me on that fateful day was to find my father a bike that he would enjoy riding that would not try to kill him.
He spoke of the CFMoto MT800. A great bike - everything you could want for; heated seat, hand grips, a dash that seems descended from the Starship Enterprise.
Off I went to Steve's Motorcycles in Midland. Though it seemed a fantastic bike, with it's KTM donk, I immediately had to discount it due to the weight and the seat height. It was 225kg soggy wet, with a step ladder ascending seat height of 825mm. I ride the BMW F800GS which is 207 kg at the curb, ready to ride and I know I feel anxious when that is on the gravel. My sphincter does little dances in the sand. With its seat height of 880mm, I get vertigo.
Nope. I had to keep looking.
It was off to Motomax to check out the Benelli 502x. At a much smaller capacity I was sure it would weigh a heap less and be a duck's arse lower. But instead, I'll say this: that bike is an inverted Tardis. It is supposed to be small and manageable but at 235kg fully fueled, and with a seat height of 850mm, there was no way I was letting the old stallion out of the stable on one of those!
At about this stage I was flumped.
Strangely though, the solution was sitting right out front of the shop.
What a terrific little bike. I jumped on it and instantly I knew this was the bike for him. I will leave you to drown in the GOOGLE world of stats and numbers and colours and ifs, and and buts about what you can do with one of these bikes. The salient facts are these; the curb weight 191kg, the seat height is 800mm, the steering is calm (almost lazy), and you could pilot it through an Ikea parking lot without putting a foot to the ground (yes....sorry, motomax I might have done that). Best of all the crash bars mean that if this bike is going to hit the deck, Pappy is not going to have to sacrafice an appendage to try and save it. He can step off the thing, let it fall, pick it up and keep right on moving.
We picked up a MY2021, first registered 2022, with panniers, bar work, and only 750km on the clock for a poultry $8000. Money flamin' well spent. Cheers a tonne Ric and the guys at MotoMax.
Enjoy your trip to the Himalayan; I know he will (and no, he won't be wearing thongs).
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