After week of trying and being thwarted by mother nature and the weather, yesterday I finally got to test ride a motorcycle I'd found through a classified advert on eBay put there by a local motorbike dealer. CMC have a big outlet at Clay Cross in Derbyshire which is well known, but this bike was on sale at their Nottingham showroom at Daybrook.
Sue and I had popped over to view the bike and spend time checking out a few other options on Saturday afternoon, but with snow on the ground and freezing temperatures causing black ice there was no way I wanted to be out on a demo ride and nor would they let me. So with all the snow gone and a break in the weather I made a call and zipped over there after work yesterday. As arranged my good mate Steve met me there (he lives about a mile away) to give practical and moral support - I always like to have another pair of eyes with me to avoid those "rose tinted glasses" situations where you end up with a right dog when others can see it for what it is and you can't.
Well no trouble in this instance, it looks good, goes well and I can (just about) get my feet on the deck when at a standstill. Considering it has only 5 bhp more than my old 650 Deauville it goes a lot sharper so I have to put that down to the newer technology Honda have built into it. What is it? It is a Honda XL700VA Transalp with full luggage, heated grips and crash protection bars. Collection is arranged for Saturday, if they can source and fit a centre stand by then, otherwise I'll have to wait a bit longer.
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