Haven't ridden the Duke for a couple of months, what with the scuzzy weather and all, but today.... Hoh yuss indeed. God, it blows the cobwebs away. A propos of not a lot, and despite the fact that I really like the old barge, I was ruminating about flogging the Trophy. Trouble is that I now don't use it enough. I regarded it as an alternative to the Saab for winter commuting, but the joke is that the Silver Tuddy is way more economical than the Trophy. Do I need a great fatgut tourer any more? I dunno. If anyone's interested, it's a 2001 model in dark blue. I bought it with just 1000 miles up. It's now done 11,000 miles or so, long T&T, newish tyres, heated grips, panniers, garaged and in bloody good nick. I've replaced the right-hand front indicator and touched in a slight scrawp after The Doctor backed her Micra into it (sigh....). She didn't break the fairing - just took a few small scabs out of the paintwork. It'll need a decent service soon. I checked the shims at 6k, and out of the 16, one was *just* on the limit. I'd guess it needs a re-shim now, and a carb balance and new air filter wouldn't come amiss. I've changed the oil every 3-4k. Spares? A complete headlight, bought on Ebay because, er, because it was there and cheap. Spare indicator (hah!). It's got a rack fitted, replacing the original grab handles, which I've kept. Good points - very comfy, fast enough, humungously torquey. Handles far better than it deserves to. Bad points - thirsty (35mpg and the best I've ever had was 43mpg) but it has a six-gallon tank, so the range is OK. It's a big heavy b'stard. Brakes need a good hard squeeze - they definitely aren't up to sports bike standard. I reckon about 4k is ball-park. chateau-dot-murray-at-dsl-dot-pipex-dot-com if anyone's interested. Or I might just keep it.
