Managed the test ride after all

Well, they got the brakes sorted - sounded like they have to rebuild
at least one of the front calipers. Hmm. On a W-reg bike.

So I went for a short test ride to check the bike out under my usual
riding conditions - Arnos Grove to Whetstone, onto the A1 from there,
up to South Mimms and back. Surprisingly nothing fell off during that
trip, either.

Impressions - it's a very Japanese, very polite bike. The engine
sounds mostly like an electric motor, it's very comfy and the controls
are much lighter than I expected. Especially the clutch, which is a
big bonus.

Very impressed by the way you can trundle along at walking pace, with
the engine at near-idle without slipping the clutch at all, then
slowly open it up and it'll just go. Speaking of go - joining the A1
was a bit of a surprise. I twisted the grip, then started thinking
"hmm, where's that grunt everybody's been talking about" very quickly
followed by "**** me, why is everybody going so slow?". Peek on the
speedo. Ah, that'll be why then. Better back off a bit before the guy
with the white Pan turns up.

The brakes weren't up to much (as every journo already said),
especially when compared to the Triumph's brakes. The screen is an
annoying height and produces a lot of noise that way, again a known
issue. Hardly any reaction from the shaft drive - much less than I was
expecting anyway. Oh, and very surefooted. Trundling along at very low
speeds was very easy.

All in all I found it very relaxing to ride this bike. I didn't try to
explore the handling given that the roads were wet and had lots of
leaves on them, but it felt fine to me.

The bike didn't feel like it has done 67k miles already either, so
that's another bonus. However, I'm not quite sure what to think of
this one - it's W-Reg, 67k Miles on it, supposedly FSH but the book
hasn't been stamped, and the supplying dealer (Firstline M/C in Arnos
Grove) lost a year's worth of service records so there's a big gap
between the 30k and the 50k service. Oh, and they want 4.6k for it,
Sprint STs not welcome as a trade-in. Makes me wonder if they're
reading UKRM...

OTOH there are quite a lot of older bikes with similar mileages and
one previous owner in Biketrader for a lot less...

 

Timo Geusch wrote

Walk away then and look elsewhere.

There are loads of them about, all you have to do is find the bargain.

 

Walk away. Now.

 

The Older Gentleman was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

My thoughts. Thanks for confirming this.

 

ARGH! I bought my first bike from Firstline in '83 (an MBX80), i can't say
much, and 20 years is a hell of a long time, but even now the name sends a
shiver down my spine.

Others have said walk away, i would suggest something more akin to a fast
sprint whilst taking THG or whatever it is...

JH