There comes a time when you have to accept that you're are not happy.
This came to me during the start of 2020. Three members of my
extended family passed away, my gran was diagnosed with cancer behind
the knee (its an odd place but only my gran could get something
there) that has resulted with an amputation of the leg, a far from
perfect environment at my workplace and bloody CO-VID 19, which has
lead to the postponement of my wedding. During all this a big
question was hanging over my head, “Have I really enjoyed riding
the SV1000 for the seven years I’ve had it?”.
The
answer was simple, “No, not really” I had to be honest with
myself, my motorcycle road craft still feels like it was when I
bought the bike in 2013. For the record, I did buy some ebooks on
motorcycle road-craft to help combat the issue. I started to feel
some improvement and really enjoyed the rides I went out on but I
still felt something of an issue deep down. I say issue but it was
more like “issues”. In the few years since becoming a home
owner, the bike was living at my parents house, which is 15mins from
my home, this made going out for a ride feel like a chore due to
sitting in traffic every time, and manoeuvring the bike was a painful
because of the twice dislocated left shoulder I have. All these
problems built up and came out whilst enjoying a beer and music in
the garden one afternoon with the misses.
“I want a smaller
bike. I’ve had enough of the SV”
The big surprise came when I told my dad I wanted to sell the SV1000. Not the fact I was selling the SV, it was him making me an offer! It was reasonable, plus he’s fixed the SV1000 so many times when it came to number plate holders (won’t miss that problem!), so I accepted it. That was easier than I thought it was going to be, both of us got what we wanted, he got that second bike he’s been wanting and I sold a bike that I’ve never really been comfortable with. Dads a bit taller and bigger than me, also rides a Bandit 1200 which is heavier, so I see him having the SV as the last dance on a supersport bike before my mother tells him its time for a cruiser, which I think he’s looking forward to really.
The SV was defiantly a head turner of a motorbike, with two blue flame exhausts, not everyone was looking at it with delight. It was a talking point to many motorcyclist as to how rare the naked versions of the bike are and how good it looked with the tail-tidy. One of the fondest memories was bringing the bike back 170+ miles from Hampshire and a guy and his misses on a streetfightered Bandit 1200 came across two lanes of traffic and left the group they were riding with just to point at the bike and give the thumbs up.
So this is the end of the SV chapter. I see this as me getting older, maturing as a rider and wanting a new adventure. So what happens now I have no
motorbike? "A change is better than a rest" is the saying, lets do it!
Safe riding and cake eating. Not at the same time though!
Lardy