by Davidfl » 18.01.2006, 18:22
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Olly Hargreave</i>
<br />Test Ride Tit
My Yammie 400XT rebuild didn't work out and I was looking for a new bike. Thought I'd try an antidote for menopause on Heinz's Gilera 650 — it had been decades since I'd ridden anything as large. Tom at Goodwill said he'd buy the bike as a hobby if he could afford it, and I thought it might work as a compromise town/road bike. I'd been waiting three days for the ride as Heinz fixed things up at Joe's.
Things went fine on Thaphae, Kotchasan, feeling the low gears, brakes, gently, as far as Chiang Mai Gate (less than 2 km from Joe's). Straight open road just past where Wualai splits off, no obstruction, no vehicles for 500m, pick up on left, PUT THE POWER ON , then test the brakes. The Gil hit the band, the pick-up slowed up for a kid hurrying a bicycle across the road. Damned if the Gil didn't go from under me faster than the knock of its piston — the kid ran to escape the Gil sliding towards him.
'Yeah, all brakes on big bikes are like that these days', said Joe, who had that 'what a ****ing idiot' look on his face. 'Sheiss' said Heinz as he looked at a cracked front faring and torn-off indicators before charging me for parts ex-Switzerland & six hours of Joe's time. He advised me that I might be better off with something smaller.
Ollie
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Ollie
Love the trip report mate - welcome to the GT Riders club; where we all ride & some of us are honest enough to admit dropping it now & then. So what's the next bike you're going to test ride?
"Laugh" coming down highway 13 from Luang Prabang yesterday, saw some white paint marks on the road from an accident - two motorcycles, "head on collision" on a straight piece of road. Must have been a bit of a mess I reckon & only Lao medical facilities available. Yuk! Anyone who rides in Laos & only has crashes in Thailand is lucky I reckon.
Davidfl
Keep The Power On