The XT is officially certified as roadworthy for another 12 months.
To celebrate, here's a picture of the little scamp in its natural environment.
Five minutes after this photo was taken, I had to brake to give way to a car on a narrow bridge. The rain had turned the dirt at the side of the road into greasy mud, and first the front and then the rear of the bike lost grip and started to slide about. Easing off the brakes and gently re-applying saved the day, but it was a trouser-filling moment for the pilot. The bike, of course, shrugged it off. "I'm a dirt bike, you moron. It's what we do!"
Glad you got the little east stopped without too much troubles. It is always a pucker moment when things start sliding when we don't want them too.
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to say 'little beast'
ReplyDelete:)) I guessed that! I think this was the first time I have had both ends go at once*. The upright position, wide bars and loose geometry made it easy to control, though. The Sprint would have been on its side, for sure.
ReplyDelete*Apart from incidences of food poisoning, of course.
Well held Sir!
ReplyDelete...good job you didn't have ABS fitted - you would never have stopped!
Thank you, Nikos! I had rather the same feeling. The bridge wall was approaching and looking very solid, and I was glad to stop both in time and upright. With ABS I might have sailed on, with 10 for artistic impression, straight into the rocks.
ReplyDeleteIt's the way that the bike seems to inspect its fingernails and say what problem? While you are still having palpitations, that makes me so much more attached to my bikes than any car.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you both!!
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ReplyDeleteConniesdad: thank you!
ReplyDeleteConniesdad: thank you!
Totally agree. I went past the spot in the car today, and I can kind of excuse myself. The rain had carried down a lot of crap (the spot is at the bottom of a long hill) which had semi-dried out to form a half-inch deep pool of black gunge. It was indistinguishable from the tarmac when it was wet. However, another day, another lesson learned.
From (apocryphally) a Honda owner's manual in 1962: "Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon". Couldn't have put it better myself.
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ReplyDeleteDuplicate posts deleted. Blogger's having PMT again.
ReplyDeleteAh another one of your posts that made me smile - the last line, brilliant.
ReplyDeleteBazza
Thank you, Bazza. Good to hear from you.
ReplyDelete