Father and Son

Or should that be mother and daughter?  Or big sis and little sis?  Old dog and puppy?  I don't know - I don't do anthropomorphism very well (neither bike has a name, and probably never will).  But they are related, that's for sure.  DNA, and all that.

Anyways, the old XT (green one) has not moved from under its tarpaulin for about three months.  The BMW was perfectly OK for day-to-day use and didn't let me down (I kept the XT in a state of permanent readiness, just in case) and now the XTR has become the gentleman's conveyance du choix and an inspection of its general condition leads me to think that it is pretty much unmolested, and therefore likely to be dependable.  So I took the tax disc off the XT in order to send it off for a refund, and while it was standing there uncovered, I thought I might start it up, just to see ...

Fuel on, choke on, press of the button, and then blap blap blap and it settled to a steady idle.  That's after three months without being touched, with a five-year-old battery.  The benefits of not having things like alarms and immobilisers.  (It also shows that the compression, ignition and carbs are in sound order, which means any refurbishment of the bike will most likely not include an engine rebuild.

Anyhow, she is now SORN, untaxed and uninsured, so next step is to conduct a full assessment of condition, followed by dismantling and dry storage.  If I can find anywhere to put it.

Anna will have some ideas about that, not all of them helpful.