I only wanted a tin of chain cleaner.......

[mikeybikey57]

I've had my Tiger 955i for more or less four years now and have generally been very happy with her. However, after having some problems with her after my local triumph dealer cocked up a service, I began to feel rather jaded and unsure as to what to do. Consequently, i've been trying out some other bikes, with a view to finding a possible replacement.

An old friend had been singing the praises of the ubiquitous R1200GS for years, having had a couple himself, so i tried one out a few weeks ago. Bloody hell, what a bag of nails that turned out to be. The engine was as smooth as a diesel concrete mixer and it felt like someone had hit the gearbox housing with a lump hammer, every time I changed down. And as for that silly three switch indicator system....WTF is that all about.

I also tried a Versys 1000.......comfy, good at going fast on dual carriageways but a bit wobbly......... and it almost certainly hit several branches with its face when falling out of the ugly tree. Then I tried KTM's 990 SMT and Ducati's Multistrada shortly afterwards..........great if you ride like a racetrack refugee but they were both too much like hard work for me. I managed to blag a ride on a Tiger 1050 this morning and really liked it, as it was grunty, comfy, very stable and had a lovely, smoothly fuelled motor to boot. To all intents and purposes, I left the dealers with the intention of buying it and happily went home to sort out the finances.

Then on my way home, I remembered that I needed to get some chain cleaner, so I detoured to the nearest bike emporium, only to make the mistake of idly chatting to one of the sales team about my recent search for biking nirvana. He asked whether i'd considered a Yamaha XT 1200, to which I replied an emphatic " no.........mainly because they're so horrendously overpriced". He quickly informed me that their demo bike was up for grabs at "a bargain price"(Nearly £3k under list price of a new one). I was subsequently offered a test ride on it and after a two hour blast around the Derbyshire Peak Park, I came back utterly smitten by the thing. It was just brilliant and left me grinning like a loon for the whole ride. We talked money and part exchange values for about half an hour........ haggled hard and after getting a nice deal on PX'ing my Tiger, the Yamaha was mine!

So as of Monday, i'm the owner of a pearlescent white XT1200z Super Tenere (aka, the Super Tena Lady). So having officially gone over to the other side, so to speak, I wish to bid you all a fond farewell. The forum has been a veritable goldmine of information and people on this site have been really helpful over the years, especially when I first became a Tiger owner. Your collective knowledge and experience has been invaluable and your willingness to help me when in dire straits (especially Bixxer Bob) has been refreshing, much valued and restorative of my faith in human nature.

So thanks again to you all. Be happy and ride safe........wherever you may be.
                                                                                                                                           Mikeybikey57.