I would say that of the 20+ bikes I’ve owned, no more than three were immaculate. The KTM is; the much-missed Blackbird was; my second RD350LC was. (We don’t talk about what happened to the first LC. It was expensive.)
The Pan is tidy – it has to be, as I ride to clients’ sites and not all of them are truly biker-friendly. I mean, they don’t mind that I ride a bike but you can tell that it’s probably only because I turn up on a shiny, respectable kind of bike. There are a few scuffs on the panniers and I keep wearing off the blobs on the footpeg, but it’s a working bike so does have a tough life – but it’s still very clean. That’s good enough for me.
I think that’s the way I look at all bikes: I like them to be clean and I do get upset if they get damaged, but it’s not the end of the world if there’s the odd scratch or scrape.
After all, bikes are for riding, not just for polishing.
Dex
Tags: Honda Blackbird, KTM Bikes