My hapless friend DA (Dumb Ass) called to pick my brains about the right bike to replace his mangled CBF. If you recall, he parked it outside his garage when he was supposed to be riding to meet me, only to have his equally accident prone daughter reverse her Citroen into and over the front end of the Honda while he went back inside to get his helmet.
His insurers have agreed to write the bike off and, though several of us have suggested he could just get new forks and a new wheel from a breakers, with properly new plastics from his dealer, DA’s adamant that he needs to replace it. He’s had the CBF for three years anyway and I guess he feels he wants something more.
Tidy Tim has almost persuaded DA that he needs a Triumph Explorer.
– Photo credit Jim Crossley, Flickr
Clearly, the insurance payout isn’t going to run to a new one of those, so DA has been looking at used BMW GSs.
He’s had the sense not to buy anything yet – I’ve known him for 20 years and in that time he’s picked more lemons than the man from Del Monte. OK: I know the man from Del Monte usually picks oranges, but in two decades he must have grabbed the wrong citrus fruit on occasion, surely… Anyway, you know what I mean: when it comes to buying bikes, DA wouldn’t spot a dog if it was biting his ankle.
Now he wants me to go with him to look at a couple of used bikes at the BMW dealership, so I can talk him down if he gets too excited about one that really isn’t good enough. Six months ago I’d have breezed in, happy to help and full of anti-Bavarian skepticism, ready to stop him being parted with his money. Now I’m not sure we’ll escape without taking a bike each…
I wonder what they’d give me as a trade-in for the KTM?
Tags: BMW R1200 GS, Triumph Explorer