Hi Bad Billy Thanks for the welcome - my Dad had a Sprint ST back in the day. I inherited it but had a Caterham 7 at the time so couldn't justify two toys Like the sound of your track bikes - I've been thinking once I've got better on my bike I'd like to buy an old bike to track.
The ST was too good to pass up, spent 12 years in storage & just needed a bit of TLC to put it back on the road, hadn't owned a road bike for a couple of years previous to that. It feels like a wobbly old bus when I jump off the Aprilia RSV race bike, but having a dedicated track bike is a good idea if you can afford it, at least if you throw it down the track you still have your road bike!
Craigyp Welcome to the family. Great intro and fantastic picture. You will fit right in here in the asylum. Regards Joe.
Cheers Joe ...I see your round the corner from me ....might bump into you one day ...are there any meet ups near us ?
Hi Craig. I'm riding a new GT PRO 900. Traded my Tiger Sport 1050 and my Striple. Not missing the 1050, but missing the 675. I've been all over NZ on that thing. I fitted Dan Moto pipes and it has a howl like a billion wasps. Brilliant. Some awesome roads here. I've just returned from 1400km journey on the GT. We chose back roads where possible. Have a look at the road from Taihape to Napier on Google Maps. We call it the Gentle Annie. I've done it a few times now, spectacular countryside, road surface, camber and no traffic. Cheers and best wishes. Paul.
wow just looked at it .....you are lucky to have superb roads like that...roads here are dreadful pot holes everywhere. The roads on Isle of Wight were great but its so busy and that wasn't even high season. Agree on that triple on the 675 ....I think I've hit 7-8000 rpm and the noise is insane and so GOOD !! Once I have more experience I am definitely going to book some track lessons and use its potential in a safe (ish !) environment. NZ is definitely on my bucket list and I'm sure I'll look to hire a bike at some point. That 1400km trip sounds great fun ...did you do a blog ?
No, I didn't do a blog. I'm not very good at all that. But! The trip was amazing. A sad start to it though - we were turned back at Patea - which is about 75 minutes South of New Plymouth where I live, due to a fatal crash which closed the road for 4 or 5 hours. No detour so we had to back track and re-route and stayed at Whangamomona Pub in the Republic of Whangamomona (the President of the Republic as little as two or three years ago was a real goat - lots of goats out there) Anyway, I digress, from Whanga we went to Taumarunui, Taihape, Napier, Te Aroha via the napier Taupo highway (some big hills on that road!!) Auckland and home, plus a few diversions here and there. Auckland to New Plymouth requires the Waitomo Valley Rd be travelled, then the Fullerton / Oparure roads in to PioPio and home. I think I saw 3 cars on that leg of the journey. You'll love it.
Thanks Steve. Nice to be here. I see you've listed a GT Pro in your bikes. How are you liking it? I've been riding mine since mid June, some cold weather and the bonus of a heated seat which made me the envy of my bike buddies. Up to about 6500km. And, how have you added your bikes to your profile/identification info please? (at the base of your thread note) Thanks for your help. Cheers Paul