Cruisin' Craig
6th February 2008, 11:47
Well, not really. But it is nice to sit back once in a while and take a moment to remember all the warm fuzzy feelings I got from my first sweetheart. You can see her pictured below. Not the specific bike unfortunately, but the condition was much the same :-)
As a fifteen year old lad, I only had about $700 to spend that I had saved from my after school job, and so I took an afternoon out to go to see all the reasonably priced bikes in the area that could. My Dad had come along with me to offer advice, as he had been a biker back in "the good old days".
We went to see a Suzuki GN250. A rusty black one with dents all over the mudguards.
We went to see a Suzuki GP100, but it just looked a little too pitiful even for a learner's bike. I'm a firm believer that motorcycles must be purchased with drool on the chin, and there was simply no drool to be seen.
We went to see a Honda CB250. Had to be push started because the battery was flat, and it had rust all over the forks.
We went to see a Yamaha 100 of some description. It looked like it was in excellent condition, but it just wouldn't start!
And then we went to see my darling! She was a 1987 Suzuki GP125 in absolutely pristine condition, had a bigger more rounded tank than the GP100 I had seen earlier (which made her look a lot bigger in my opinion), she started started immediately, and it quickly became clear that this would be my first two-wheeled companion. For a measly $600, she was a steal, and we would spend the next two and a half years learning the Manawatu country roads together.
I remember the first time I took her out of the city. We went to Fielding to see some motorcycle racing at Manfield. I went and found the biggest cluster of Harleys that I could find, and proudly parked my little Suzy right in the middle of those suckers. :2thumbsup
She did about 110km/h, or 115km/h if you flattened yourself down to the tank, and could out accelerate GN250s as long as I kept the revs up. It doesn't sound like much, but she was reliable as hell, and could sit at 100km/h for ever, so it was good enough to let me explore the country and give me a proper taste of biking. She was fast enough so I didn't feel embarrassed, and that's important to a fifteen year old. After all, she was quicker around the Palmerston North square than most of them boy racers!
I found the clutch quite sharp, the gearbox imprecise, and the typical two-stroke power delivery made life interesting for a learner. In fact the first time I rode her on the rode I accidentally pulled a small wheelstand while there was a cop behind me. Can't believe he let me go with a warning when the bike was still unwarranted, unregistered, and I had already misplaced my license.
Once I became more experienced, I found that her suspension was not really up to hard cornering at all. We used to get this sort of pogo stick effect going if we cornered hard where the road condition was anything less than perfect.
Rear drum and front single disc was more than enough braking power for a bike with her slender figure.
Most impressive of all however, was her resilience. This is what she had to put up with:
-Two and a half years of riding: No mechanical problems whatsoever, and the total maintenance performed by me included replacing one clutch cable, doing one oil change, cleaning the sponge type air filter once, and tightening the chain once.
-One head on crash into a car that pulled out in front of me at about 20km/h (I went over the top of the bonnet, the bike stopped where it was) resulted in me having to bend the gear lever back into place so I could ride home. No further damage.
-When I was finished with it, I passed it on to my sister so she could learn to ride too. A little oversight resulted in it running out of oil and seizing. Waited an hour for the bike to cool down a bit. Put some oil in, and away she goes. The engine made a rattling noise that gradually disappeared over the next month or so.
-When she was finished with it (about a year later I think) she passed it on to a friend of mine so he could learn to ride too. He also seized it. And crashed it. Multiple times. Twice due to gravel on the road, once because of tom-foolerly through the esplanade in Palmy and probably several that I've forgotten to mention.
Suffice to say that about another year later when he sold it (bought himself a TZR250 and wrote it off within three weeks),this little bike that had now been in my life in one way or another for nearly five years and had been through so much, was still sometimes seen with it's new owner, with a carry box fitted to the back, looking as immaculate as ever and providing some lucky fellow reliable transport to work and back every day.
I hope he enjoys her even more than we did, and treats her better in return!
As a fifteen year old lad, I only had about $700 to spend that I had saved from my after school job, and so I took an afternoon out to go to see all the reasonably priced bikes in the area that could. My Dad had come along with me to offer advice, as he had been a biker back in "the good old days".
We went to see a Suzuki GN250. A rusty black one with dents all over the mudguards.
We went to see a Suzuki GP100, but it just looked a little too pitiful even for a learner's bike. I'm a firm believer that motorcycles must be purchased with drool on the chin, and there was simply no drool to be seen.
We went to see a Honda CB250. Had to be push started because the battery was flat, and it had rust all over the forks.
We went to see a Yamaha 100 of some description. It looked like it was in excellent condition, but it just wouldn't start!
And then we went to see my darling! She was a 1987 Suzuki GP125 in absolutely pristine condition, had a bigger more rounded tank than the GP100 I had seen earlier (which made her look a lot bigger in my opinion), she started started immediately, and it quickly became clear that this would be my first two-wheeled companion. For a measly $600, she was a steal, and we would spend the next two and a half years learning the Manawatu country roads together.
I remember the first time I took her out of the city. We went to Fielding to see some motorcycle racing at Manfield. I went and found the biggest cluster of Harleys that I could find, and proudly parked my little Suzy right in the middle of those suckers. :2thumbsup
She did about 110km/h, or 115km/h if you flattened yourself down to the tank, and could out accelerate GN250s as long as I kept the revs up. It doesn't sound like much, but she was reliable as hell, and could sit at 100km/h for ever, so it was good enough to let me explore the country and give me a proper taste of biking. She was fast enough so I didn't feel embarrassed, and that's important to a fifteen year old. After all, she was quicker around the Palmerston North square than most of them boy racers!
I found the clutch quite sharp, the gearbox imprecise, and the typical two-stroke power delivery made life interesting for a learner. In fact the first time I rode her on the rode I accidentally pulled a small wheelstand while there was a cop behind me. Can't believe he let me go with a warning when the bike was still unwarranted, unregistered, and I had already misplaced my license.
Once I became more experienced, I found that her suspension was not really up to hard cornering at all. We used to get this sort of pogo stick effect going if we cornered hard where the road condition was anything less than perfect.
Rear drum and front single disc was more than enough braking power for a bike with her slender figure.
Most impressive of all however, was her resilience. This is what she had to put up with:
-Two and a half years of riding: No mechanical problems whatsoever, and the total maintenance performed by me included replacing one clutch cable, doing one oil change, cleaning the sponge type air filter once, and tightening the chain once.
-One head on crash into a car that pulled out in front of me at about 20km/h (I went over the top of the bonnet, the bike stopped where it was) resulted in me having to bend the gear lever back into place so I could ride home. No further damage.
-When I was finished with it, I passed it on to my sister so she could learn to ride too. A little oversight resulted in it running out of oil and seizing. Waited an hour for the bike to cool down a bit. Put some oil in, and away she goes. The engine made a rattling noise that gradually disappeared over the next month or so.
-When she was finished with it (about a year later I think) she passed it on to a friend of mine so he could learn to ride too. He also seized it. And crashed it. Multiple times. Twice due to gravel on the road, once because of tom-foolerly through the esplanade in Palmy and probably several that I've forgotten to mention.
Suffice to say that about another year later when he sold it (bought himself a TZR250 and wrote it off within three weeks),this little bike that had now been in my life in one way or another for nearly five years and had been through so much, was still sometimes seen with it's new owner, with a carry box fitted to the back, looking as immaculate as ever and providing some lucky fellow reliable transport to work and back every day.
I hope he enjoys her even more than we did, and treats her better in return!