The story goes that a few months back I did a bike training day on a little track near Pattaya, Thailand. I liked riding around that little track so much that I constantly thought about a way to get back there.
During the training I had rented a Kawasaki ER6n, a pretty good bike for that sort of circuit. Renting is expensive though, and using my own pristine ER6n to trash on the track was a definite no-no for me.
A track bike has to be found, I told myself.
Not too big, as parts can get expensive, not to speak of the initial purchase price.
It needs to be legal, so that I can ride it down to the track and back home.
So, it needs to be cheap and small, but have enough power to be fun.
Bonus: if the bike is rather rare and an icon of its time, even better.
Well, I think I found the perfect candidate: Enter the 1997 Honda NSR150SP with Proarm, a little 2 stroke beast that still holds the speed record for its class!
Power can be between 28 to 38hp, depending on which source you prefer to believe to. It's light and nimble, and spare parts can still be found easily. In fact, one of the best known aftermarket shops for this bike is right in Pattaya (TYGA).
I've been hunting the Thai classifieds for a few months, puzzled by the prices that went up to 65.000Baht for an NSR in excellent condition. Nice, but not what I was looking for ($$$).
Then, one lovely day, I see an ad for an NSR for 20.000Baht. That was already tempting, but even better: it was only 10 minutes from my house! Needless to say...I bought it. :-)
But the news don't stop here! By a long shot!
Remember Project Telos, my SR500 in Italy? She found a new home and is now in good hands.
Since I rode my brother's LeMans 1, there was only one bike that would my heart melt. (Well, 2 actually...the other being the BMW R69S, but far out of my budget unfortunately).
During the training I had rented a Kawasaki ER6n, a pretty good bike for that sort of circuit. Renting is expensive though, and using my own pristine ER6n to trash on the track was a definite no-no for me.
A track bike has to be found, I told myself.
Not too big, as parts can get expensive, not to speak of the initial purchase price.
It needs to be legal, so that I can ride it down to the track and back home.
So, it needs to be cheap and small, but have enough power to be fun.
Bonus: if the bike is rather rare and an icon of its time, even better.
Well, I think I found the perfect candidate: Enter the 1997 Honda NSR150SP with Proarm, a little 2 stroke beast that still holds the speed record for its class!
Power can be between 28 to 38hp, depending on which source you prefer to believe to. It's light and nimble, and spare parts can still be found easily. In fact, one of the best known aftermarket shops for this bike is right in Pattaya (TYGA).
I've been hunting the Thai classifieds for a few months, puzzled by the prices that went up to 65.000Baht for an NSR in excellent condition. Nice, but not what I was looking for ($$$).
Then, one lovely day, I see an ad for an NSR for 20.000Baht. That was already tempting, but even better: it was only 10 minutes from my house! Needless to say...I bought it. :-)
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| Happy ex-owner and even happier new owner. |
But the news don't stop here! By a long shot!
Remember Project Telos, my SR500 in Italy? She found a new home and is now in good hands.
What am I going to do when I'm back home for holidays? Not ride?!? Can't have that, can we?
Most definitely not!
So, it's bike hunting once again for me. :-)
Stop right there...found it already!
It had to be a classic Italian bike, twin cylinder, large displacement, comfortable touring bike, in great condition (no time to start working on it) and with low mileage. Can you guess what it is??
Since I rode my brother's LeMans 1, there was only one bike that would my heart melt. (Well, 2 actually...the other being the BMW R69S, but far out of my budget unfortunately).
Long story short.... I got a 1981 Moto Guzzi V1000 G5. It's basically the same model as the (in)famous I-Convert, but with the conventional 5 gears setup, instead of the 2-gear automatic transmission of the Convert. The G5 was produced in only 3.785 copies, of which 3.000 went to the police force and the rest for civilian use. 950cc and more than 220kg (!) of touring goodness!
This particular G5 has only 37.000km on the clock and is in excellent original condition. Even has the original exhaust pipes, which are hard to find and expensive. I couldn't be happier and can't wait for my next holiday in Italy. She will be waiting there for me!
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| The instrument cluster....so pretty in it's 80's ugliness |
Life is good, ain't it! :-)))))
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