Anyway, they didn't get to the next stage, which is in Vicar St(a)reet. The competition works a little unfairly, as votes are cast by the ever-changing audience, in a hands up type of ballot. This means 2 things.
1) The band who gets the most mates to the gig will get most votes and also;
2) bands playing later also benefit from a larger, less sober audience.
But sure, it's all about building up the profile. And I was genuinely impressed, so that is good too!
Right, next decision. Any thoughts gratefully received on this one. Bike insurance letter came through the post. Hibernian no longer wish to insure the great unwashed unkempt motorcycling public, at any cost. Obviously, that improves the situation for the motorcyclist.
I rang all of the alternatives ( a quick 5 minutes - there are actually 2 options!) and established that I had an option of a slight decrease in premium or a slight increase in premium. (Note, third party cover only) Fair enough, and less awful than I'd imagined. But I also inquired thusly:
"What would a typical classic bike policy run to?" - Answered in the following gist:
€300 - €400
15 year old bike
Garaged
Which provoked my interest and a quick hop to buyandsell.ie. A quick search in "motorbikes" for 1991 revealed 2 interesting specimens, a BMW K75RT (example left, below) and a Honda VFR 750 (see right, below). Sell the Kawasaki, get TPFT insurance for less, and have an interesting bike, all at a negligible effect to cashflow? This is very much an interesting quandary. Any thoughts anybody?
Both bikes look good, and if you can find a tidy example would be a beautiful second big bike. I must admit I would love to own a Honda V4, I love the sound they make. The older VFR's are said to be most enjoyable also; the newer ones are surely a more refined motorcycle but possibly lacking the raw excitement of the early examples. (I think the best power to weight ratio they ever achieved with the VFR's was with the first model!)
ReplyDeleteThe BMW is beautiful also and looks more comfortable for bigger distances. Second hand example will probaly come with hard luggage also which would be cool for weekends away. I am most enviously of your soon to be derestricted licence!
On a practical (boring) note I have heard that the VFR is bit of a pig to work on, everything is really packed in under the fairing and the engines themselves are pretty complex. Suspension on any bike 15 - 20 years old will be getting pretty soft and I imagine would be expensive for BMW or Honda. I've no idea what the BMW would be like to work on but would guess it would be more straight forward than the Honda.
If it were my choice? I'd go for the Honda and budget for some general servicing and an engine check by a pro. Looks like much fun!