Getting a new bike is like going out on a first date.
All giddy and hoping that it’s going to go well. Butterflies in the stomach, with a healthy dose of nervousness and excitement. That you’ll both get mutual good vibes and that your personalities will just …gel. That you both, “get” each other. You hope that your date doesn’t have any gremlins or that they’re not a lemon that will make them temperamental or high maintenance. That it will be the beginning of a beautiful and long relationship – where you are in charge and your baby complies. 😉
My new ‘hubby’ was now sitting on the showroom floor, with a ‘SOLD’ sticker on it. HE was destined for me 🙂 The Lawnmower version 2.0 was here. I kind of felt like the American Olympic swimming team when I saw him sitting there in the show room.
This was all after after a couple of little hiccups when ordering accessories – they had to be ordered and shipped from Sydney which meant a couple more days wait at the least. The hiccups was mainly in regards to wrong or incomplete parts posted over to Melbourne – two right hand side rack parts, rather than a left and right. Doh! So, in total it was a week’s worth of delays. Very frustrating when you know you have a new toy at the dealership – but in my case it wasn’t just a toy… he meant freedom and my transport too!
This Lawnmower was same same, but not. Obviously, it was the same model and colour, with less kilometres under its belt. New year of manufacture was about all that was different…. Except this version had one very important improvement…. Heated hand grips! 😀 Best thing since sliced bread as I later found out.
The one that will get me back onto my journey, and one which will be better at swerving skippies no doubt. A much tougher Lawnmower considering it had more experience and all that… 😉
For a reason that I know not, I name my bikes as they seem to pop out of nowhere to me. This one told me it was called Metatron. Like the Archangel.
When their names comes to me, I do not understand or know of their meaning and have to do some research. In this case, although not that I believe that this new bike is a ‘saviour’ but it is close to it for me in this chapter of my life. After doing some research, I now think I understand where the name came to me from as Metatron holds the Metatron Cube. A holy and respected tool of protection.
Maybe subconsciously while looking at the orange frame, it burned into my brain that it looks just like the sacred geometry that is depicted in Metatron’s Cube.
Quite fitting really. Call me (more) nuts, but who ever said that machines don’t talk to their owners is quite mistaken. Just like some people say that animals or pets don’t communicate with their owners… yeah… Nah! As soon as the first sight/ride, they will communicate with you IF you are willing to listen. And the longer you spend time with them, the more you’ll refine your ear their inner workings; machines will speak. Ask any good mechanic.
Taking possession of Metatron, now comes the running in period which will be harder for me than the bike! After owning 2 previous of these bikes, I think I know fairly well what they can do and how to red-line it at every gear change (not hard on a LAMS bike). We’ll just have to play nice and sedately for the weekend clocking up the kms to test it before departing Melbourne.
Whatever the case… a few *ehem* tears were possibly shed on the first ride up towards the hills to scrub in tyres from the bike shop. Stopped long enough for a quick photo or two before sun down (including a tribute to a mob of skippies in the background!)…. As far the handling goes; for some reason this bike is behaving smoother than the last, even though it is a single cylinder… Or maybe it is just my sheer desperation to get back and experience riding again that trumps anything else. Actually the reason why this machine felt smoother than the last because the motor had not been tampered with – unlike the last was by some rather unscrupulous salespeople…
Having said this, riding it now; This girl is in love. Again. *sigh*
I’m antsy from so many cold days without being able to get on a saddle. I wonder if 2 weeks is enough to loose riding fitness is? If not, I know 2 weeks is enough to loose most your sanity though!! No matter because I know I have approx. another 15,000kms ahead of me to still cover so, at least I know this first ‘date’ will turn into more. 🙂
Touring Valvoline 