July’s club night, held at Alford Bros in Cheriton Rd, Folkestone, is now something of an annual event. As ever Tony and Graham made every one very welcome. Coffee and Cake were in abundance as were a great selection of motorcycles to try out: Tracer 9GT+, MT10, MT09, MT07, Tenere, World RAID, R7, XSR900, XSR900GP.
All bikes were in heavy demand and were test ridden over a planned route in group format by EKAM members. Within the machine line-up there was something of interest for everyone. So in between the usual club meeting stuff (reported elsewhere in the newsletter) there was an atmosphere at times that might have been mistaken from that of a bunch of kids in a toy shop.
Talking of which I personally wasn’t going to ride but then I saw THE ‘toy’ – the XSR900GP. Now if you are of a certain age, or indeed even if you aren’t, the look of the thing is quite evocative. It just had to be done. A quick word with Tony Green, a licence check and a waiver, a plea to Sarah Farbrace who was doing a great job herding cats, and I had the keys.
What is it? Well I’m still not sure. It looks like an 80s race bike but it’s comfortable, has a very usable power band and will even accommodate a pillion with a bit of quick adjustment. Around Folkestone it was great fun albeit there was no opportunity to establish how it really performs. But it’s not for the shy. In a short ride I must have had more people stop and look than I’ve ever had on a bike.
Over the 4 hours we were at Alford Brothers our club members took full opportunity to try and compare the different machines. And we all learnt things. The Tracers and MTs were in heavy demand. I hadn’t realised there are 3 variants of the Tenere or how different they are from each other. And more. At the end of each ride the buzz became louder and the exercise has I am sure provoked ‘trains of thought’ amongst many of us.
A really great evening, good fun and superbly hosted. Our thanks to Alford Brothers for their hospitality.