Well, I'm pleased to say she's alive and well! She still technically lives with me, but I sold her to my housemate. Got her all put back together, installed the awesome improved seat and tail section I got from @kiffsta , fairings all back on (okay...maybe with a screw or two left over...), horribly pink windscreen installed and all. Had some minor issues with the rear brake lines, but no biggie. All good, right? Right. ...except I didn't like riding her! Nope! Just a super uncomfortable riding position for me. No, nope, no. Not for me. Devastated. So, in a totally self-serving move, I sold her to my housemate! Had to play the long con (starting over a year before I bought her, I'm clever like that) of telling him how much fun I had riding and what-not so he'd get his R licence back. Which he conveniently did around the time I worked out I didn't like riding Mia as much as I liked looking at her. Gosh, I'm good! So, off she goes to a new owner and yet I still get to look at the pretty, but could also justify a new bike for myself. To his credit, my housemate LOVES her. He's put in a bunch more hours cleaning up the tank and tweaking just about everything to optimal performance. She couldn't have gone to a better person, really. In the meantime, my dear hubby got me a present. Was supposed to be a 2017 Royal Enfield Classic Squadron Blue, but gosh darnit...they sold out. What a shame. I got stuck with the shiny new 2018 Royal Enfield Classic Squadron Blue which, for the first time ever for a RE, has ABS and disc brakes. You can see I'm clearly devastated at the way that turned out. So, here they are Mia and the Queen Bee. She's still on my property. Pretty sure I can still lay claim to Mia. That's surely how it works, right?
I would say that it all worked out quite nicely in the end... for everyone it seems... and I agree with @kiffsta your Hubby deserves a very special mention...
@kiffsta and @Andych you're both so right! He deserves more than just a mention, really. He was incredibly supportive of me getting my motorcycle licence, encouraged me to work on my own bikes when I said I wanted to do it and was a huge supporter of me experimenting to find what style of bike really suited me. 4 bikes in less than 2 years? 3 of them simultaneously? Talk about pushing the limits! And then he bought me a brand new one? Best hubby ever!
I see your awesome hubby and raise you with an awesome wife , about 3 years ago I had 20 bikes in the garage and a $60k Jeep parked out in the weather , I am very lucky , she is super supportive of anything and everything I do Cheers to awesome partners !!!
Yes!!! Totally relate - our bikes are all kept in the shed while the MX5 is under a cover outside and the Jeep sits out the front! Cheers to amazing partners! Now, not to push my luck, but I just need a naked/standard 250cc to play with.
@ruckusman I miss her so much, in spite of her obvious deficiencies for my ride. I may or may not have started a bit of a trend at work and now 3 other people have their L's. One of them got a Bikelette clone! I can't help but just want to take off on her, but I've behaved so far. I make no promises for the future though!
I remember a thread where I indelicately suggested therapy to counter the loss of Bikelette - glad to see that you're no longer in mourning at least
No... most of us on here still remember our first love (motorbike love that is) and some still lust after that exact bike... problem is most of us older ones dont exactly remember all the bad parts of that first love either... until such time as we get one again...lol
I'm really trying to keep a solid grip on why I sold her, @Andych . Still, I can't help but lust after the little things when I see them zooming (hmm...putting, maybe? ) about the place. Most of the ones around here are red, occassionally white, so that's okay. The kid at work just had to get a blue one. So rude! It's sad to admit the amount of time I spent drooling over it and wondering why I sold mine - even though I clearly knew why. The most infuriating thing is that the kid at work was using his Bikelette equivalent as a dirt bike! The abuse that poor baby suffered in a 6 week period was...astonishing. Almost impressive, really. Thankfully he sold her and got what he should have got in the first place - a dirt bike! A dirt bike with one mirror, a cop-magnet exhaust system (seriously - I can hear it coming from deep inside a building, even he admits it hurts his ears! ) and a very dodgy home-wired set of LED 'spotlights'. Yehhhh...that thing's definitely getting through it's next rego check.