This afternoon I found myself lost in Oregon City when out of nowhere, just like he intuitively knew I needed him, a kindly Troubadour appeared and led me home. This is what he was riding.......
That is right, our brand new 2009 Suzuki TU250. We finally pulled the trigger. We got it for what we feel is a fair price from Factory Motorsports in Oregon City. It was the only one we knew of at any dealer in Oregon.
The stars were aligned and the feeling was right. The drive home was too far for me to ride since I haven't been on a bike much since last summer. Troubadour didn't mind riding it home and said it was a pretty good little bike. Apparently he had to work it a bit and shift down going up the foothills but reported it was nimble and fun to ride. As soon as I have a chance to take it out for a ride I'll let you know my take on it.
We took the backroads home and he stopped for a photo op. He took the picture above (the antique look courtesy of iPhoto) as well as the following close up.
We are already discussing changing the bars and making it a bit of a "cafe racer" and taking the Suzuki badging and TU stickers off the side covers to lend an air of mystery.
Not only did we score the new bike today, this morning we stopped at Premier Motogear in Albany and I found a new Scorpion Selene Jacket that fit great. My old Cortech fit horribly and I didn't want to be riding my own ride with an ill fitting jacket. It has retro styling with many buckles and I bought it in khaki and black for the additional retro look. It reminds me of the old European military jackets riders used to wear back in the day.
Now if I can only find new overpants and boots I'll be all set.
All in all it was a great day. Found a jacket, went to Ikea, had sushi for a late lunch, and found a bike. Oh yeah, it was sunny and 72 degrees today. Can we ask for a better first day of Spring?
Au Revoir
"The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome." ~ Author Unknown
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That bike looks awesome, beautiful styling and I agree with losing the badging. It looks like they stuck it on as an afterthought anyway, like someone remembered at the end of the assembly line that they forgot the S emblem. The paintwork on the tank helps add to the illusion of the cafe racer knee dents without actually having knee dents. Very retro. Very Brandy.
ReplyDeleteThat side cover looks like it needs something...a fleur de lis maybe?
ReplyDeleteTrobairitz:
ReplyDeletecongrats on Trouadour's new commuter bike, err . . . I mean your new bike. May you have many miles of enjoyment riding the best roads in the country (Oregon has the best roads, as if you didn't already know)
and Yes, you need a "fleur de lis" pasted somewhere
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Very Cool Indeed! That's a great looking machine, and I can see why you're taken with it. I like the clean look. Congratulations, and you're absolutely right that a better first day of spring would be hard to find!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new bike, Trob! I will be very interested in your impressions; had something like this been available in Sept, 2003 I probably never would've gotten a scooter...
ReplyDelete__Orin
Scootin' Old Skool
Thank you for the kind words everyone. I haven't had a chance to ride it yet as we were busy Sunday and tired after work so far this week. Maybe tonight before the rains get here tomorrow. If not I'll ride it to saturday morning coffee - the sun is supposed to return. Will post updates and impressions as I ride it.
ReplyDelete