it’s been a while since i sold my last dirt bike. i was planning to remain dirt-bike-free while i was going to be busy growing old, but, as we have seen before, plans change. to be fair, i wasn’t looking to buy a dirt bike for myself (although i admit, as soon as i swung my leg over it i was ready to go again): this one is more for nat than for me.
nat has a little road bike waiting for her. for some inexplicable reason kris thought it would be a good idea and nat could ride it to school every day – she possibly regrets this now. nat is a pretty good mountain bike rider, however, a motor bike is a little different, and both kris & i agreed that it would be a good idea for nat to at least be able to practice to become a competent rider before she would venture out on the road and deal with all the crazy people out there.
so we did what every parent in rural tasmania does in such a situation: we found a cheap old dirt bike she could ride on the property. this one is a 2009 yamaha tt-r 250, and it definitely had a full life. crusted on dirt, air filter so old we couldn’t properly clean it, bent subframe, knackered after-market pegs, chain so stretched it’s amazing it doesn’t fall off, and an electrical system that barely supports the basic functions.
on the plus side it’s a good old (i want to say: simple) air-cooled little engine that starts easily and appears to run well enough, the suspension seems to be working (or at least not much worse than when it rolled off the factory floor), and all the main bits are still happily doing their job. so nat (with a little help) did all the basic maintenance jobs to ensure we keep this baby running for a few more years: new oil & oil filter, clean air filter (we’ll replace that old rag soon), new foot pegs, new rear light (we even connected it up), new battery (so the e-start would work) and we even bent the subframe back.
good enough for now, and nat got right onto practicing. she really looks the (tassie bush kid) part: blunnies, hoodie (the day before she wore a much more appropriate flanny), school trousers and dad’s old mx lid (i want that back, that’s an arai). and she is already having as much fun on it as i would …