{"id":9210,"date":"2016-11-21T20:47:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T20:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zo-zo.com\/?p=9210"},"modified":"2017-11-21T22:50:49","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T22:50:49","slug":"bikes-past-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/?p=9210","title":{"rendered":"bikes past & present"},"content":{"rendered":"

i have owned a few bikes over the years, some were ridden extensively, others only on occasions. and there were a few that i was not too excited about (in hindsight). here is a short list.<\/p>\n

\"header_race_2\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
\"\"<\/td>250 reasons.<\/a>
\na little farm bike so nat can practice riding before she takes the duke to city streets.<\/td>		2023 dec -<\/td>ok, maybe one more ...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ktm 250 exc-f six days<\/a>.
\ni was not planning on selling the 350. really. i bought the 250 for a race and was deeply disappointed when i could not finish due to a gearbox issue. she still held her own against a bunch of much bigger bikes - not bad.<\/td>		2014 may - 2020 may<\/td>sold - that's it, no more dirt bikes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ktm 350 exc f<\/a>.
\nweight of a 250 and performance of a 450? sounds good, right? the 350 is a real allrounder and an excellent dirt bike. full stop.<\/td>		2011 sep - 2014 may<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ktm 250 exc f<\/a>.
\nsmaller is better. unfortunately stolen from our garage before i had a chance to really get to know her.<\/td>		2007 jun - 2008 apr<\/td>stolen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ktm 450 exc<\/a>.
\nhow i missed riding! this time i kept her well locked away. sold when we moved to oz.<\/td>		2005 apr - 2007 apr<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ktm 400 exc<\/a>.
\nlight, small, fast, controllable power output, great suspension. i loved it. a real fun bike & just what i needed. this bike saw a lot of enduro racing action in hungary and the netherlands.<\/td>		2000 - 2004<\/td>stolen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"620lc4<\/td>ktm 620 lc4 super competition<\/a>.
\na beast. too much power, too fast. otherwise a great bike, but not for weekend warriors like me. it worked very well for me in the rally championship but was hard work in the enduro races.<\/td>		1998 - 2000<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ktm 600 lc4 super competition<\/a>.
\nnow this is a race bike. okay, the tank was a bit in the way in tight corners. went straight like an arrow but i could never work out how to get the bike round corners.<\/td>		1997 - 1998<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>honda xr 600 r<\/a>.
\nfirst real dirt bike. first enduro competition. big, fat & heavy. turned well, did not like to go straight. don't know why the americans love this bike.<\/td>		1996 - 1997<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>yamaha xt 550<\/a>.
\nmore or less a street bike, no good off road. as a consequence most of the 24.000 km i rode on this bike were highways. boring.<\/td>		1987 - 1993<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
\"\"<\/td>aprilia rsv mille<\/a>.
\nhow to combine the advantages of the monster (looks, twin feel) and the yamaha (power, chassis)? the mille is more than that; it's in a class of its own. a very fast bike with a top class chassis (now all ohlins).<\/td>		2002 jul - ..<\/td>not going anywhere!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>yamaha yzf 600 thundercat<\/a>.
\ni knew it. the duc's 50 bhp would not be enough. the yamaha had 100. however, i never really bonded with the feel of the 4 cylinder.<\/td>		2001 sep - 2002 jul<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>ducati monster 600<\/a>.
\nmy first street bike. a monster? not by any stretch of the imagination. I was really disappointed by the power delivery but more so by the chassis and suspension. i sold her due to reliability issues.<\/td>		2001 may - 2001 sep<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>vespa p200e<\/a>.
\num. not quite a real bike. a little weak (12 hp), but that is all right taking into consideration the chassis and brakes. still, the vespa remains a style icon and a classic.<\/td>		1985 - 1987<\/td>crashed (wasn't me)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

\"header_mtb_1\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
\"\"<\/td>santa cruz megatower<\/a>.
\nthe nomad was coming to the end of its hard life; a 29er was the logical choice - another santa cruz of course.<\/td>		2023 jun - ...<\/td>i've gone to the dark side (29er wheels)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>santa cruz nomad cc<\/a>.
\nanother nomad, more of a speed machine than the older ones and very confidence inspiring. i also love the (loud) colours!<\/td>		2016 mar - 2023 may<\/td>retired - the most incredible bike with the most incredible colour scheme<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>santa cruz nomad c<\/a>.
\nsoon after i bought the (used) alu nomad it turned out it was a small and i could not make it work. the nomad served me very well - what a bike!<\/td>		<\/td>sold - one of nat's friends is enjoying it now<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>santa cruz nomad<\/a>.
\ni really wanted one! very much. so when i found a used one for a decent price i jumped on it only to find out it was a small frame.<\/td>		<\/td>sold - to a friend's daughter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>specialized enduro sl<\/a>.
\none of my dream bikes. i guess it felt great when i got it but (in hindsight) it is really not in the same league as the nomads.<\/td>		2008 jun - 2015 sep<\/td>sold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>proceed fst light<\/a>.
\nactually a very special bike and the first i built up myself, to my specs. i really enjoyed the stiffness of the frame and suspension compared to the giant.<\/td>		2006 may - 2008 apr<\/td>stolen; so now someone has a bike without knowing what it is ...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>giant vt-2<\/a>.
\nwhen i worked out that riding dirt bikes in germany was going to be neigh impossible i bought my first mountain bike. it was not very good but it got me started!<\/td>		2007 jun - 2008 apr<\/td>passed on<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

i have owned a few bikes over the years, some were ridden extensively, others only on occasions. and there were a few that i was not too excited about (in hindsight). here is a short list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bikes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/mille_done_2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7MvER-2oy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9216,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9210\/revisions\/9216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zo-zo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}