Riding buddy Manfred tossed his old (2002) blue Sprint ST down a racetrack last year, then briefly replaced it with an identical silver one, but when Deiter, the owner of the Triumph shop, recently offered him this 2010 Tiger with bags and hand protectors at a discount, well, there went the ST, and Hello, Tiger. When I met him in Wangen today he had a whopping 65 km showing on the odo. We rode for a couple hours down the Danube River Valley this cloudy and cool first Saturday afternoon of the riding season. Temps started out at 12 or 13C, but dropped as the afternoon turned cloudy. By the time I broke off and soloed home (Manfred was travelling to an overnight with his new girlfriend) it was quite cool. The cold currents trickling into my helmet made me laugh to think that I might ever want to remove the wind dam come summer. Around 5pm, almost all other moto-traffic was gone for the day, and it was their loss: the sun dropped below the gloomy clouds and illuminated everything in glowing pastels for the next hour, an old master's landscape painting come to life. So, to y'all who went home early, you missed the best part of the day! Amazing how much most people miss in their lives in the effort to avoid a minor bit of discomfort, ain't it? So you get a little cold. Big deal.
Here's Manfred, a.k.a. Mamfie the Tiger Tamer. (He's a damn good rider, BTW, despite his toss.)
And don't forget Ol' Blue there, who's been in my garage six years next month. I can't think of a serious reason why I'd trade in on anything else. No bike I've ever owned has made me so happy for so long. Result!
