I rode trail as a teen in the Port Perry area. I always wanted to buy a road bike but my parents wouldn't let me: when I moved to California for grad school I told them I was going to buy a bike and to stop me, they bought me a car.
Fast forward thirty years, and I was spending last summer/fall working from the cottage due to COVID when I realized it would be the perfect place to have a bike and I no longer needed my Mom's permission. Did the M1 test the next day, took the course for the M2 at Georgian College a week or 2 later. Looked at bikes but no insurance would touch me until one ticket came off my record in February.
Since February, after agonizing over bikes (came close to buying a Ducati Scrambler, BMW G310R, Harley Street Rod 750, MT-07, a 98 Triumph, etc. etc.) I thought I had settled on either a Svartpilen 701 or the new Triumph Trident 660. I made a 2-h trip to a dealer who sold both, only to find he had just sold the 701 before I got there, and the wait time was unknown for the Trident which I knew I couldn't bear. I was practically begging the guy to sell me *something* but he couldn't prep a bike faster than 2-weeks.
The next day I was in Stouffville and saw a 2020 Z400 which I really liked. They could prep the bike within a few days so I sat down to do the paperwork. Maybe 20-seconds after I signed my name, I get an email from another dealer saying he had a 2019 Z400 for $1000 less. I felt sick.
Anyways, I should be picking up my new bike on Wednesday. Insurance is lined up. I live in downtown TO but I will be keeping my bike up at my cottage primarily. If anyone knows of very relaxed riding groups that meet up anywhere in the Orillia/Gravenhurst area, let me know !
Fast forward thirty years, and I was spending last summer/fall working from the cottage due to COVID when I realized it would be the perfect place to have a bike and I no longer needed my Mom's permission. Did the M1 test the next day, took the course for the M2 at Georgian College a week or 2 later. Looked at bikes but no insurance would touch me until one ticket came off my record in February.
Since February, after agonizing over bikes (came close to buying a Ducati Scrambler, BMW G310R, Harley Street Rod 750, MT-07, a 98 Triumph, etc. etc.) I thought I had settled on either a Svartpilen 701 or the new Triumph Trident 660. I made a 2-h trip to a dealer who sold both, only to find he had just sold the 701 before I got there, and the wait time was unknown for the Trident which I knew I couldn't bear. I was practically begging the guy to sell me *something* but he couldn't prep a bike faster than 2-weeks.
The next day I was in Stouffville and saw a 2020 Z400 which I really liked. They could prep the bike within a few days so I sat down to do the paperwork. Maybe 20-seconds after I signed my name, I get an email from another dealer saying he had a 2019 Z400 for $1000 less. I felt sick.
Anyways, I should be picking up my new bike on Wednesday. Insurance is lined up. I live in downtown TO but I will be keeping my bike up at my cottage primarily. If anyone knows of very relaxed riding groups that meet up anywhere in the Orillia/Gravenhurst area, let me know !
