Sellers Remorse

I don’t really know why I sold the bike.

“It” is such an impersonal reference, yet I have trouble attaching a gender to a mechanical thing. With enough time and miles in on a bike it’s inevitable that one will begin to sense the machine has a personality, that certain activities are favorable to the bike and it rewards the rider with an enjoyable experience. The unfavorable activities usually result in being tossed on the ground, but either way the bike will often take on a life of its own becoming…female. Still, there’s something weird about assuming a motorcycle is a girl.

The 450 waiting out a rain storm at Kennedy Meadows CA a few years ago.

“It” was a KTM 450EXC manufactured in 2003 and originally purchased by a good friend of mine in Las Vegas Nevada. After a year or so of not riding it enough to justify the space it took up in the garage I was presented with the opportunity to buy the bike, which I did.

I bought it for my oldest son David to ride. He had been on a worn out KX250 that was consuming more money and parts that it was worth. He ended up riding and racing the KTM a little until I decided that I needed a newer bike myself and took it over (he ended up on an 05 450MXC shortly after).

Any motorcyclist worth his leathers knows that half the fun of owning a bike is bolting stuff onto it, particularly when the cold of winter confines one to the garage. I was no different. The 450 received a whole list of fun farkles; Rekluse auto clutch, GRP steering damper, Baja Designs dual sport kit, revalved suspension, some minor motor mods, etc., etc. When it rolled out the next riding season it felt solidly like My Bike.

It was set up to be the perfect singletrack machine, capable of covering miles and miles of the gnarliest technical lines you could toss at it while still being a comfortable desert sled. It seemed to thrive on the rocky, rutted, rooted trails found in the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges of Utah, and rocked the sand washes of Caliente Nevada. We did several Nevada 200’s together, rode the sandy trails at Kennedy Meadows, and when it was made (barely) street legal and got a license plate, made the occasional trip to the post office just for kicks. Not once did it break down or leave me stranded. I don’t think I ever even got a flat on a trail with it.

So why on earth did I sell it a few weeks ago?

2009 KTM 505XC-F...can a dirt bike be sexy? Ummm...yes.

At the time I justified selling it by thinking that I really needed a new bike, an 08 or 09 KTM 505XC-F. Now I’m not so sure.

Would a brand new bike provide any more thrills or happiness than the old one did?  Probably not. The friends I know that have new KTM’s swear they made them better riders, that there really is a difference between a five year old bike and a new one. I’m not so sure. What I am sure of is that I miss seeing the 450 sitting in the garage waiting for the next ride. The two of us shared a bunch of adventures and covered a lot of miles together and while I know she’s in great hands with her new owner, she’s not mine anymore.

I usually find it odd to assign a gender to a motorcycle.