While doing other errands I was thinking why did I want a 2nd bike, and the truth is as much as I’ve enjoyed owning the trophy 1200/4 (since new in 2002), I’d stopped wanting to ride it, it was becoming a chore to get out of the garage, it was hot to ride in the summer. In the last 20 odd years I’ve enjoyed wildlife so I go to reserves/areas in the country where some roads are no longer proper roads, I’d scrapped the belly of the trophy a couple of times and it was always a 10 minute job deciding where the flattest piece of stable ground was to park it up. I’m also starting to suffer from arthritis, so the clutch was becoming painful to hold in traffic, my neck was aching after 40 odd minutes riding. So I was looking for a lighter bike, with little or no fairing, easy to maneuver, light clutch, more suitable seating position, but something that could still be loaded up with luggage and pillion and that I could go on an adventure with.
I looked at tigers (too tall), bonnies (T120 felt too heavy, T100 just right, Speedmaster, a beauty, Enfield interceptor, seat a bit short, finish a bit off, Himalayan load capacity too low…). Anyway that’s my reasoning for a 2nd bike.
So clutch is lovely and light on the meteor, tick, seating position suits me perfectly, tick. I can now ride for 2 hours until a numb bum sets in, but 5 mins off the bike and I’m ready to go again. I no longer feel like an old man crippled by arthritis when I get off, needing 30 mins to recover only to succumb to pain 20mins down the road…
On the demo model it had a black royal enfield fly screen fitted and I hadn’t noticed a problem with wind at 60+mph, but on mine once run in I was getting beaten up by the wind, so added the fly screen. I still can’t believe that little thing works so well, but I guess it must be something to do with the low seating position.
The gear lever is a seasaw type affair, toe down to shift down, heal down to shift up. I wasn’t sure about it at the start and found it awkward, but now the brain is used to it, I love it.
The finish on the bike seems very good, the switchgear is nice and positive and just works. I like the tripper navigation that is included as standard (it’s a bit like the beeline but with a few more detailed arrows. The software on the phone limits you compared to google maps but there are work arounds if you don’t want to take it’s default and only route. I don’t use it a lot because it needs data on your phone and I’m pay as you go so seldom have data enabled. But I’ve used it around England, Spain and France and it worked fine with my phone.
One drawback while it’s in it’s 3 years warranty is that the servicing is every 3000 miles and so far seems to be around £250-300 a pop, however my dealer does change the oil/oil filter every 3000 even though it’s only required at 6000 for the warranty, but I’m happy with that as it only takes just under 2 liters.
Fuel economy has been great in these expensive times, running hard on the mway 2 up at 65mph I’m dropping to the high 80’s low nineties, but generally, I get mid 90’s to around 105mpg, so the tank range before the fuel light come on is often around 200miles (better than my trophy) and I only seem to get around 10 liters in when filling, so I guess it’s being cautious as it’s supposed to be a 15 liter tank.
Over the 4000 miles it hasn’t used any oil that I can see and hasn’t developed any oil leaks, I’ve gone around checking bolt tightness etc and nothing has come loose. What surprised my was that on the recent 2000 mile journey I didn’t need to adjust the chain, I started off at 25mm, and it’s now around 30mm, the book says 25-30mm.
Ok it’s getting a bit long winded so I’ll take a break and have another think. Let me know if there are any specifics you’d like answerring.