Hi to All
From the heading, some of you might have realised I’m originally from sunny South Africa. I've been here in the UK for the past 10 years with my wife, Tash, and two kids, Dylan (16) and Megan (13and3/4 LOL!)
I've been registered with a few forums in the past, and I think the old foccers forum was one of them.
But here's my Fazer history....
My whole life has revolved around bikes, as far back as I can remember bikes have been in the family. I had to sell my collection to afford to come over to the UK, 2 X Yam RD YPVS 350's, RD125, RM250, YZ250, KTM250, KTM500 and RGV250VJ21, but the Yam500 came with me.
I was only here about a year before I bought my first KTM640, (I refered to it as a heavey turd) and sold it a few months later, only to buy another KTM but a 300cc 2-stroke this time. What a lovely bike. I regret selling it. But it was from that sale, I bought my Fazer1000.
The actual reason why I now have a Fazer, and the reasom why we came to the UK, is because my son has Anglemans Syndrome and Great Ormond Street Hospital wanted to see him yearly, so we sold everything up in SA and came here. And we're loving every minute of it. Thankfully my work is international so a company transfer was arranged and 10 yrs down the line, everything's still going well.
My son was 6 years old when we arrived and had no interest in bikes, but as he's grown older, his fascination for bikes has increased where he now wants to go riding.
So I had to arrange (and sell) a few things to get him in a seat.
He's in a wheelchair, so it would have to be a sidecar, and he's +80Kg, so the bike would have to be strong enough to pull us both (and the sidecar would need a few adjustments to suit his needs).
So the KTM300 was sold (Oh! I miss her soooooo much...) but I keep telling myself it was for a good cause. So the search for a suitable bike started.
The Fazer was found and bought in the pub after a few beers
, it’d been crashed and the insurance wanted to scrap it, but the owner at the time said no. So he didn’t put it through his insurance, he started to rebuild it himself. When I say started, what I mean is that he bought the new panels for the bike, top and tail faring and that's about it.
It’s a 2005 model with the black frame and motor, first registered in Aug 2005. The cost was £2000.
Once the bike was back at my place and had a closer look, there was a bit more damage than first meets the eye. The bottom front engine mount was bent, and bottom front engine mountings broken, the steering stem was also slightly bent (I couldn’t even feel this on the test ride??? And, no, it wasn’t after a pub visit). There were a few other small bits that required attention that I managed to sort out myself. But after an extra £500 thrown at the bike it’s come out OK and turned into a brilliant bike. I love it.
The sidecar was another story, but to cut it short, it’s a 1975 original Squire sidecar that I’m busy modifying to suit Dylan’s needs.
I now have the sidecar mounted on the Fazer and we’re reaching that point where I can take him on his first ride, the sidecar's mounted, the electrics are complete, the seat belts are in, A new screen is in my garage, and it’s just passed its MOT. So it’s registration time, and then onto the road!
The next big hurdle is getting a helmet on him LOL!!! We’ll have to wait and see what he thinks about that! LOL!!!
And that's where I am at the moment. Yes it's taken 3 years, but as you all with familys know, these things can be put on the back burner sometimes.
But if Dylan, for whatever reason,does not like it, the sidecar can come off and I'm left with a smashing bike to ride (or sell it to get my 300 back)
Thanks for reading that, and I hope to chat with you all soon.
Andrew (and Chairman Dylan)
