With Ragnarok i already figured out i like some offroading but didn’t knew how far i liked it but it was more than Ragnarok could handle, or better said than i could handle with Ragnarok.
It probably is a bit of both where Ragnarok’s weight is more than i can handle and the lack of suspension travel would limit Ragnarok.
Anyway, there had to come another bike for some offroad going beyond a gravel or dirt road but still could handle some distance on a limited budget.
That’s where Ecstasy came into my life and we did had some fun but you know the story or can read it back.
On the research for that fun YouTube was the place to go and every time the new Tenere (the T7 or T700) showed up. This bike was before it came on the market a long (3 years) awaited bike in the all- offroad community after Yamaha showed it as a concept bike.
I want to do more offroad and go further to get to the good stuff but Ecstasy does handle the road quite well but the necessary highway to get further without losing too much time for the fun stuff not so.
The T7 does that much better but offroad it does everything also better than the XT660Z and even with an extra cylinder the stock T7 is 4 kilo’s lighter than the stock XT660Z.
Wanting to do a bit more offroad and coming across al the great reviews i felt more teased dan researching and getting myself in some gnarly situations on the Balkan trip where Ragnarok’s weight made me a bit nervous a few times i just had to check it out for myself.
Second hand they where not available (yet) and new even with the very sharp prices just a bit out of reach.
Except one. A 2020 with just under 3000km’s on the clock, an upgraded bashplate and stock heated grips for a nice price…. hmzzz….
I called if it was still available and made an appointment for a test-ride. At that point not sure if the hype is justified but i do like it and i want it but they didn’t want to trade in any of the both bike i own due to the kilometres on the odo.
The salesman didn’t want to speak out what he was allowed to give for them and having the money to pay for it but that meant i would have very little back-up money left so the dream fell apart.
It was a Saturday and he could give me until Tuesday to try and sell one of my bikes private as there where more people interested, so i went home and put Ecstasy online.
It was a long-shot but worth the try but it didn’t work out so i had to let the T7 go by.
Thursday i discovered i had a bit more saved up than i thought and that changed it a bit making me think, wonder and doubt all night.
In the old days i would buy it on the spot after the test-ride but my ex learned me to be a bit more conscious about money.
I’m sure Ecstasy will be sold and until then i still have some back-up money in my savings account and that made me just do it.
Still have some doubts if it was a smart move but we live in a strange world at the moment and who knows what the future will bring us and also the wish to move to South Africa is part of the decision.
Today i picked him up, left home at 7:20 to take the bus to the train station followed by 2 trains and a 2km walk to the shop where i bought him.
We put the GPS mount in place for a nice ride home i made hoping the internal battery of the Zümo XT would last long enough.
On the way home i made an unplanned stop to do the first adjustments which i should have done before leaving the shop.
The levers where as usual positioned way to high, even for seating let alone standing up and the throttle cable had to much slack. Both are very common with new bikes and should be part of a standard setting up routine at the delivery of all bikes.
First pics away from the shop guess another mod to come Tools out….
But what about the name?
Well… As a metal dude there are many songs revering to the old Norwegian gods just as Ragnarok comes from the Norse mythology.
At first i wanted to name him “Tracklord” because i want to ride some nice offroad track with him but after Googling this name it turned out to be a bicycle brand and thinking about Ragnarok and the many references to Norwegian Gods and Norse mythology in metal songs i just translated it and that’s how i got to “Sporherre”.
I also put in some tracks in the route and got him dirty already.
The ride home was a blast and i think we will become good friends, on to many more mud and dirt.
A forest track First ride, first dirt
Mooi man, goed bedacht en onderbouwd!
Dat je er maar een boel stof en zand mee mag laten opwaaien 👍
Bedankt, was wel even een uitdaging een goede naam te bedenken.
Het hele verhaal nu wel gelezen ;-), leuk hoe je weer een naam bedenkt voor de T7.
Er gaan vast nog meer leuke verhalen komen, have fun ..
Bedankt.
Gelukkig kent mijn creativiteit geen grenzen en met een naam is uitvoering tenminste geen beperkende factor.