![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/F8DDFADA-0F14-4E1F-84A4-ED89F408050D_1_105_c.jpeg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBarley three years later I was coming home from central London on the tube and popped out at Stanmore. Catherine was due to pick me up in the car but was running late. I spent the time looking at some bikes outside a little garage under the arches and before I knew it I’d bought a fabulous little red Vespa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve been riding that all over the shop for the last three years and have been having a blast. My latest big run was up to the Priest and Deacons retreat in Walsingham, Norfolk. It was on that ride that I think I knew in my heart that it was time for another big bike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had a play with a few configurators on various websites but it wasn’t until I joined in with the 59 Club<\/a> for their ride from the Ace Cafe down to Westminster Abbey for the annual blessing of bikes<\/a> that I actually saw a bike that I utterly fell in love with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we rode into town I sat behind an Aprilia Tuareg 660<\/a> – the brand new mid weight adventure bike that is causing a storm in the adventure travel market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was solid on the road and was clearly happy in the traffic and the stop start avoidance of a large number of bikes on busy roads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I got home and immediately googled the bike<\/a> to discover dozens of reviews that confirmed my observations on the road and went further to say it was brilliant in the dirt and amazing in the twisty a-roads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed forward two weeks and after much agonising (and negotiating) I’ve put a deposit on it. It’s due with me in the coming weeks. I had a test ride last Saturday and it produced the biggest smiles I think I’ve ever had on a bike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I can’t wait for it to arrive and a new chapter in my biker life to begin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I watched my XT660 be taken away on the back of a trailer in 2016 I instantly knew I’d made a dreadful mistake. I wasn’t riding like I had been – that was mainly because my son had been born at the end of 2012 and my time at home was suddenly far more … Continue reading “New bike, new rides.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelondonbiker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"