Passion De Luxe 1050cc?

One thing I’m immensely proud of and tend to brag about is that I’m a keen motorcycle driver.

Getting a driver’s license for a motorcycle in Sweden is not the easiest of tasks. So I’m proud of my accomplishment and constantly talk about it. For those who are not into motorcycles: Try it! The power and the sense of freedom are intoxicating!

I currently own a gorgeous blue Triumph Sprint 1050 ST. It’s an old model, but it’s mine, and I love it! It’s a sport tourer with fairings and with a semi-forward-leaning sitting position. It’s got the looks of a sportbike but is quite a bit larger and often equipped with detachable bags in matching colours (the fashionista in me shivers with excitement). I feel a little badass driving it. Although my badass image is slightly overshadowed by my Boston Terrier Ellert, usually with me in the tank bag, cool as a cucumber and often with his head sticking out of the opening letting his cheeks flatter in the wind. He’s been riding with me ever since he was 12 weeks old. He belongs on the bike just as much as I do. I have a nifty tank bag that is made for dogs on motorcycles.

I used to work at a motorcycle dealer just outside Stockholm as a sales- and marketing person. One of my duties was to ride motorcycles, oh well….it’s a dirty job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it…. it was a great job! Our brands were Kawasaki, Suzuki, Ducati and Husqvarna. I got to try them all and write about them every now and then. But my heart has always been stuck with Triumph, the street bikes, the sportbikes, the custom bikes. I have owned a lot of them. The only thing I really don’t care that much for is the adventure bikes. Maybe it is because…well, superficial as it might be, they are simply ugly and nerdy! Only old, practical and sensible people own them…(bias, I knooooooooow)

Now, I’m a middle-aged old hag, my body and I am, as of now, not on good speaking terms. I’m treating it like a queen! Exercising, giving it massages, hardly ever walking in high heels anymore. Eating -somewhat- healthy and even doing some Yoga and yadda-yadda, you get it…and this bitch of a body says I’m not allowed to take my Sprint for longer runs anymore because ”it’s too fricki’n uncomfortable”(?!?!) Last summer, I went 550 k (341 miles-isch) in one day for a week’s holiday outside Gothenburg. It took the body two days to recover! They argued a lot, my body and mind, but finally: My mind won; mind over matter… only to realize that I had to go back the same way a few days later…here we go again…

Now, the conclusion is that I might have to take a look at one of those hideous adventure bikes after all. I’m planning a trip through Europe this summer….or I’ll just get a custom bike…or… we’ll just take the car….or…just take the plane…