Ready to roll

I got the bike back from Izmir today. It has new brakes, new battery, new oil, and is fully serviced. It also has a rack which means we can get some luggage on it. Summer is coming, the weather is really nice most days and the bike is ready to roll.

Whilst waiting I chatted a lot to staff at the dealership, this was fun, my limited Turkish, their limited English. We agreed that parts in Turkey are expensive. They suggested I get parts on ebay and said they would fit whatever I bought. There was a certain amount of admiration of the bike by the sales staff and mechanic, they liked the fuel injection system and air intake, and some of the other added extras, including the handlebars and risers. I think they liked the bling as well, much of which I am fairly indifferent to. It was also good to build a bit of a relationship with the people there.

The bike itself is a bit tatty in places, it is a 2005 FXSTI (Softail Standard) so has gone through 6 or so winters in Istanbul. Bits of the chrome are going, but this is cosmetic, and will in no way make it dangerous or impact on performance. I might at some stage do something about the more tatty bits but I really am in no hurry to do cosmetic stuff. More important is getting the grips changed since they are not particularly comfortable. Iso grips are being considered.

Performance wise I pushed it a bit harder on the way back from the service, I was reluctant to do this earlier since the brakes were in urgent need of replacement. There is loads of power and it runs really well, easily as good as the old bike. With the changed from stock bars the riding position is very similar to my old bike. The windshield is the one we brought from the UK, it sits a bit lower, does not give quite so much protection. Overall, I’m really pleased.

Very Nice Bike! But could the license plate get any bigger???? Glad to hear that that you are enjoying the bike. Pop in a little more often....

Hey Ashley,
What do you mean when you say Turkish winters are hard on the bike? I thought it was rather hot and dry there, unless you're right along the coast.

Have you experienced any American-haters while riding such an iconic bike there?

Yeh Johnny, I should.

Winter can be cold and wet in Istanbul. I bought the bike in March, it was raining most of the time and 3 or 4 degrees above freezing. It snowed a couple of times. There can be damp cold for much of the winter months. The bike had been in Istanbul for 5 years or so.

Here south of Izmir on the coast we have a far more pleasant climate, the sun shines for months on end.

I have found Turkey and the Turks to be a very welcoming towards foreigners. I guess like anywhere there can be exceptions, but I have never encountered this sort of thing.

Nice bike, Ashley! I never understood why license plates were so big on the other side of the world. Good to see you back and that you are riding.

Izmir, Istanbul.....
I had to google em to find out where they where. Looks like pretty cool riding tho.

What ya doin in those parts?

We retired from the day jobs, sold up everything in London, UK, and moved to Turkey. Not only is the climate considerably better here, but there are some fantastic roads to explore.

Thanks Chuck, I guess I have more stuff to post about bikes and riding now. We spent most of 6 months without access to a bike.

We have a blog about our new life here in Turkey. It is here. Much of it is not bike related. You can use the categories tool to select 'bike' and only see the bike related bits.

Hilary says hi.

Sounds cool. Are you still able to collect your pension and healthcare in Turkey? I'm sorry if I'm being nosey. I'm just curious and learning something. Such as, I never thought about visiting Turkey. Not that I'm a world traveler or anything.

Our pensions, yes. Healthcare wise we have had to source local health insurance.