Stella in the Pyrenees : Biking: Stella has Left the Pyrenees!

We came to biking later in life, in our late thirties, a midlife crisis perhaps? I'd seen bikes on the road of course, and had usually pitied the riders having no option but to choose a cold, dangerous and exposed mode of transport. And then we made some new friends who rode bikes for fun. Well, I do fun! We met these guys skiing at Winter Park in Colorado where we spent a lot of time together chasing down the pistes at speed and playing off-piste amongst the trees. If they thought that was fun, then maybe motorcycles were worth a pop, too.

A natural, I was not, being demoted from a geared bike to a moped for my Compulsory Basic Training and still falling off that, but passing the course. I made it to a little geared 125cc four an intensive four day course which culminated with the test on the final day. I was just too slow to get my head around the bike - I need to think things out and practice then think again. I failed the test so while my partner passed and went out and bought himself a big bike, I settled for an ancient 125, a set of L plates and a summer of practising, and took a faultless test a couple of months later.

It was time to go bike shopping! And then I discovered the awful truth - I'd never realised it before, but it would appear that I'm a short arse, and the majority of 600cc bikes were just too tall. In desperation I sat on the other Half's Fazer and took it for a little ride around Sainsbury's car park. Having not fallen off or crashed it, and being just about able to touch the ground on tip toes both sides, I bought a second-hand unfaired version, the FZ6n.

Compared to the old 125 this big bike went like a rocket, and despite many mishaps lived up to her name of Stella. Stella taught me how to ride a big bike (and how not to) and things got better after she was lowered by softening the suspension, and then again with a replacement rear shock. She came to France and we've been up and over the mountains to Spain many times, but after almost ten years it was time to say goodbye.

Stella (on the left) up at the Col d'Aspin

Things have moved on since I last went bike shopping, and now there was a whole range of potential rides for the short of leg. Again I sat on a few and read a lot of reviews and eventually took a Yamaha MT07 out for a test ride. I'd nearly dropped one the first time I'd sat on it, having got so used to hauling Stella off her side stand, this one was so light I nearly went straight over the other side!

On the road the bike was almost as easy to handle as the 125, being so light and narrow. The twin cylinder 698cc engine has a smaller brake horse power than Stella but has so much torque the ride is just as quick, if not more so. Indeed the MT stands for Master Torque! Within five minutes of the test ride I'd decided this was the bike for me, and being able to ride round some twisty hairpins a mere ten minutes from the dealer allowed me to feel how easily this bike turned in.

My partner had a ride too, and having declared it was a load of fun he signed up for the 07's bigger brother. The MT09 was duly bought a week after the French lifted their ban on bikes with a power output over 100bhp, and for a moment I was tempted by the bigger engine. But for the riding we do, I don't need the extra oomph, and it was only the smaller frame size that made the 07 unsuitable for my partner.

We've had the new bikes for two and a half weeks now and because of the cold and wet weather have only managed 500km so far, but I already know that I made the right choice.