P55B "Lydia"
Somewhat hot.....
This bike is probably the third or fourth P55B ("F1 Sports" in England, "TT" in Germany) out of 67 P55Bs built that I had, the others being demonstrators/press bikes.
After I sold the last press bike I wanted a P55B again, and the opportunity arose when Lydia's female owner rang me, claiming she was pregnant and had no further use for the bike.
I grabbed the opportunity, knowing this was one of the nicest P55Bs I had ever ridden, and bought the bike for myself.
The reason why I knew the bike well was that the Lady owner had had constant problems with the bike overheating- a problem we never found with it.
We really tried as hard as we could, but whenever I or my then mechanic Tobi rode it, "Lydia" was well-behaved and really nice.
As soon as we gave it back we could bet the owner would ring within 24 hours about the bike overheating.
No doubt this constant problem was a major factor in her decision to sell the bike.
This bike has now returned to the UK and registered for UK Roads.
After I sold the last press bike I wanted a P55B again, and the opportunity arose when Lydia's female owner rang me, claiming she was pregnant and had no further use for the bike.
I grabbed the opportunity, knowing this was one of the nicest P55Bs I had ever ridden, and bought the bike for myself.
The reason why I knew the bike well was that the Lady owner had had constant problems with the bike overheating- a problem we never found with it.
We really tried as hard as we could, but whenever I or my then mechanic Tobi rode it, "Lydia" was well-behaved and really nice.
As soon as we gave it back we could bet the owner would ring within 24 hours about the bike overheating.
No doubt this constant problem was a major factor in her decision to sell the bike.
This bike has now returned to the UK and registered for UK Roads.
Somewhat hot.....
This bike is probably the third or fourth P55B ("F1 Sports" in England, "TT" in Germany) out of 67 P55Bs built that I had, the others being demonstrators/press bikes.
After I sold the last press bike I wanted a P55B again, and the opportunity arose when Lydia's female owner rang me, claiming she was pregnant and had no further use for the bike.
I grabbed the opportunity, knowing this was one of the nicest P55Bs I had ever ridden, and bought the bike for myself.
The reason why I knew the bike well was that the Lady owner had had constant problems with the bike overheating- a problem we never found with it.
We really tried as hard as we could, but whenever I or my then mechanic Tobi rode it, "Lydia" was well-behaved and really nice.
As soon as we gave it back we could bet the owner would ring within 24 hours about the bike overheating.
No doubt this constant problem was a major factor in her decision to sell the bike.
This bike has now returned to the UK and registered for UK Roads.
After I sold the last press bike I wanted a P55B again, and the opportunity arose when Lydia's female owner rang me, claiming she was pregnant and had no further use for the bike.
I grabbed the opportunity, knowing this was one of the nicest P55Bs I had ever ridden, and bought the bike for myself.
The reason why I knew the bike well was that the Lady owner had had constant problems with the bike overheating- a problem we never found with it.
We really tried as hard as we could, but whenever I or my then mechanic Tobi rode it, "Lydia" was well-behaved and really nice.
As soon as we gave it back we could bet the owner would ring within 24 hours about the bike overheating.
No doubt this constant problem was a major factor in her decision to sell the bike.
This bike has now returned to the UK and registered for UK Roads.
Only after I bought it the mistery was solved- by another customer. He observed when he forgot to shut the choke as the bike warmed up the bike would start overheating.
I checked and hey presto- the Lady had forgotten to take her choke out, that was all. And that was also the reason why we had never encountered the problem, even on the most blistering days.
Lydia has just been rebuilt, having been thrown off the road in a rather dramatic incident by my inexperienced nephew.
Before he managed to throw her away she became yet another- like many bikes from our stable- magazine test machine
in a comparison test between some real exotica- Honda oval piston, Bimota Tesi and Norton TT.
I checked and hey presto- the Lady had forgotten to take her choke out, that was all. And that was also the reason why we had never encountered the problem, even on the most blistering days.
Lydia has just been rebuilt, having been thrown off the road in a rather dramatic incident by my inexperienced nephew.
Before he managed to throw her away she became yet another- like many bikes from our stable- magazine test machine
in a comparison test between some real exotica- Honda oval piston, Bimota Tesi and Norton TT.
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