Member: Susan

Summer 1997: I gave up on the family thing for uninteresting reasons and started borrowing a colleague's backseat.
Autumn 1998: I bought the bike of him.
Spring 1999: I got my license.

My Yamaha XV535 then

It was great when I bought it. It got beautiful after numerous changes.

My Yamaha XV535 after

Me and my little bike have been through a lot together. Engine breakdowns in 2000, 2005 (engine replaced) and 2008. Endless winding roads travelled with the world's best person, and the coolest club members.

I love the curves in France!

But it couldn't go on for ever, so one Friday in August 2015...

"To be bolt, or not to be bolt"

"But aren't you happy?", the sales man asked me, when he handed me the key to my new (really new!) bike. "No, not really…", I said, almost crying. When you have taken care of something for 17 years, polishing it every winter, washing it every summer (okay, in reality, Chrome washed it almost every time for the past many years, but you can't let him know that I admit to that), and you were already planning its 30th birthday in 2017, it seems unnecessary hard, almost cruel to sell it to a stranger. And selling to someone known, is not possible, because then you would have to watch it NOT getting taken care the way, you have always done.

I am getting happier for my bolt, thanks to that it is a wonderful easy bike to ride and handle. And all the admiring looks it get everywhere. Even when together with a Harley. Yes, Yamaha have definitely done it again. It is a winner. Also thanks to the nice talks with "fellow-also-bolt-riding" ladies. Yes, it may be a ladies’ bike, but only because too few bikes are made for little women! I will get happy again, I know that. See you out there.

Or maybe on the dance floor where we love to "take it away".

"Fred & Ginger"