I got's the DT's !

BOY this little bike sure gets around!  Waaaaay back, right after the last Ice Age, when I still had my motorcycle shops in the Maritimes, I brought in this here DT 50 LC (for liquid cooled).  That was 1989.  She's the only non human survivor of the marriage break-up, and last remnant of my shop.  I've kept her in good shape all these years and she's been a surprising performer.

DURING the first dozen years of her life, she saw little action.  Lisa rode it on the Forestry Trunk road up to the YaHa Tinda federal ranch, when she was visiting from the east coast at age fourteen.  Did a great job too, bouncing along, changing gears, up and down on a notoriously rough piece of gravel roadway.  The kid's a natural and I should know.

Not only am I her father, but as Chief Instructor for nearly 18 years, I saw plenty of students pass (or fail) through the National Motorcycle Training program.  I'd say in my humble estimation, that about 5% of riders are 'naturals'.  By that I mean, they sit and act like they belonged on the bike.  Take Holly for example, she learned how to ride at a young age (5 on a PW 50) and is a very accomplished rider, but her ability comes from learning, paying attention to detail and applying her skills.  She likes to ride whenever she gets a chance.  Lisa on the other hand, shows little interest although once we're out on the Island, she may ride my little dirt bike around a bit.

Burnt out forest outside Okanagan Falls 2003

SINCE my collision in 2002, and subsequent lengthy pseudo recovery... I took the 49cc LC, 6 speed, 8.5 hp cutie out of mothballs with just slightly under 1000 kms showing on the clock. After gearing up, we proceeded to ride the little beast over a thousand kilometers of varying terrain in central B.C. for two weeks, during the worst fire season on record in the province. The little bike carried my around the Okanagan Valley and into some terrific but rough country in the back roads of Nakusp.

see CB April 2004 "British Columbia, on 49cc a Day" 

Wilson Lake West Kootenays 2003

SHE struggled in foot deep sand, climbed with the engine red-lined in first gear, right to the mountains tops, 8000 feet overlooking Wilson Lake.

I'VE kept the bike, trained many a rider on it, including several girlfriends, both my girls and spent time on her myself too. 

Another time, the little bike rode the rack to Baja, where we spent several weeks exploring in the Giganta mountain range, where Mille riders roost rocks! 

YEP... we've been around. Funny, even now with limited space and having to narrow my riding herd considerably, the tiny little trail bike, still holds a place of reverence in the stable.  Once we are settled I am going to teach Brenda to ride the little steed, and when I have company, the street legal 90 kph dualie will come in handy.

WHILE on the Island these last few weeks, I did have an opportunity to take a ride around the area where we will be living out our years.  Too bad the crappy weather followed me across the country, the day I chose had a lull in building activity while the concrete set in it's forms, but didn't reach the advertised 10C... nope. Warmest it got was 7 maybe 8 degrees and a stiff wind was blowing from the NE.

IF you've ever found yourself riding a nifty fifty, even one as 'powerful' as this, you know that even with six gears and a 10,000 RPM red-zone, a bit of uphill or stiff breeze Nor' Easter, tend to scrub off speed earned with lots of revs, very quickly.   Never the less, we managed to ride around for the better part of several hours, taking in the sights, snapping some photos with the trusty Olympus and generally behaving like the bumblebee hooligans we are.  (Insert huge grin at this point).

JUST goes to show you... you can have just as much fun on a dinky toy motorcycle as anything else.  It's really a matter of your frame of mind. It's just about the most fun you can have on a motorcycle with your clothes on!