Small is B I G!

Elsee

I've always believed that smaller is often times better.  Let's say for example, you're going to be shot out of a cannon, you'd certainly want to fit in there now wouldn't you.  You wouldn't want to get in  down to your waist and then get stuck, would you??  That shot of compressed air would blow your head off!

I have several small bikes.  By small I mean less than would be commonly accepted.  After all, we live in North America where BIG rules, supposedly.  Just take a look around you next time you are at the Golden Corral or any gathering of cruiser bikes.

Not photo shopped, that's the real Baja CA

Last year I'd geared up my diminutive Yamaha DT 50.  It's got a piston the size of a golf ball.  No one but an ant would call it big or overweight or colossal, nope.  By pretty much any definition amongst motorcyclists it is small.  Smallish wheels, a little 420 drive chain, weight right round 168 lbs (I weigh 150) and horse power, say maybe 7.5 at the crank.

On the other hand, it's got 6 gears, a reed valve and a Y.E.I.S. boost bottle, (ten points for anyone knows what that is) a red line set at 10,000 revs, and a propensity for getting around on small trails.  I've ridden the little DT (stands for "dinky toy") on a huge adventure over three weeks in forest fire ravaged British Columbia in 2003, into the Laguna Giganta mountains of Baja in 2006, and of the many bikes I sold prior to the move east, it's one that found a home in the cargo trailer.

Ready for anything we wuz!

I also have 2 125's a 175, 2 150cc scooters and 2 Honda C 70's and a Yamaha 225.  I even have a 23cc (okay its a weed eater, but still small counts) The biggest of my small bikes is a 350!  See what I mean, I like small.

Layton tells me that since his last years inspection of the little DT... I'd covered 3 km!  I immediately vowed to triple that!

Yeah, I didn't have a lot of time last season with trying to finish things on the house the contractors were supposed to do but didn't (I wouldn't hire Doc's construction ever again!)

Then of course there was the extensive renovations on our little old apartment building bought last May.

Back in Baja

The little liquid cooled wonder is almost fast enough for PEI roads and certainly was fabulous when I rode it in '03 and '06 on my mini adventures.  In fact the other day, on my first ride on her this season, I saw 94 kph on the clock on level ground, sitting up and with the tachometer 100 rpm into the red zone.  Eighty kph shows 9000 revs!  Not exactly the "ton" even if you stretched the truth and called a ton 100 kph instead of mph...

Could this stand for "Dinky Toy?"

Okay, realistically the cruising speed is right round 75k, but again... during my previous trips, I had little need for more than that.  I wish I had an '83 DT 125 L/C or an '84 DT 200... but those bikes are hard to find and most have been trashed and thrashed into an early grave.

For now I am looking at some rather ambitious rides on the dinky toy.

Kazue on the Powderface Trail

I met Zack K today, dusty, err... trusty dual purpose small bike guy from CanadaMoto Guide magazine online, for a coffee at where else... I threw an idea out to him, of my plans for a thrilling upcoming planned adventure ride.  He was all ears, nose and throat looking on in amazement at the prospect of my pulling this one off.  I can't divulge much at this point but it would involve some REAL MILEAGE... say from Toronto to Alaska...

Busy little bumble bee is she

There... I've said too much already.  Anymore and I'd have to kill you all, right.

Stay tuned in upcoming blogs.

Amusing is the right word!!