Hi from the North East

[KatanaAl]

Hi,
My name is Alan and I live in a small village to the West of Newcastle upon Tyne. I’m taking delivery of a 60 plate black Dynamique S on Tuesday afternoon and the weather forecast up here is fantastic, fingers crossed. The car is in beautiful condition inside and out with lovely leather heated seats.
I’m not really a car man and have been a lifelong biker with a 1200 BMW, a 1200 Yamaha and a 900 Yamaha in my garage.
I just fancied a convertible for the summer months for a bit of fun, I’m retired so plenty of time to get out and about. I didn’t really want a ragtop with the associated problems of maybe having it vandalised when you park up although I very nearly bought a lovely bright red Smart Roadster that was on sale locally. Decided to go more mainstream and I liked the look and the idea of the Wind. Hate the name and have been telling my friends I am getting a Renault Roadster.
Cheers
Alan

[Barbs]

Hello and welcome Alan.
When you pull up in a car park and put the lid on it's amazing how many looks it attracts. Same happens when the lid cones off, especially if your next to a rag top having to fiddle with catches.

[Bullyboy]

Alan welcome to the club. Only had mine 4 weeks and pleased.  Similar situation to you (but not the bikes !) and glad I bought one.  It's put a smile on my face.   How many miles you have on it ?  Hopefully handover etc went/goes well

[KatanaAl]

Hi Bullyboy.
The cars done 42,000 miles and comes with a full service history. I checked the MOT history and everything checks out fine. It failed it's first MOT for coil springs which seems like a common fault and the garage I'm buying the car off put it in for a new MOT and it failed for brake discs, a tear on the inside of the front nearside tyre and the nearside main beam wasn't working. I'm pleased as it proves they are completely genuine or I will be when I collect it on Tuesday afternoon and check to make sure that all these items have been sorted. The car comes with 12 months recovery, 6 months warranty, a full MOT and a service.
Alan

[Bullyboy]

Alan excellent looks like they will sort out the issues.  My had 40,900 miles on it and came through Renault uk and they did a decent amount of work on it prior to me buying ( see my other posts). Decided on mine to buy a new front tyre to match the new one the dealer put on rather than having one at about 35% left.  Replaced the wiper blades and headlight bulbs just to bring it up to spec that I was happy with.  
After that gave it a good polis and wax and general inside out clean.  
Keep up posted.  Had the roof off today and my 6 year old with me and both enjoyed a little ride round in it in the sunshine.

[Barbs]

5 years and still love being topless.And this week has made it even better. Wind is spotless (clean after trip out topless yesterday). KA didn't want to upset hm so he got a polish.

[Araf]

I can't believe you have Katana in your username, but no Suzuki in the garage!

Welcome to the forum.  I'm also a life-long biker, but seem to get out on them less and less.  Not being able to use them for the daily commute any more doesn't help.

[KatanaAl]

Araf,
Had to get rid of my Katana 1100SD a couple of years ago as the rearsets were playing hell with my knees. Had ten Kats over the years.
What are you riding.
My current bikes are a Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere, a Yamaha MT09 Tracer and a super cool BMW RnineT.
I'm retired so no problems getting out and about. This year I've been to Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republik and been right up the West Coast of Scotland.
Cheers
Alan

[Barbs]

@KatanaAl
Have you done the Haydon Bridge to Penrith road it's rated as one of the best in the world and not far from you. We did it a couple of weeks ago and it was fun. We were in the Wind

[KatanaAl]

Barbs,
Yes, many times, up to the Hartside Cafe for tea and bacon sarnies and then down the otherside to Penrith and on to the Lakes. The Hartside is a bit of a bikers cafe so an alternative stop is the Village Bakery in Melmerby. I've been all over Europe on the bike and done all the passes like the Stelvio and the Grossglochner and I think they are overated. Best road in the UK for me is in Scotland, the A87 from Invergarry down to the Kyle of Lochalsh passing Dornie Castle and then on to the Isle of Skye.
Alan

[colin565]

Isle of Skye is midge world, but glad you liked Scotland 

Anyway, You saved yourself from "a fate worse than death" by not buying the Smart roadster.

I have been a Smart car fan since 2003 and my wife and I have owned a 450 Fortwo, a Roadster soft top and now at present have a 451 Fortwo. The Fortwo is a brilliant and dry wee car, but.....

The roadster unfortunately was the worst Smart car of all for faults, the two years we owned it under warranty it was never out the garage for repairs.

They are hellish for rain water leaks, from roof, from front bulkhead, from door mirrors, from door speakers, from boot. Rain water can get in and destroy the cars computer, it soaks the carpets, its forever damp. If that is not bad enough there is an inherent fault with the steering rack that has an interferance fit which causes it to make noises when on bumpy roads, which feels rather unsafe. 

We had the leaks and a new steering rack, and got shot of it once the two year warrany was up. Lovely car, brilliant to drive but faults galore, pity.

[KatanaAl]

Colin,
I did have concerns from reading about the cars on the forums and didn't want a money pit. The car I went to see was very nice and completely dry. It was stored in a garage and only driven on dry days. I know that they don't really thrive on this but it did look lovely in red. The black bits had been colour matched and with the silver it looked stunning. The wheels had been refurbished and the seats recently recovered. In all honesty it was a stunner, but there was that doubt in my mind.
Alan

[colin565]

Good car as long as it never rains 

Funny thing was that I would have bought red (I love red) but for the grey plastic surround bits round the lights were rather cheap looking, so I went for yellow as it had black surround bits which looked far better....

 

[LukeC]

Got excited then as i thought youd brought my old car but mine didnt have heated seats (from memory)

[KatanaAl]

Well they said it had electric seats, I am picking it up tomorrow.
If it was yours I hope it was reliable, I'm never sure about putting number plates on forums, 60 plate and finished RXB.
Alan

[colin565]

The buttons for the electric seats are rather hidden under the side of the seat, and were a cost option.

I never got them even though I have leather seats on my Wind.

[LukeC]

Damn not mine; seemed about the right mileage too; it wasn't bad; had a coil pack and some sparks and that was all; MOT with No Adv - had it from 22K to 42K - Spent a good majority of its time up and down the motorways at 3.5K

[Dr@gon]

welcome m8

[knebby]

Hi
Up for the Lake District meet at the end of September?

[KatanaAl]

I saw that and would have loved to come along but will be in Menorca on holiday. Have done all the passes in the Lake District, the Hardknott and Wrynose are pretty hardcore, the approach to the Wrynose is hard work in a car, it's even hard work on the bike, very narrow.
Alan

[Barbs]

Well there is one in the Borders first week in September

[KatanaAl]

Barbs,
Would certainly be interested in that one, just checked it out and Berwick on Tweed is only 50 miles away. There are some great little villages on the Northumberland Coast, Alnmouth and Warkworth are fantastic, Eyemouth just over the border is great and Kelso a little bit inland are all lovely.
Alan

[Barbs]

@KatanaAl
You just talked yourself into a meet. Synchronised roof opening. Only joking we did that at Chatsworth with 7 cars but beat it on France with 22 Winds. Lol

[KatanaAl]

Picked the car up this afternoon and it was beautifully presented, gleaming paintwork and immaculate inside. The top was off and my daughter and I headed home along the Newcastle Quayside, the traffic was very slow and the temperature was 31c. Took almost an hour, think we both have sunstroke. Driving West I noticed or rather couldn't see any of the instruments, the conditions were exceptional today. Going out after tea for a run around the Derwent Reservoir. The car should know the way around because the last two service stamps in the book were from Consett. Just a quick question, the matt black roof and panel behind look slightly faded in comparison with the rest of the car, any suggestions what to use to bring it back up. Thanks.
Another happy owner.
Alan

[ElNumbre]

Regarding not being able to see the dials, seems to be a 'feature'.  I've taken to driving with dipped headlights on so at least the rear dial is illuminated, but even that isn't great. If I can get a cheap replacement set of dials, might replace the illumination with white leds.

[Barbs]

Graham and I grew up just outside Durham City,  I did a sailing course at Derwent when I was at school it is up there with one of the best things I ever did.

[Bullyboy]

Glad pick up went well.  Yes with roof off instruments are hard to see.  I have used some armour all black restorer. It's come up better but have used it twice now.  Probably needs a couple more treatments.    Not sure the panel will ever look like new again but the treatments work pretty well.  Good luck

[Araf]

Araf,
Had to get rid of my Katana 1100SD a couple of years ago as the rearsets were playing hell with my knees. Had ten Kats over the years.
What are you riding.
My current bikes are a Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere, a Yamaha MT09 Tracer and a super cool BMW RnineT.
I'm retired so no problems getting out and about. This year I've been to Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republik and been right up the West Coast of Scotland.
Cheers
Alan

That's the problem, I'm not riding anything.  I looked in the garage, about a year ago, and I realised everything was getting very old.  It's a long way from the start of March 2003, when I picked up two new bikes from my local dealer, and then a new car from the next town.

So, it's more a case of what survived the cull as I was well into double figures.

Gas Gas 125 Observed Trials bike - a friends grandson's championship winning bike from National Youth Trials.  I was sponsoring him at the time, so gave him the money for another bike and said I'd hold onto this one until he was in a position to have it at home himself.  19 wins from 19 starts, so I didn't want the bike disappearing into obscurity.

Yamaha RD200E  1973, and near identical to my first proper bike.  It's only done 5000 miles in its whole life, so in good original condition.

Gas Gas 250 Trail bike - one of those new bikes from 2003.  It's had a full rebuild, so ready to go, but I haven't competed for about 10 years, and I hardly ever go green laning.

Suzuki SV650 from 2001.  It replaced the 1999 one that I blew up on the way bach from the Nurburgring.  GSXR suspension and brakes, Dymag wheels and a lovely Corbin seat.  Other 'better' bikes have come and gone, but this has always been my favourite.  IMHO it is a better bike than the RC45 I had for a few years.

MV Agusta F4S 2001 750.  One of the second batch to arrive, and a fantastic bike - but it beats me up when I ride it.

Finally, a Kawasaki AR125 that I bought last year.  I just wanted a little fun again, and found a very good 1986 full power bike that needed recommissioning.

All are now out of MOT and SORN'd, but I'll get back to them one day.

[KatanaAl]

Araf,
This was my last Katana. Sold it a couple of years ago after owning it for about five years.

[Araf]

Very nice.  They're not the standard wheels though.

[Sponsored content]