An old 1994 model KLX300.
And the owner converted it to fuel injection in his garage about 18 years ago...
I love seeing old motorbikes like this.
It shows you don't need the 'latest and greatest' to have fun in the dirt.
And this provides a great start to my latest rant about motorbike
'shootouts', and those ridiculous 'motorbike of the year' awards.
Advertisers know how to get inside our heads.
And this stuff is great clickbait...
"Which was the best enduro motorbike of 2018?"
"We compare the 300 two strokes and let you know which is best!"
"Here are our top five brands of anodised fuel tank caps".
In many cases, there is money changing hands in the background.
The winning manufacturer takes out lots of advertising in the magazine.
Or in online magazines, the manufacturer's ads start rolling in the side panel.
And some so-called reviews just regurgitate the manufacturer's advertising drivel.
And they pretend they wrote it themselves...
Of course not all magazines, bloggers and influencers are bribed like this.
But many are 'bribed' to varying extents...
and it pays to be very sceptical nowadays.
if you do look hard enough, there are guys of telling it like it is...
like Trevor Hedge of McNews.
To paraphrase sections of his editorial:
What a total and utter crock of feces this motorcycle of the year stuff is....
and the regular ‘Top Ten’ type drivel.
Need to curry favour with a distributor?
Come up with a category where you can give them
an award without shaming yourself too much in the process, and everyone wins.
Some of the machines chosen are simply so not deserving that they
are just taking the piss out of their readers.
Or even worse, misleading those that simply don’t know any better.
The whole thing has grown into a monumental scam from start to finish.
Then I came across a guy called Chris who said this in one of his posts...
I believe 80 to 90% of motorcycle reviews are complete garbage.
The amount of variables that go into a motorbike review muddy
the water between a 'review' and a 'sales pitch'.
Moto reviews a wholly independent upon the skill of the review rider.
And shootouts? What the [ __ ] does this [ __ ] mean?
Most of these bikes are different animals. It's like comparing a shark to a lion.
Ah I'm feeling better already.
It's so good to have a whinge, whine and a rant regularly.
So in conclusion, get very sceptical when it comes to bike reviews,
magazines, blogs and especially any form or ad.
Remember advertising agencies specialise in using mind games to extract cash from you.
And increasingly this mentality is spreading
through the motorbike industry in subtle, and not so subtle, ways.