As I watched a practised leg bring the combined gear/kick lever back, first pressing it into the engine cover ever so slightly and then lightly kicking the motorcycle to life, I wondered, 'Why the hell did I sell my Roadking?' That one act embedded into these Czech-origin motorcycles was enough for what they call FOMO these days to descend upon my mind. To me, though, it's always been a thick curtain weaved from regret that results from letting go of a motorcycle for good. Or perhaps it was for the worse. Anyway, the beautiful motorcycle being kicked to life here was a Jawa Californian, a motorcycle that had once been the inspiration for many daydreams while my Roadking was being rebuilt. But those dreams were shelved in favour of a safe and straightforward restoration. Ah, well.
What I wasn't prepared for on this day, though, was falling hard for the tiny Yezdi Jet. I'd ridden one many years ago, and this maroon example of miniature two-wheeled Art Deco design had me hooked all over again.
And then my eyes went back to the Californian, and I realised that this day was going to be a lesson in bisected distraction, my mind the hapless ping-pong ball between the two machines. And that was before smoke kept wafting from the exhaust tips of the motorcycle even after it was turned off, a sight so captivating that I forgot to take a video of it. That's how you know you've got something really worth watching, no?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2024-Ausgabe von Motoring World.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2024-Ausgabe von Motoring World.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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