I sell them

TJ Skrobot, Balderstones, Peterborough

“It’s weird. When they came out, there was a long wait — maybe nine months — and we sold loads of them. We couldn’t get enough. Then they fell out of favour for a couple of years, maybe because other manufacturers jumped the bandwagon, but now they’re selling really well again. Especially used — to be honest they’re still quite a lot of money new. Though having said that, I sold two used Scramblers and a new one just today.

“It doesn’t seem to matter which model it is - they’re all popular, though when the Racer came out everyone said; ‘Wow, that looks amazing’ then came back from test rides saying ‘Ouch, my back hurts...’ For me it’s the Urban that I always come back to if I just want to get out for a ride, without all the ESA and electronics and whatever you get on a GS. I think that’s a lot of the appeal — it harks back to a time when you’d just you turn the key, push the button, turn the throttle and ride, instead of scrolling through menus... The Urban and Pure have the same exhaust can by the way, and it’s the best exhaust note of any standard can especially on left handers when it resonates and reverberates off the road.

“There are no specific problems with the R ninets. The old 1170 engine is a well-proven unit. When I look at one for p/ex, I’m looking at general condition - it’s got to be pretty much immaculate for us to be interested. These mostly only do a couple of thousand miles a year so there’s no excuse for not keeping them clean, and people generally do look after them well.”