I finally seem to be closing in on a bike – hurrah!

I have found a fifteen year old Suzuki Marauder 250 being sold by a motorcycle shop in the city of Granada, about fifty kilometres from where I live. Buying a motorcycle (actually, doing just about anything…) is more complicated here in Spain and my low level of Spanish doesn’t help. However, I think I’m sorted and I hope to collect it next week.

I have been to take a look at the bike and it doesn’t look too bad given its age and the fact that it has done 40,000 kilometers. It has a few lumps and bumps and someone has tried to cover up corrosion by over-spraying it with silver paint, but otherwise it seems reasonable, the tyres are good and it has no obvious leaks or other issues. Most importantly, it feels great – not as small as I expected and really quite solid. The seat seems very comfortable and the footrests are well forward for rider and passenger, leading to less stress on our elderly knees.

For those who aren’t aware of it, the Marauder GZ 250 was launched in 1998 and it has a 249cc, SOHC, single-cylinder, two-valve, air-cooled engine which produces just 20 horsepower. The engine is taken from the GN 250 which was first built in 1981 and it uses a single carburettor and chain final drive and is mounted in a cruiser type, twin-shock frame with a single disc brake at the front and a drum at the rear. All pretty basic engineering then, but that’s just what I wanted. The engine has a good reputation for reliability, it’s said to be capable of around 75mph and, more importantly, 80mpg, but we’ll see if it can really do either of those things with two people on board.

Not the actual Marauder I have been looking at, but virtually identical other than for a back-rest.

It also seems comfortable for Julie on the back – an important issue because she’ll be there for most of the long journeys. I did buy a bike many years ago, a Laverda 750S, which was great with one person on it, but basically useless with two – I won’t be making that mistake again! The Suzuki also comes with saddlebags and a backrest, the two accessories I wanted for touring.

The total price is €800 which includes the cost of using a lawyer to draw up a contract for the sale which comes to €130-150. So, the bike is actually costing around €650, not a lot of money and well within our budget. Buying a motorcycle in the winter here in Spain, as in most places, means that prices are good especially from motorcycle shops which are struggling to maintain cash-flow. It should also mean that if we do decide to sell it later, we should be able to get our money back.

Now that I may be close to actually getting a bike, I’m feeling very nervous indeed. I haven’t ridden anything bigger than a scooter since 2013 for one thing. For another, I’m wondering if the whole notion of touring on a 250 is just silly? Well, there is only one way to find out…