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I still had the bug to ride and my mountain biking wasn't quite an adequate substitute. Many of the areas that I
used to ride the XL200 were still available to ride on if you had a quiet, street legal bike. I went looking for
a XL200 or XL250 (there I go, trying to re-create the past again) , but wasn't having much luck with the budget
I had. I ended up getting this bike instead. It didn't have too many miles on it and I thought that since it was
a four stroke dual sport, it would be about the same as my XL. That turned out to be a bad assumption. For one
thing my "old" XL was actually a year newer. For another, the Hondas were better at that time.
The bike had a bit more power than the old XL, but it handled strange. I felt low, but really long, like trying to
turn a short forked chopper. I still didn't know anyone that rode. I rode it a bit the first year I had it, but I
didn't prepare it properly for winter (I had to store it in my parent's unheated garage that was 10 miles from
where I lived) and it wouldn't start the next spring. I didn't try too hard to get it going so there it sat. I was
content to ride my mountain bike. Towards the end of the next year, a guy I worked with asked me about it and ended
up buying it from me. He got it running pretty quick. It was in good shape, the carb was just plugged up. As of 2002,
he was still riding it, although he told me parts were getting pretty hard to find.
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