Recent Toys

I can't very well trumpet the short-lived greatness of my first bike without a nod to the machine I just parted with. After all, I only had the ZX1000 in Germany for a couple weeks before the accident. I owned this '86 ZX900 for four years and put on a lot more miles -- most painfully, a four hundred mile (one way) road trip to Ohio. I had expected a minimum level of sustained comfort for a seven hour ride that the bike could not provide for longer than 45 minutes. Ouch.

Lesson learned. But carving up back roads or enlivening the morning commute was right up its alley. As much as I'm looking forward to a torquey American V-Twin, there's nothing quite like the smooth and wide power band of a Japanese in-line four cylinder. It's Formula 1 engineering at a Volkswagen price.

With that, I could almost talk myself out of a Harley except for one thing -- I've ridden one. Now I have to have one. Besides, it was like pulling teeth to get my wife -- who loves to ride -- on the back of the ZX. If it's even possible, it's more uncomfortable for the passenger than the driver. A nice saddle on a Harley is inviting enough for a day's worth of relaxed comfort.

So I am not only between motorcycles, but schools of thought as well regarding riding style. The next bike will be a Harley -- because I've wanted one for so long, even though I could surely get comparable quality and price with other American manufacturers like Indian and Victory.

Someday I will probably have another crotch rocket -- or at least a sport touring -- because every now and then I'll need my adrenaline fix and nothing beats the rice bikes for fast-acting, long-lasting, white-knuckled thrills.

But I've heard that sky diving comes close.

Old Toys

With all of my lamentations about my two-wheeled shortage this season, I can't help but remember the machine that got me into motorcycling. Pictured above is my first bike. Well, not exactly -- the picture is of a 1989 Kawasaki ZX-10. In 1993, I purchased a 1989 Kawasaki ZX1000 while in Germany. Same bike, different name for a different market, I suppose.

But the picture is accurate down to the color and the stripes. Did I mention it was fast? Way too fast, in fact. I took it on the Autobahn and twisted my wrist as far as it would go. I don't know how fast it would have gone -- I chickened out at 160mph.

A friend owned the previous year's ZX-10 that he tweaked. With both of us on it -- we were both around 200lbs -- he sent the speedo somewhere north of 190mph on our way to Denmark one fine day.

Of course it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. I didn't, but suffered a couple fractures and some gnarly road rash after a clueless driver cut me off at 120mph -- actually, I was doing 120, he was probably doing about 70. I walked (slightly limped) away, but the bike didn't make it. I was told that the crash was quite spectacular. It's a shame I was too busy tumbling down the Autobahn to really enjoy it properly.

So now I'm at the point that I'm ready to make the lateral move from sport bike to cruiser. I still love the crotch rockets, but most of them aren't made for comfortable, long distance cruising. And I'm just not in that much of a hurry anymore.