I picked up my sprockets & chains today from Two Wheel Motorsport. I then had a chat with Craig, who works there and was the head instructor on my motorcycle course at Conestoga College last year. He mentioned the used bikes upstairs (TWM goes on and on, be sure to wander around if you go there). I was interested in a Kawasaki Concours they had on sale because it's a sensible touring bike. Craig mentioned 'upstairs' when I was asking about used bikes. I didn't know they had an upstairs. After getting my parts I went up and found a couple of dozen bikes and no one around. Since I was looking for a sensible touring bike I immediately found this and took this:
I'm really bad at trying to be sensible. I ended up buying my current Ninja because of the way it made me feel rather than the sensible KLR I was going to get. When it comes to buying an appliance like a car I'll be sensible, but a motorbike isn't about being sensible and I don't want to waste my riding time on bland compromise.
I met John the salesman and we finally found the Concours out back. It's not as big as some other touring bikes, but my knees are still pretty bent on it. Short of getting some sky-scraper adventure bike I'm going to be bent legged on a motorbike, especially if it's as road-centric as I want it to be.
I suspect the answer still lies in not trying to find a bike for all things, they don't exist. Instead, a couple of really focused bikes that do different things would do the trick. Instead of trying to find an athletic road bike that two-ups my son easily, get a machine that caters to time with him and another for solo forays.
The other day a guy road by on a Triumph with a Rocket Sidecar. I've still got a thing for sidecars. Uralling or Royal Enfielding up would cover the vintage bike itch as well as the weird sidecar itch in addition to creating a very friendly shared riding experience with my son. The other bike could be some kind of bat-shit crazy single seater that focuses entirely on me alone on the road (or track). Or a café racer...
I'm glad that Concours made a big wet noise in my imagination when I saw it with its C.H.i.P.s style windshield and acres of plastic. A sudden, irrational urge to own it didn't follow. What it did do is clear up an important point: don't compromise on what you want a bike to do for you, you'll only end up disappointed.
John the salesman told me the story of a kid who missed the bike he fell in love with by twenty minutes and ended up with tears in his eyes over it. If I'm going to move on to another bike, it's got to be a tear jerker. I didn't get into motorcycling for sensible, I got into it for an emotional connection to my machine. Fortunately, that bonkers bike choice isn't crazy expensive. An '06 bike with only 2400kms on it costs less than $7000 from Two-Wheel.
For another $7k I could pick up an almost new Versys and go about getting it kitted out with a cool sidecar from Old Vintage Cranks. It'd be one of a kind on its way to being a multipurpose outfit that I could customize indefinitely. For $14k I'd be into one of the most powerful two wheelers ever made and a truly unique go-anywhere 3-wheeler.
My cousin-in-law posted this on Facebook. Funny how the proliferation of bikes is a common theme. Few people are happy with just one, probably because one bike can't do it all and if you love to ride you probably want to ride in as many different circumstances as possible.
I've posted several times on bikes that have caught my eye and after realizing that there is math to support this I'm going to do it again!
Based on the bikes I've sat on at various shows over the winter these are the ones that felt special or stood out for me. Given a chance I'd love to test ride them.
A big, naked Kawasaki Z1000
I wanted to love the Triumph Street Triple, or the Suzuki Gladius, but they felt on the small side. I was also keen to try the Yamaha FZ-09, and while it fit ok it didn't offer much in the way of an emotional charge.
As far as naked bikes go there was only one that felt special, and that was the Kawasaki Z1000. The big, newly re-engineered Kawasaki has a kind of bonkers ode-to-Japanese-anime look that really gets to me. That it also fit me nicely and offered an astounding openness (the dash all but disappears into the fairing), made it a love at first sight experience. I'm still a few years away from a litre bike, but when I'm ready, this one is on the short list.
A need for speed
I went to shows this winter thinking I'm all about the adventure bike, but they aren't what got me going. Sure, sitting on the big Ewan McGregor adventure BMW felt grand, but it didn't really get me excited. I've always been a sports car goof, I guess I'm the same way about bikes.
What surprised me was sitting on the Suzuki Hayabusa. This was another big bike that felt like it was proportioned right for me (6'3" 230lbs). The mystical reputation of this speed machine as well as its visual presence surprised me. It isn't a rational response (the BMW was much more sensible, which is saying something), but sitting on the 'Busa felt special.
That sport bike appeal rocked me again when I sat on the Kawasaki ZX-14R. With Testarosa strakes over the air intakes and the way you fall into the bike, it quickened my pulse. Once again, not a rational decision, but the emotion couldn't be denied.
I still want to expand my riding repertoire beyond sports bikes, but as the weather starts to warm up and the Ninja looks at me from the garage, I find myself not wanting to give it up for some blatting adventure bike that feels like it's on stilts. I intend to find my way to a day or two of off-road training because it's a good way to better understand the physics of riding, but that feels like a rational choice, what I want to do is get some track time in.
In the future I may have a couple of three bikes in the garage. I hope I'll love each one in a different way, but it looks like the sport bike may have a special place in my heart. I guess I'm going to have to come to terms with being a big guy with a sports bike addiction.
