Photo was taken by Phil of me on the Vulcan (that is his bike in the background) at Badin Lake on December 23. After a few days of rain, got out and enjoyed a nice ride-sunny as you can see, temperatures in the 60's which is really, really nice for late December. Enjoyed a fine ride, hit some backroads and that is fun especially considering the "getting off from work and last minute shopping" holiday traffic near the malls. Badin is a very nice old town, and enjoyed that along with a ride though Rockwell, NC. Nice two lanes past farms, fields, and small businesses....covered close to 80 miles.
Phil and I met up at RideNow which is located in Concord, NC. Had to keep driving off salesmen- I know you guys are in the business of selling bikes, but I already got one from you a while back, and its fine. Also fine is the Kawasaki Ninja 250. Did you know that is Kawasaki's best selling motorcycle? Well it is, and with good reason. A nice vertical twin engine, easy maintenance, remarkable gas mileage, and a stone cold reliable engine. Great bike for a beginner, or for someone looking for cheap, reliable and fun transportation. Honda has joined the 250 types with its new single, and Suzuki also makes a nice 250 as well.
I had a Yamaha 350 a few years ago, this is the FZ-1 (1 as in 1000cc) but liked how it was done in the old Yamaha racing colors (though as I remember my RD-250 was yellow). A nice bike, not a sportbike but what is known as a "naked" or standard. Has a more upright riding position than the sportbikes, and though it uses a sportbike engine, it is de-tuned from those types. It also has less fairing than the sport bikes, which saves on repair if it falls over, and also makes jobs such as changing oil easier. Good compromise between raw naked power and also has a much more comfortable riding position.
I am rather fond of the Vulcan line (as I ride one) and these are two nice cruisers. At the left is the Kawasaki Vaquero (which means cowboy in Spanish) and to its right the Kawasaki Voyager. Both have 1700cc engines, V-twin, and water cooled. The Vaquero is a "bagger", while the Voyager is a full out touring bike along the line of many of the HD line, though not as equipped as the Honda Gold Wing. On either of these motorcycles long distance touring would be a piece of cake-they would take you anyplace you would want to go-coast to coast without a problem.
Finally, this is a Kawasaki ZX-14. I am 99% sure this bike is a modified version, but it looked too sharp to pass up. The 2012 version of this bike is currently the king of horsepower, having been designed to out muscle the famous Suzuki Hayabusa. A detuned version of the ZX-14 is the engine used in the Kawasaki Concours sport touring motorcycle. Kawasaki unlike many of the other Japanese manufacturers has been both upgrading their older bikes as well as coming up with brand new models as well during the current recession. The are currently the best selling Japanese brand of motorcycles in the US.
So, thought I would share some of the bikes that got my attention today, and also a photo from the ride today. Plan tomorrow is to get out again, this time to roll into Charlotte, NC...one of my favorite places to ride, and one of my favorite cities in the region. That will be the subject of my next post!
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