For the first spring in recent history, except last year, I do not own a motorcycle. There is something that happens in my pea-sized brain when the snow melts, the sun comes out, and temps rise into the 70’s. A love of mine that sits dormant in the winter suddenly comes back into my head and bugs me to death. I start trying to justify how owning a motorcycle could save me money (it won’t), how I need a good hobby (there are less expensive ones), how much fun Missy and I would have riding it (we never get any free alone time), and how much my daughters want me to own and keep a motorcycle (well, score one for the kids). Delaney always says she wants me to keep one, that “Daddy only likes motorcycles that are broken”. There is some truth to this, I tend to buy bikes that need work, fix them up and ride for a summer, then sell them.
My 1979 Yamaha 750 Triple was my favorite for the “old school” factor. These were dubbed “Triples” because they were unique in having 3 cylinders. To the best of my knowledge, only the Yamaha XS bikes and the Kawasaki Sceptre ever had 3 cyclinders.
While living and working in Florida in 2004, I bought this 2001 Kawasaki ZX6e Ninja as a theft-recovery bike. It needed a lot of work, which was fine, I had a lot of free time and needed a good hobby. I restored it to almost perfect condition and rode it to work almost every day. It was probably the fastest and best handling bike I ever owned, but only kept it for about 4 months. Because I was so cramped on the bike, I could only ride it about 10-15 miles at a time.
I have owned many other bikes over the years, including a 2001 Harley-Davidson Sportster, Suzuki Katana, another Ninja that I never rode, a Suzuki XS1100, Yamaha Virago. My first bike was a 1987 Suzuki GS450 that I bought new after graduating from high school. I learned to ride on a friends Kawasaki KZ400 when I was 16.
I could go on forever about motorcycles, but would probably drive my wife nuts if I rekindle this hobby. She is not real big on bikes, but hey, opposites attract, right?…