Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Thu, 02 Apr 2009

Perspective

I was preparing to depart for the day a few days ago, and debating my choices. I've been a bit under the weather this week, so I've been motorcycling to work instead of bicycling. The day would be long, including a morning errand, then riding to work, then after work riding up to the theater on Capitol Hill.

I looked between my two choices. On the one hand, the Ninja 250, my trusty "modern" bike. On the other, my new-to-me '73 Honda CL175. Eventually, I decided on the Ninja as being the bike I'd rather see sitting out in the rain (the CL didn't have air filters installed, and I didn't want rainwater trickling down into the engine).

What was weird was the thought that occurred to me once I had reached this decision: "No, I'd better take the big bike."

Ok. The Ninja 250, the girliest of girl's bikes, is now the Big Bike.

Let's review, shall we? Peruse with me my wall of bikes. Down there, in the middle of the page. There are ten motorcycles listed.

	First off (I know, they're in an odd order, I'm not sure what I was thinking), my very first motorcycle, was a 1982 BMW R65 LS. This stunning powerhouse made around 50 HP from the factory, which means when I had it, it was probably making about 45, given age and infirmity. It weighed about 450 lbs.
	Next up, we have the 1995 BMW K75, which saw me through a surprising number of miles. This bike actually was a bit of a powerhouse, making around 90 HP, but it also weighed more, at nearly 530 lbs, or more like 550 once it had all the sidecases and fairing attached.
	The next contender was my 1983 BMW R100S, which was actually an R100RT with a funny fairing added. Looks good in that picture, doesn't it? It wasn't quite so delicious by the time I got it rolling out of the freight facility, a journey which I wrote about at the time. The R100 produced around 60 HP, and weighed about 500 lbs.
	My next motorcycle was also my first new one, a 2002 Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans. Neat bike, all the character of an old BMW, but brand new and amazingly stiff (a good thing). It made about 90 HP, and weighed in near 560 lbs, and was the largest-displacement bike I've ever owned.
	We'll skip the Goldwing sidecar rig, since a sidecar and a motorcycle share almost nothing in common from a riding perspective. I will say that this rig weighed around 1000 lbs, though.
	My next bike was something of a revelation. I had been wanting a Ninja 250 in a sort of vague way for years. I finally got one, and was impressed -- but not by the power. The Ninja 250 makes about 28 HP, and weighs in at around 350 lbs. (All weights, by the way, are in the fully-fueled, ready-to-ride configuration.)
	After that, I went a little crazy, and decided that this inline-4, 750cc bike would be a great choice. The 2005 Kawasaki Z750s. My second new bike, it was probably my least-wise choice. It was sold before I'd had it a year. It produced around 84 HP, and tipped the scales at about 460 lbs.
	This bike, the 2006 Ninja 250, is the first bike from this list which I still own. In fact, this is the bike about which I thought, "No, I should take the big bike." This little 350 lb, 28 HP pipsqueak has become the "big bike." Lightest, lowest-power bike I'd ever owned, up until...
	The 1973 Honda CL175. (I'm skipping the first CL175, since that's a race bike, and it doesn't really count in this tally.) This pavement pounder was purchased about a month ago, and given the compression, I'd guess it's making around... oh, call it 10 HP. With some tuning and timing and adjusting, I can probably get it up to 11 or 12. Ride-ready weight? In the neighborhood of 275 lbs.

Yes, when you get right down to it, size really is a matter of perspective. The Ninja 250, a bike which 99.9% of US motorcycle riders would consider a little tiny girl's bike, is now my "big bike." And ya know what? I really like it that way.

Posted at 22:43 permanent link category: /motorcycle

Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net.