Ok, decision made!

First off, no, I did not buy that bike.

That Ninja belongs to a local guy who also frequents the
Ninja 250 Rider Forums . He had made a post detailing the new pegs he had put on his Ninja. He also has handlebar risers and a beaded seat pad so I was curious as to how much of a difference it made in comfort. I had set on several Ninjas and thought I'd be ok on them but after sitting on a Versys, I was quickly aware of the difference in comfort levels between the two bikes.

However, a $1000 Ninja versus a $7000 (or more) Versys is a big difference.

So, I sent the Owner a PM asking if it was possible to meet up and let me sit on his bike and see how it felt. He agreed and even told me I could ride it.

So I did. Three times. And every time I am sure I had a big goofy grin on my face. I didn't take it on any open roads, keeping it to a parking lot at the local Vo-Tech school (where they also administer the MSF class...) but it was an absolute blast.

The handlebar risers made a huge difference between this Ninja and other Ninjas I have sat on. There was no pressure on my wrists at all. The lower pegs and seat pad made a difference, too, I'm sure but the first thing I'll do when I buy a Ninja is install some risers.

So, riding the bike? Well, in the past I have said I don't get people that say 'Oh, I outgrew the power of the Ninja 250' or 'Well, whwen you are going 80, you need to have more power to get out of the way' and other goofy things. I didn't ride the Ninja very far or very fast but I am sure it has plenty of power and plenty of speed for me.

The highest rpms I hit was 7500, highest gear was second and I was at an indicated 35-40. So, I was no where close to redlining the bike, nowhere near highway gears and was doing 40mph. Nice.....

All I know is when I do buy a Ninja (soon! Final inspections THIS WEEK!!!), I will wear a full face helmet to hide the goofy grin from the Seller. That way I might be able to barter on the price a little :)

This will not be pretty!

Check out this Craigslist ad (it's totally safe for work)


R1 motor wanted for go cart!!

Seriously, what are they thinking?

Life is good (Three reasons why...)

Reason Number 1:

My wife and kids are happy and healthy. Jen had some fairly major surgery a few days ago and came through fine. It was stressfull but it also sort of calmed me down from worrying about things I have no control over. Now that she's ok, of course I'm right back to chomping at the bit wanting to murder someone over the continuing saga of getting our building ready that was promised to be ready NOVEMBER 1, 2007!

But even that is on the horizon, hopefully by the end of the week. I am not holding my breath, though, having already missed 10 previous dead lines.

The kids are also doing extremely well, growing up happy and loud. Lots of loud, but a lot of happy, too.

You really don't need any reasons other than that to say life is good, but I promised three reasons so the other reasons follow below.

Reason Number 2:

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

I watched the Hall of Fame game. Football is here! I love this time of year for many reasons, the promise of cooler temperatures, the upcoming holidays and yes, the arrival of football. Although FSU has fallen far from the dominance we once had, this area is still football hungry. Football is my favorite sport so I am always happy when the season finally gets here.

Add in that I absolutely love fantasy football and it is even more exciting. I'm going to win my league this year!

Reason Number 3:

The Long Way Round and The Long Way Down.

Wow. Have you seen, read or heard of these movies, books, trips? Long story short, Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman (google them if you don't know who they are) took off from England going east, all the way around the world. They had one guy riding with them to film it and had a support crew that met them at borders.

Check out the wiki. Now, I know that their trip and planning and everything are far beyond the reach of most people, but it still all boils down to two guys on two motorcycles. Sort of. And if you read the ride reports at Adventure Rider, you see normal Joes like you or me doing some incredible riding all the time.

I had heard of the TV series a while back from my buddy Glynn and caught some of the episodes on the Fox Reality Channel (the Long Way series is the ONLY thing worth watching on that channel) and DVR'ed them. I had three or so episodes in the series and watched them and thought it was great.

But with the showing of The Long Way Down, they reaired the first series and I DVR'ed all of them and finally finished watching them this morning.

My first thought of the series is how normal Ewan and Charley are. I knew who Ewan MacGrwegor was from seeing him in the Star Wars series. He was also in Trainspotting, and other movies. Charley Boorman is the son of film director John Boorman and has also been in several movies, including 'Deliverance'.

All that aside, watching these two and reading the first chapter of the books, I was struck by how normal and laid back they were. Of course, all of that could have been carefully crafted by some PR firm in New York but it was cool seeing MacGregor on the side of the road in Mongolia, ad libbing in his best Jedi Knight voice, 'These are not the bikes you seek...'

Another thing I really appreciated was seeing what Mongolia and Kazahkstan looked like. I'll never set foot there more than likely, but it was very cool to see what it looked like.

There wasn't a ton of riding in the series but it was still well worth watching. And again. And again. Take a look if you can.

Well, reason number two is sort of selfish and reason number three is definitely selfish but with what we have been through the last 10 months, they are still reasons to get a little happy.