Then again, 1000cc is a nice round number....

Well, regardless of what Irondad thinks....

Maybe less is more?

Ever seen a Roketa Scooter Dealership?

I had never seen one in person, but recently, Sunshine Motorsports opened their door in nearby Havana.

I had a day off and no duties at our new childcare, Superstar Kids, so after a nice breakfast at What A Burger (their taquitos are excellent!), I headed over to Havana.

I found their store and walked in. The showroom is full of Roketas! To be honest, except for Glynn's Roketa, I hadn't seen many in person. So, after meeting the owner, Tad, I took a look around. They have several ATV's, including a really sharp looking 250cc but I was there to see the MC 54B.

I must say, the Roketa MC 54B looks very nice, take a look at it here. It's big and comfortable and looked like it was well put together.

After talking for a while with Tad, he offered to let me take it for a ride. I accepted and headed out. It rode very smoothly but the acceleration was a bit lackluster. However, the scooter had less than 8 miles on it and it was not broken in, so I expect that the acceleration would imrove with a few hundred miles on it.

So, anyone thinking of a Chinese scooter might want to take a short trip to Havana and take a look. They also had a number of nice looking 150cc scooters and 49cc scooters.

I wish they had one of the 200cc dual sports, though. I keep thinking that would be a perfect bike to have in this area....

So...about me not understanding the need for a 1000cc sport bike...

Well, ummmm, I can sort of see why people like them now.

Let me explain.

Thanksgiving Day, my family went to my Grandmothers for the traditional dinner. What was different this year was that my nephew had his 95 Yamaha FZR 1000 at her home. Here's sort of what it looked like:



So, after lunch, we head out to take a look at the bike. It's not in pristine shape, but my nephew paid $700 for it and it runs, so it's ok. I sit on the bike and it feels pretty good, even comfortable. He hands me the keys and I crank the bike. I probably shouldn't have done that, but I did so there was nothing left for me to do but take it for a test drive, you know?

I was a bit jittery but the bike was very smooth. Anyway, after driving it a mile or so, I turned around to ride back to my Grandmother's home. I got it turned around and decided to give it a tiny bit of throttle....

After a tiny bit of throttle, I glanced down at the speedometer and saw the needle was only at 20 mph or so. You know, barely off the zero mark on the guage. In the split second it took me to look back up to the road, something registered that I was going faster than 20mph.

A quick glance back at the speedometer showed that although the needle was in the 20 mph spot on the usual guages I've seen in cars and other vehicles, on this particular FZR, it was actually 50-60 mph...

Oh, how much throttle did I give the 95 Yamaha to get from 0 to 50 + in probably three seconds? Well, I maybe moved my wrist a quarter of an inch.

So that's what it feels like, huh?

Maybe my Nephew really doesn't want the FZR?

More motivational motorcycle posters.

These were stolen from a thread at Adv Rider.

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?