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2018 Kawasaki Z650: First Ride/Review
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ranetteParticipant
Had my first little scare last night. Nothing serious, and nothing related to the size of my bike. Had been out for about an hour, started out on a very challenging road, if anybody has visited northern Vermont they are probably familiar with a little stretch of road called Smuggler’s Notch, or simply “The Notch,” one of the steepest, narrowest, twistiest roads you’ll ever find yourself on. A challenging ride but I felt pretty comfortable. After working my way through the notch and across a state highway I was heading south on another state highway, one lane in each direction, doing the speed limit of 50mph, about 5 miles from home. I was riding with my friend behind me and was making a point to check my mirrors frequently to get an idea of where he was. All of a sudden, probably about 45 seconds after the last time I’d checked behind me, out of nowhere a car had passed both my friend and I in one shot, probably doing about 85, and with an oncoming car bearing down on this idiot he snuck back into the lane with about a 3 foot cushion in front of me. I’ve been passed before, especially on the scooter, but never by someone who cut so close in front of me. Just the suddenness of it scared the piss out of me. Idiot got stuck behind a minivan and couldn’t pass for the next mile or so before I turned off the road, headed for home, and lost sight of him.
Apart from that things are progressing steadily. I usually manage to get out every day at least for a short ride. By this time of the year most people would consider riding up here a chilly affair, I tend to think of it as exhilarating. I’ll be taking the MSF class in NYC in late November, the last class of the year; we’ll see how exhilarating that gets.
ranetteParticipantCertainly decent upper body strength is helpful, especially just pushing the bike around when not riding. However for recreational riding I can’t imagine that being overweight would be an obstacle. I live on a road where countless bikes ride by every day and I’d say a fair portion of riders would have to be considered out of shape. It does appear as if most riders of sportbikes seem to be in better shape than their cruising brethren.
October 7, 2008 at 5:26 pm in reply to: Where’s Elwood????………I hope you alright out there buddy! #13465ranetteParticipantI could quote the sage Amoryl from a thread long ago, at least in message board years, “I hope that you don’t one day dissapear from the forum, leaving us to wonder if you got tired of us, or if you became a statistic.” God forbid the latter, and of course that is no joke. However, my guess is that the answer lies in the words of another great chronicler of our times, and of Elwood’s home state, Jimmy Buffet, “Some people say that there’s a woman to blame.”
Wherever you are big guy, get off that baby hog long enough to check in and let us know you’re all right. The board misses your unique, and if I knew anything about html tags I’d underline, bold, and italicize the word unique, voice.
ranetteParticipantIn my thread where I outlined how I started on a larger bike, the one thing I neglected to mention is that I stand about 5″6″ and that is on a good day. I will say that not being able to flat foot the bike is something I have to consciously think about from time to time, but it is nothing major. Of everything I’ve had to deal with as far as being a new rider and starting on a large bike, that has turned out to be by far the least worrisome.
When I am at a stop I usually have my left foot flat on the ground and my right foot on the brake. If I need my left foot on the shifter, for instance when I am at a stop and need to put the bike into gear I simply slide to my right, put my right foot down and use the front brake to keep me in place. Sure being able to flat foot the bike would be nice, so would being able to dunk, but I would urge you not to let that one aspect keep you from looking further at the Versys if you think it would suit your needs, or more importantly if it seems to be calling your name.
ranetteParticipantI took a quick ride last night, it was probably in the high 30’s F. Kind of chilly but manageable, then again I was only out for about a 1/2 hour. Realized when I got back that zipping the vents on my jacket might have been a good idea. Oh well, if that was the worst mistake I made yesterday, and it was, it was a pretty successful ride.
ranetteParticipantBob I hope you know my comment was made in jest. We only have one real intersection in town, a 3 way stop, but at this time of the year it is pretty busy, it can be a quite little back up at peak times and my left hand has gotten very tired on a number of occasions. I do try to keep this quiet, but once or twice I did put it in neutral to give my hand a break. No drumming though, apart from my previously mentioned lack of rhythm I’d probably scratch my tank.
ranetteParticipantHey this is a safety oriented site, we adhere to all MSF guidelines, right? I really thought somebody would have jumped all over you for not being in first gear while stopped, the better to make a quick getaway if necessary.
I guess I’m just being picky(and testy) after my first few posts were scrutinized and every little thing that I might have neglected was brought up. Sorry for being a stickler, actually if I had any sense of rhythm I’d probably do the same.
October 3, 2008 at 2:32 pm in reply to: Honda 2009 Lineup out…ABS and Automatic Transmissions!! #13236ranetteParticipantMaybe I have an Italian thing, but if I had been interested in buying an automatic, which I absolutely was not, this would have been the bike.
http://www.apriliausa.com/modelli/road/modello.asp?id=124Looks like a bargain compared to the Honda.
ranetteParticipantInteresting article on this idea, admittedly from a very partisan website.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-mehlman/we-rock_b_131321.htmlranetteParticipantAn elitist is an entirely different entity. An elitist views him or herself as superior to the common man and views them, at worst with disdain, and at best is simply ignorant of their struggles . A member of the elite, at least the intellectual elite from where I believe we should be choosing our leaders, would not necessarily be, and for his or her own political sake, shouldn’t be an elitist. For someone like Barack Obama, who’s mother struggled to give him as much as she was able to, to be called an elitist by a political machine that has championed the folksiness of George Bush, grandson of a Wall Street tycoon, son of a US President and John McCain, descended from two generations of Admirals, is laughable.
We’ve been told there is a culture war between the common man and the elite. I don’t believe so, the cultural elite has always existed and always will. They’ll have more money than you and I, and go to better parties. However those with an agenda to divide and conquer would have you believe that there is a war between the common man and the intellectual elite, the best and the brightest, and that is just not true. This is a country where someone from the most humble of origins can find him or herself at an elite institution, a member of that intellectual elite. Does working hard and achieving goals disqualify someone from being able to relate to the common man? Keep in mind that common man may be their father.
ranetteParticipantThe way that the word elite has been demonized pretty much sickens me. Great example by the way of the way we refer to the Marines. I guess in some cases elite can be a good thing, just as long as your talking brawn and not brains(and no I am not implying that any individual Marine is all brawn and no brains).
I believe it all stems from the dumbing down of our society. For some reason the American electorate have come to believe that because Candidate A(notice I didn’t say Candidate P) reminds them of themselves, their friends, their sons or daughters, that is in itself a reason to vote for them. What a crock of shit! Whatever happened to the best and the brightest?
In my mind elite simply means the very best. I do believe the word that would be more suitable for what the right is attempting to decry is “effete”, which is defined as, “soft or delicate from or as if from a pampered existence”. Is it possible that someone from an effete background might not be well suited to leading a nation as diverse as ours? Possibly, though FDR for one certainly came from a privileged background. However, I guess effete sounds too French to pass muster in the vast mass of Red, so elite is the word, everything we should all try not to be. I repeat, what a crock of shit! For this country to regain the standing, the elite standing, that we have lost, the first thing we need to do is choose our leaders from the elite, the best and the brightest, rather than the intellectually incurious nincompoops who have made this nation a laughingstock and given the world the perception that the American electorate is uninformed and, yes,stupid. I was in England on the morning of November 4th, 2004, the day that George W. Bush was reelected. I purchased a tabloid which I still have, the headline read, “How Could 49 Million People Be So Stupid?” You could say “tabloid journalism”, simply trying to sell papers. However, that is the perception of us beyond our borders. Are they wrong?
ranetteParticipantThank you Reindeer. I’m not too worried about others on this site not taking the time to learn their bike. That does seem to be the theme, or yes spirit, of this site.
ranetteParticipantI did make it to 5th, and If I remember correctly, keep in mind I was keeping my eyes on the road and not the gauges, the tach read somewhere in the range of 3500. I only use 1/4 the capacity of my brain, but I’m happy with that as well, and don’t need to push either of them beyond my comfort zone.
ranetteParticipantQuick update. In my first post I had written that I was probably the only one alive who owned a 150cc scooter and a 1000cc Ducati who had traveled faster on the scooter than on the Ducati. Actually until earlier today that had remained true. Today was my first trip on an interstate, about 25 miles on I-89. Beautiful day, the foliage this year is absolutely gorgeous, just a perfect day to be out there. Kept it at around 65 the entire trip made sure to keep plenty of distance from the car ahead. Though I can no longer say I’ve gone faster on my scooter, I’m pretty certain that I was the only one riding a 1000cc bike on Route 89 today who was passed by a Civic and Rav 4 as if I were standing still. Still taking it slowly.
Randy
ranetteParticipant“Put value in the people around you and memories that you have and make. Those are timeless.”
I don’t believe that enjoying, and yes even valuing, nice things should be mutually exclusive with the above statement. Whenever you read about people who value things the obvious reaction is that we should value people and relationships and not things. I consider myself a good, moral person, but I am not the Dalai Lama, and I’d have to say I place value in both. Of course I put the relationships with my wife, my family and friends above all else, but that doesn’t mean I don’t value special items and the experiences that they bring and the memories they implant as well. I am here to experience as much as I can in the time that I have and “things” are a part of that as well as people.
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