Kawasaki EX 500 - A return to biking
October 22nd 2007 08:57
After too long an absence form motorcycling apart from the day trip to Akaroa (see review in May 07) I am now the proud owner of a 94 Kawasaki 500. Even though I intend to move onto something bigger like a 750-1000cc bike in the near future, I thought this would be a good mid size machine to refresh my riding skills on.
I had forgotten how motorcycles have a strange effect on you and out of all the things you can own, a bike is the one thing that gets under your skin. It has been a real joy to get my hands dirty adjusting the chain, dropping the odd nut or screw in a place where you can't reach it, skinning knuckles etc these are all the joys of bike ownership and it becomes more than just a machine. There is also the freedom, excitement and the camaraderie that you get from other bikers.
I used to have a Kawasaki Gpz 750 before I got the GS 650 back in the UK although never let an unisured mate take it for a ride.
'Those were the days'
If you have never ridden a bike this can be hard to explain but as you drive a car, you just sit there, just moving your feet and arms from time to time and maybe keeping focused. But on a bike, its almost an extension of your body, leaning into corners, moving with the machine, becoming one with the machine and if you don't stay alert and focused then you usually fall off, so bit of a rush really.
Anyway enough of the deep stuff, I spent all Sat morning cleaning and tinkering with the bike before going up the Port Hills.
Now after a bit of a blap around the Summit road, I thought it would be nice to have a coffee, so I stopped at Coffee Culture Cashmere and parked up. I had only sat down for not even 5 mins when someone said 'Excuse me but someone has reversed into your bike'. Yup I looked around and my bike was laying on its side. Can honestly say that I wasn't too happy about that.
The end result is the usual damage, smashed indicators, scuffed panels and dented exhaust, but the lady was quite apologetic and we exhanged details, so hopefully no probs there, but did down my day a bit.
As I said bikes get under your skin and already looking at bigger bikes.
Hal
I had forgotten how motorcycles have a strange effect on you and out of all the things you can own, a bike is the one thing that gets under your skin. It has been a real joy to get my hands dirty adjusting the chain, dropping the odd nut or screw in a place where you can't reach it, skinning knuckles etc these are all the joys of bike ownership and it becomes more than just a machine. There is also the freedom, excitement and the camaraderie that you get from other bikers.
I used to have a Kawasaki Gpz 750 before I got the GS 650 back in the UK although never let an unisured mate take it for a ride.
'Those were the days'
If you have never ridden a bike this can be hard to explain but as you drive a car, you just sit there, just moving your feet and arms from time to time and maybe keeping focused. But on a bike, its almost an extension of your body, leaning into corners, moving with the machine, becoming one with the machine and if you don't stay alert and focused then you usually fall off, so bit of a rush really.
Anyway enough of the deep stuff, I spent all Sat morning cleaning and tinkering with the bike before going up the Port Hills.
Now after a bit of a blap around the Summit road, I thought it would be nice to have a coffee, so I stopped at Coffee Culture Cashmere and parked up. I had only sat down for not even 5 mins when someone said 'Excuse me but someone has reversed into your bike'. Yup I looked around and my bike was laying on its side. Can honestly say that I wasn't too happy about that.
The end result is the usual damage, smashed indicators, scuffed panels and dented exhaust, but the lady was quite apologetic and we exhanged details, so hopefully no probs there, but did down my day a bit.
As I said bikes get under your skin and already looking at bigger bikes.
Hal
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