C'mon Spring Time!

I've been thinking a lot about my motorcycle lately. Most likely because it's winter and I'm tired of being cooped up in the apartment. Here's a little ditty about my motorcycling history.

I grew up riding ATV's and dirt bikes in the country. I got my first ATV when I was about 15 years old it was a Suzuki 230 Quad Sport. Mine was similar to the one in the picture below.

I wore that thing out! I rode it so hard I ran through sets of tires, bearings, and chains like crazy and believe it or not 20 some years later it still runs. My folks still have it back home.

I had friends that had ATV's and dirt bikes. They lived nearby and we did lot's of trail riding.

Then life started and I didn't ride or own a bike for several years. Then around 2007 I bought this guy.

It's a 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan "Mean Streak". It was a great bike even though they discontinued it a year or two later. It was a 1600cc V-Twin (fuel injected). There were lots of after market options for it and a lot of people liked it because you could get some big horsepower increases with some simple mods or upgrades.

It had a ton of power, was reliable and somewhat comfortable to ride. I took it on several road trips and cruised many backroad miles. 

I started to realize I was wearing out tires more often that I probably should have. When I would take it in for service, the tech would ask if I was dragging my pegs a lot. I realized How hard I was riding and thought maybe it was time to get something a little sportier!

Then I got this beast in 2011!

Road Trip Mode

Old Bar End Mirrors (I have CRG Arrows now)

That my friend is a 2011 Kawasaki Z1000! So fast, so so fast and not to mention it's sexy as hell (at least to me). It has everything I want in a bike. It's not so sporty that I need to stop every 20 minutes to stretch but it's sporty enough to scare the bejesus out of you when you hammer the throttle.

If you're not careful the front end will come off the ground. It is twitchy, but not unmanageable. 

As far as modifications go, so far all I have done so far is install a fender eliminator and better bar end mirrors. The next thing on my list to install is an integrated taillight/blinker. I also want to upgrade the levers to make gear changes and braking more accurate.

I may do a few more cosmetic upgrades, but other than that, that's all I can see doing for now.

Anyway that's just a brief history of my bike ownership. I'll post more about my current bike when the weather warms up and I can get out on the road.