Experiences

The previous experience ended with a To paraphrase Richard III, "A bike, a bike, my kingdom for a bike!"

Tonight, I believe I've found the bike.

She (and why are bikes, like ships, referred to as "she"? Must be their temperament) is a 1998 Ninja 500R, also known as the EX500, the former name of that model. A hair above 15,000 km on the odo, dropped once in a parking lot by a previous-previous owner -- the fairing has a small crack in it, visible under very close scrutiny, as was the scratch on the left muffler. "Not worth fixing, if you're going to ride it for only a year," said the seller. I tend to agree.

The seller, who went through his MRC course in early June and searched three weeks for a bike before buying her at a local Kawasaki dealer, put 3,000 km on it this summer, built up his rider confidence until he felt the need for more power -- just as he promised would happen to me.

In his garage, he started her up. It was cool, about 15 degrees C, and with the choke at full she came alive within a few turns of the starter. In a previous e-mail conversation, he had agreed to let me take her for a test ride if I wanted. (Of course, I wanted a test ride, but it's the seller's prerogative to allow it or not.)

Straddling her, my short legs making it comfortably to the asphalt, I reved her 498cc's of parallel twin while getting a feel for the controls. "A nice, solid feeling," reported my left foot as I put her in gear. Easy on the clutch, slow on the throttle, my feet naturally found their way to the pegs, falling exactly where they felt just right.

Knees pressed against the black gas tank --a first display of affection on my part?-- I easily brought her in second gear, riding at 40 km/h, at 3,000 rpm, just at the bottom of her powerband, a factoid I had found about on the Net. (You should know that the Internet is not just for porn.)

On that one km loop, I took her to third gear and fell confident that this was the kind of bike I wanted. Or needed, perhaps.

As Bertrand Gahel commented in his Motorcycle Buyer's Guide, "the most important characteristic of a good "first" motorcycle is the power. It must have enough for the rider to have fun, but not too much to surprise him. The 60 horses of the Ninja 500R represent a good compromise, providing enough acceleration to satisfy a beginner, or even intermediate rider. Power is available early, and climbs gradually to a pleasant punch as revs approach the red line",

To check her out and get a second opinion, since I've been burned before with that love at first sight thing, I had brought along my brother-in-law, a rider. Make that a former rider who had to wipe the dust off his helmet, since he has a propensity for procreation and is now at son #3. As it has been previously arranged through e-mail, he took it for a ride as well, which was a good thing since he had the confidence to run her through all the gears. His comment was that the Ninja 500R had great weight and balance for a new rider. "I braked while leaned over, and it remained stable through the turn," he commented.

With his vote of confidence, I called my very-significant-other from my cell to let her know I had found exactly what I set out to get. She did not answer. Then again, you know what they say about those who don't exercise their right to vote...

The seller and I agreed on a price and on the terms. Within a week the title will have changed hands, she'll have new plates and my bro-in-law will bring her to me, taking care of the long cross-town ride to her new home: my garage, which now needs to be cleaned up.