Saturday I bought my new bike! I wasn’t planning on doing this until January, but a friend from work was interested in my 250, and Steve just got his new bike… so it all just fell into place. And now I have a blue Ninja 650

I fell in love with the 650 last year when I saw it in Steve’s Motorcyclist magazine. It was a two page spread of a gorgeous silver bike with red highlights (photo). But at the time I wasn’t ready to buy it. When I decided to buy a week ago I discovered that the dealers get rid of the previous year to make room for the new year, so no one had the silver 2006 model, new or used. The 2007 models were red and blue, while the 2006 were silver and black (they change colors every year).

After thinking about it for a while I concluded that I could live with the blue, it is quite a fetching color after all. I called all the dealerships in the Bay Area and finally found one that would let me do a test ride – Mission Motorcycles in Daly City. I read on the Ninja 650 forum that the throttle was very touchy, especially for those who upgraded from the 250. So when we went out I was very careful – and it was very touchy indeed. I got used to it pretty quickly though. And after the first mile or two I knew I wanted the bike. When we got back, I went through all the paperwork, and rode home on it

On Sunday Steve and I went for a long ride down to Santa Cruz, 128 miles round trip. My butt hurt a little towards the end, but other than that no complaints. It has so much more power than the 250 – I love the fact that when I roll on the throttle it actually goes! I can’t wait to ride again… and again, and again.

Traffic has been horrendous on the way to work for the past three days. I think it might have a little to do with school starting up again. Each day going to and from work I would sit, inching forward waiting for my turn to get through the light in order to sit, waiting again at the next one.

Well today my friends, I rode my motorcycle. And let me tell you – it felt GREAT. I got to work in 35 glorious minutes by splitting the lanes about 75% of the time. Why didn’t I ride those other days? Two reasons, it was too cold (yes, I’m a wuss) and I was going out for ice skating and drinks last night (hence, riding was a bad idea). On the way in today I was thinking that the cold excuse isn’t very good. The amount of stress and aggravation it saved me is well worth the cold nose. I should ride every day!

On another note, I just added a new spot illustration to my portfolio – Music Lover. It’s intended for an article about music downloads or music in general.

MotoGP was in the U.S. this past weekend, in our back yard – well, actually in Salinas, which is about 1.5 hours away from our house. But it could be considered our back yard depending on your perspective. We rode our bikes down all three days, and I WAS BEAT!!!

Aside from the long hard ride, it was also extremely hot. About 100 degrees in San Mateo and somewhere around the 90’s in Salinas. From about San Jose to Gilroy the temperature was unbelievably hot, and around Gilroy the breeze didn’t have a single trace of cool air in it – was more like a very hot hair dryer blowing on us. I swear it was about 300 degrees there on Saturday.

The motorcycle racing, qualifying and practicing was pretty cool to watch. It was very neat to see and hear the Moto GP bikes close up. They really are quite loud, and they sound great. The leaders whip by so fast too, it’s really hard to catch them on film.

I took about 600 pictures over weekend, and only 40 of them were worth posting. Those numbers do not include the pictures of people – I took those just to demonstrate to you how hot it was there. Even in the shade we were sweating pretty badly. And on top of that, it was really dusty. People were walking around and the dust was constantly flying through the air. Both Saturday and Sunday when I got home I took a cold shower and collapsed on the couch.

We watched the race on T.V. Sunday night, and it was so different. At the race that hour flew by. And it didn’t seem like they passed us 32 times. I was busy taking pictures though, so maybe that’s part of the reason.

We set up by the corkscrew, a famous and very difficult part of the track. I’m told that when the riders cross over it they can’t see where they’ll end up. That’s why Nicky Hayden does so well – because he knows the track like the back of his hand.

It was a gruelling ride at times, especially through hell, but the rest of it was pretty fun.

Here’s the entire MotoGP photo set.

I’ve been meaning to take some pictures for a very long time. And I suppose now is a good time because I’ve had my Ninja for a about a year now I also took some pictures of Steve’s bike, a Honda VFR. Here’s the entire motorcycle photo set of both bikes.

Today I rode my motorcycle on the freeway for the second time. I crossed the San Mateo bridge – which for those who are not familiar with it, is a bridge that spans about 8 miles across the bay from Hayward to San Mateo (here’s how it looks on Google maps). I was pretty nervous about it, because I know that it can get really windy on the bridge and I thought I’d just be blown around on my small, light-weight bike. But it wasn’t that bad.

When I got to the other side Steve and I took Skyline to 84 and back. Some nice twisty roads. I didn’t even attempt to keep up with him, I just rode at my own pace. Half way through I started to get a lot more comfortable and took the turns a little quicker. Riding is so much fun, I’m so glad I got a bike.

So here’s the funny part. On my way back across the bridge, I was riding in the middle lane and sensed this mini van next to me. Didn’t think much of it. I got over into the right lane to pass a vehicle and the mini van passed as well, and started lingering beside me again. I was thinking to myself, what the hell is this guy doing? I finally looked over, and there’s this little pug barking his head off at me! The driver rolled down the window for his pug to get a better view, and do some serious yelling. His owner was smiling and laughing� it was hilarious! That little guy did not like me riding. Dogs are so funny, gotta love ‘em.

I took the two wheel safety training course and passed! First there was a 6 hour classroom session last Thursday night. I was a little disappointed with it, and felt like I hadn’t learned much more than what I read about in the little MSF book I got when I bought my motorcycle.

Then there were two 6 hour classes on the bike, one Saturday and one Sunday. Let me first say that 6 hours on a bike sucks! It’s very tiring and my butt was pretty sore by the end of it.

On Saturday we learned the basics, and I did pretty well for the most part. Sunday I did much better. At the end of class they did evaluations. You could get 20 points or less and pass. If you pass, then you don�t have to take the skill test at the DMV, you just present your certificate and they give you your license (you still have to take the written part though, which I�ve already done � so I have my permit). So for every mistake you make it�s one point. Mistakes could be going outside the line, looking at the ground not going fast or slow enough, anticipating a stop.

I did so horrible on the evaluation! I thought for sure I failed � at least 19 points � which was a pretty close guess, because I got 18!

When I rode to work today I was a thousand times more confident. I took the turns so much better, knew exactly what to do. I couldn�t wait to go home just so I could ride again! That class was worth every penny!

This past Friday I rode my motorcycle to work for the first time. I figured it would be a good day since a lot of people were taking off work due to the long weekend. As I was getting ready in the morning I kept debating – “should I do it? Or just wait?” Wait for what exactly? So I did it, I got on my bike and headed for the road. When I got the end of the driveway in the apartment complex, I chickened out again – “oh my gosh, I can’t do this!! Ok, calm down, I can do this.”

And off I went, into the wild crazy world of traffic. I only stalled once on the way, and I kept thinking, “I can still turn around.” But I didn’t. I went all the way to work, so proud of myself.

Because my motorcycle is brand new there is a break-in period, where I can’t go over 4000 rpm for the first 500 miles, which is about 35 – 40 miles per hour, and feels very slow. I can’t go on the freeway, so I took the road beside the freeway to work. And the speed limit there is 45 – 50. Needless to say, I had a few cars stuck behind me, which I gladly let pass. At this rate it’s going to take forever to get to the 500 mile mark!

Riding to work was good though, by the time I got home I was much better at shifting, and how else am I going to improve other than riding it? And I have to say, I LOVE riding it. It’s awesome – fun, feels great, and is something to perfect. I’m very glad I bought my motorcycle.

I still can’t believe I bought a motorcycle.

Since I bought it, I keep thinking to myself, in disbelief, “holy crap, I bought a motorcycle!”. It’s so exciting and so scary, so crazy and impulsive. I love it!

Tonight I actually rode it for the first time. It was a simple ride – once I figured out how to get going on it. I had a bit of trouble getting taking off – I didn’t quite have it in first gear, which I didn’t realize and was ready to give up. Luckily and unluckily (because it was slightly embarrassing) my new neighbor was hanging around outside. I had explained to him and his friends before I began, that this was my first bike and my first time ever riding it. They were nice, and encouraging.

After I finally figured out how first gear feels, and how to get it moving I went back and forth in front of my apartment for a while. I tried to go around the complex, but there’s a small hill with a stop sign that kept interfering. I gave up on that and kept going in front of my apartment, shifting back and forth between first and second gear. When I was finally comfortable with that I tried the hill again and made it! So I circled the complex twice and parked it for the night. I can�t wait to take it out again!

Yesterday I got a phone call about my car, it is scheduled to arrive tomorrow or Saturday. You have NO IDEA how happy that makes me. I am sooooooo sick of driving this crappy, powerless Kia around. AND wasting so much money on renting it. My anger towards this topic is immeasurable.

Meanwhile, I got a little spontaneous and bought a motorcycle – a Kawasaki Ninja 250. I used a PowerCheck from my employer, E-LOAN. And it really was a simple, easy process. As an employee I get a half point discount.

At the store (Redwood City Honda) it was pretty funny, because the lowest amount you can get on a PowerCheck is $5,000 for a motorcycle, and the bike was only about $3,000. I bought all of the accessories with the balance. Well, they gave me a 15% discount on the merchandise since I also bought a bike, so for the first time ever I was complaining about getting a deal because I was trying to reach a certain price point! We were laughing as we added items to the list.

Now, before you go freaking out on me, let me mention that I plan on being a very safe, conscientious rider. I’m going to take a riding course with Motorcycle Safety Foundation , I got a helmet, jacket with armor, boots, pants with armor, and light noticeable colors. I don’t plan on approaching this like a mindless idiot. And it makes a lot of sense to have a motorcycle around here, because you can ride it all year round, it gets better gas mileage, you can split the lanes when there’s traffic, and let’s not forget, they’re fun to ride on these twisty roads.