Motorcycle!

Friday afternoon I got the call from the bike shop letting me know that my bike was ready for pick up the next day. Unfortunately, I already had commitments at work for the next morning, so I couldn't go straight there as I would have liked. Instead, I went in the afternoon, arriving in the heat of the day, around 2:30. Bike looks as I remembered, it started right up, and the mechanic/salesman gives me the tour which was, 90%, unneeded. However, I did learn that what I thought was a lock for a side panel actually allows the seat to be taken off to find a (tiny) storage space...might be big enough for my rain gear... Anyway, I mounted up, illegally, since I've still not got that damn license here, and started the ride home.

My first comment, and the most important, is that I need to get used to riding a sports bike. The power band for these bikes is in much high revs than I'm used to. To give you some idea, the tachometer redlines at about 12,000 rpms, whereas most regular bikes, if they had a tach, would redline around 6 or 7000. So, when I was shifting by sound, it was too early for this bike, and it didn't have the kick I wanted to accelerate, but if I waited a bit longer, until the revs were around 3500 or 4000, damn, 400ccs felt fast. Those four cylinders are going to be a lot of fun to let out when I get to a nice empty country road.

Second comment: It's a different experience driving down these major roads than it is walking along them. There are so many more signs to pay attention to, many unfamiliar, and the roads themselves are unfamiliar. The signage along the buildings is colorful and plentiful, and I'd never realized that they are really meant to be seen from the road, as I suddenly felt assaulted by the plethora of signs. Crazy.

Third comment: It took me about an hour or more (not exactly sure) to drive about 15 miles because of traffic lights and such. Yet I made it nearly home before I got a little lost. Not bad for having only looked at a map of the area and been told which route numbers to take (which are not always so easily visible).

Fourth comment: It was hot.

Fifth (and final) comment: Damn, I love riding. I'm going to resist taking the bike out for long rides until I have my license, but that's all I'm thinking about now: going off into the countryside, maybe around Lake Biwa, finding the smaller, not so busy roads. I can hardly wait.

I was going to wait a while to post pictures of me with the bike, but in the middle of writing correspondence, I needed a break, so I decided to go take the following pictures. By the way, the jacket is new, bought just for riding this bike...I like it a lot, though: it's a warm-weather jacket with a liner that zips in...hopefully will take me through November...