Out with the old...

My wife made me an offer I couldn't refuse earlier this week. Seems she was tired of me spending as much time wrenching as I do riding, plus stinking like gas and being covered in grease all the time. So she offered to work out the finances so I could buy brand new if I was willing to get rid of the never ending projects....sooooooo

Traded in my 77b1 on an 09 Kawasaki ER6n. I was not planning on using the bike as a trade in, was going to hold out to sell it privately and make more coin off it. But when talking with the salesman and finance manager at Dillon Bros (awesome dealership btw) I was offered $1100 trade in value on the bike, which in this market would have been tough to pull on an outright sale (at least around these parts). So the KZs are gone (for now...got a sneaky hunch that one will find it's way home sometime down the road) and parked in my now very spacious feeling garage is...


Just brought it home last night and am about half way through the break in period. She's an absolute riot to ride (even with keeping it under 4K on an 11K redline). Riding posture is a perfect balance of upright comfort and forward sporty. The central mass is all slung so low that she flicks everywhere you want her to effortlessly. It took me a bit to get used to the front end, rather a big change from looking at the classic 7" round headlight, but it's grown on me. Can't say enough good about the ridability of this bike for anyone considering a low budget new all purpose bike.

Lucky you, I'm holding out for a Blue 2010 Concours 14 with ABS myself, so until then....the boys are staying in the garage.

Cool wife by the way!

Those Concours are nice bikes!!! A little big for what I want right now though (and a bit more expensive than my very generous wife wanted me to spend) I sat on just about everything under $10,000 offered from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kaw yesterday before deciding on the ER6. I'm really not a cruiser guy, so that left out 60% of the offerings, and know better than to put myself on a full blown sport bike, so that helped me narrow the field significantly. The final decision came down between the Suzuki V-Strom (which was a little too tall for my stumpy ass legs), the Suzuki SFV650 (which has an ugly exhaust) and the ER6, which once I got used to the look of the front end I love everything about.

Damn them women folk.... :laugh:

When I picked up the KZ1000, wife said no not again.... I quickly replied no honey, this one is going to stay stock, put a back rest and travel bags on her with a nice soft seat for us to cruise on....

Not sure she bought it though.... :whistle:

Then she replied well she'd rather have a Goldwing of sorts....

Hmmm, ok then let's see... Find a true cruiser and keep the KZ1000 (performance 1075 build) for me.... Now we're talking..... :evil:

Thanks God they have boobs... Oh yeah and a job! :woohoo:

OMR

Just because you sold your KZ dosent mean you can't come back. Keep us posted with ride reports and such, or any mechanical issues, ease of tuneup etc.

Our women must love us because we all have grease under our nails from time to time. What are you going to do with your extra time saved from not wrenching, look for another 650?

I'll likely do two things with all that time saved from wrenching, more saddle time and more time behind the easel!!! I've struggled to find time to paint since the kiddos were born, and especially this year being my first year teaching...In the last three years I've only been able to turn out 2 paintings...hoping that productivity goes up now without turning wrenches so much.

Nice bike I've always liked those and was considering one or the Ninja 650R. When my G/F complained about me wrenching and spending money on my bike I simply reminded her that I don't smoke,drink or do drugs so other than my coffee my bike is my only vice. Keep us posted on how things go with the new bike.