new motorcycle

Sept. 3rd, 2013 before I was hit

here are the two pictures I took of the Kawasaki EX500 the morning of the accident Sept. 4th, I hadn't even owned it 24hours at this point

I'd been looking for one of these for maybe a year....as my step-son had taken the Motorcycle Training Course and gotten a permit to ride with me on a few little day jaunts we'd go on(we found it impractical for us to ride together on other bikes in my 'collection' as they are kinda mismatched, like with him on the Derbi SuperMotard or Yamaha Cruiser and me on the BMW or SuperSport)....the EX500 'Ninja' does have a very sporty look, but actually is known to be a "beginners bike" I was even a little shocked how underpowered it was when I first jumped on one....I remember during the test ride, pulling away from a stop light and 'opening it up' I thought I was getting on it pretty good, but the car in the other lane beside me catching up and crawling passed, and it wasn't even a very nice or new car with just some 'mom type' lady driving

...tho not much power, the engine is very well mannered, feeling that there is no wrong RPM range to run it in(which finding the 'power-band' of the other bikes I'd let the Kid ride; Derbi or Yamaha, is important for healthy riding) and it runs smooth from low 3,000RPM all the way to 10,000RPM without surprises....with a slightly lower seat height and much more upright sitting position(than any 'real' sport bike) it's actually comfortable.... with neutral predictable easy riding for confidence and forgiving handling, to be a 'safer' bike, this bike still ran strong enough on the highway at 70MPH...I wont let him ride my bigger bikes, and I was looking for something 'mild' I could use around town for myself....this bike was bought as a 100% clean ready to go bike, mostly just so I wouldn't have to mess with the kinda clunky(and often miss-behaving) Yamaha, or the light weight Derbi ... I thought it would be grand for the Kid to tag along with us older folks without giving him a chance to get in over his head, or enough power to try and embarrass us, but besides the looks, its, in a word: "unthrilling"

here are my other 4 current bikes

here is another photo I took the evening  I bought the EX500....my riding buddy's favored brand of bikes is Kawasaki, and he has worked as a mechanic for over 30years...so I took it over to his house to meet his approval

he inspected every inch of that bike...lubed and adjusted things here and there, gave the tires a little fresh air, etc.....I think it was one of the first bikes of mine he actually liked...partly because it was clean, well maintained, and low miles; but guessing mostly because it is a Kawasaki, he even rode this one...he said "it really is kinda a dog" but pointed out some interesting features it had; like dual trip meters, and collapsible cargo tie-down hooks...and he thought it would be good for the Kid to ride

Buying the Bike

I arranged to see the bike with the son(the actual owner was his father)...the guy had ridden it for 6years off and on, mostly just "fair-weather" use, and now he was graduating college and no longer used it....his father had bought it for him when he was in high school, and had always kept the bike for him at his house...I'm guessing that from how great of shape the bike was in, that his father actually was the one who took care of it(judging from how clean and organized their whole garage was)...but his Dad was waiting for me on their porch with his dog(a Golden Retriever with a tennis-ball that it kept trying to get me to play with) when I got to their house....we talked about the bike and his son for awhile, and about riding in general(the father hadn't ridden much, and didn't have a bike of his own) ... then I showed him how much cash I'd brought with me(it was worth a try to get them to come down in price a little) but he said he knew his son would want the full amount....

..I agreed that the bike was worth it, especially with such a nice custom paint job and well maintained low mileage... and that I really didn't need to hassle over a few hundred dollars anyway..

I asked if I  could ride the bike to the bank/ATM to get more money and test it out if he would just hold what cash I'd brought(but it really wasn't a problem as we were both open and trusting of each other)...the bike still had good tags on it till Dec. and I rode it around a bit, even took it out on the highway, but the ATM I found had a max limit that still came up $65 short(including what other cash I had in my wallet added in to try and reach the full price) of what they wanted for the bike, so I rode back to ask if that would work...he suggested I try calling/texting his son and asking...and I asked the father if his son had any riding gear(helmet, jacket, gloves, etc.) that maybe I could also ask him about if he wanted more money for those...all they had was a helmet, and they decided if I paid full price they would give that to me on the deal...so i tried out the helmet(vs one of my helmets I'd brought with me) and took the bike for another ride to get more cash

even tho not moving at all on the price, I felt like I was dealing with good people...and they seemed to be glad the bike was going to a good home with me, as it obviously was something special between the father and his son, and he wished me well and hoped it would be the same between my Kid and I
...I felt so bad that I had to contact them and tell them what happened with the accident, and of course thank them for giving me the helmet that saved my life(they where very concerned that I was OK)...I'm still in contact with both of them, promising that I'll be back to normal soon and that I will get the bike back on the road as soon as possible