Out With the Old, In With the New

In the spirit of spring cleaning, I have finally done something I have been meaning to do for quite some time. No, I'm not referring to shaving my head, though it seems like a more viable option each summer. I'm referring to quitting Facebook. Honestly, I only logged in a couple of times per month, so I just wasn't able to keep up with anything that anyone was posting. Yeah, it was occasionally convenient for something, but overall I have been dissatisfied with Facebook for a long time now, so I decided to finally shut down my account. I haven't noticed any difference in my life yet.

So now that the "old" has been taken out, it's time for the new:



Jacalyn and I saw it looking lonely and depressed and I somehow talked her into letting me have it. It might be that I said Julian would get to ride it someday.


"Srsly, Daddy? How much longer do I have to wait?"

For those that are curious, it is a 2007 Suzuki GSX-R600. It is the same as the 2006 I had a few years ago, except for the colors. It is important that everyone know how similar the bike I used to have and the current bike are.

I can honestly say that going from an inline, four cylinder, 600cc supersport to a retro-standard, single-cylinder 250 was much easier than going from a retro-standard, single-cylinder 250 back to an inline, four cylinder, 600cc supersport. It's not just the fact that I once again have about 100 rear wheel horsepower instead of 15, but also the handling, riding position, clutch feel, better suspension and of course, the whole my-front-brakes-can-easily-launch-me-over-the-handlebars feeling. Surprisingly enough (for me, anyway), I actually stalled the bike in the parking lot when we picked it up. Yes, the clutches and throttles really are that different. I felt more awkward riding it home than I have ever felt on any bike since my first.

I took the new bike for a ride this morning, just to try and clear out some of the mental cobwebs that have set in over the last two years of not owning a sporting motorbike. It felt a bit odd at first, and I freely admit that I haven't really gotten the hang of the new bike yet, which is kind of a surprise, due to the previously mentioned similarity. By the time I came back home, I was feeling a bit more comfortable, though still nowhere near my previous levels of comfort or control. If I had gone to the track riding like I did it would have been embarrassing.

For fun I took the red bike to work today. It could also be because it was out of gas. Once again I was amazed at how stunningly different the two motorbikes are. Apparently while I was reacquainting myself with a supersport I was forgetting how to ride a retro standard. Two years of muscle memory were thoroughly confused in about an hour of riding a different bike. It didn't take nearly as long to get comfortable on the red bike again, but I was still marveling at the differences when I arrived at work.

So there you have it. And now, a parting shot of our current "fleet:"