My ideal bike is the one that fits in the back of the van I drive to where the good corners start. I just got tired of all the straight, boring, dangerous roads and drivers in between the good bits. I consider myself lucky to have sampled some wonderful, wonderful roads all around the West. like 3 6 and 20 in California, and I was a weekly Sunday Morning Ride regular and every other evening on the Alice's Restaurant figure eight on the Peninsula. The closest thing to all that around here is maybe the Beartooth, but that's 8 hours away by car. When I lived in Colorado, I would take my bike in the van to Winter Park before sunrise and do the Front Range secondary highways, hopefully in time to beat the dammable summer afternoon monsoons. Sometimes I didn't, and it was bad enough having to get back to Winter Park or Dillon in pouring hail, much less a cold bath all the way back home to Steamboat.
Will probably get back into the game this year. I want a "traditional" or a "standard" or a "naked bike." No fairings, lots of ground clearance, Superbike bars, mild rear-set pegs, very mild on that.
I suspect I will take the "safe" approach and look for an Eddie Lawson replica, as I've still got my KZ750 E (the electronic modules died and it's a grand to get spark again). Some kind of Ducati naked in 750-900 also appeals to me. As long as the riding position is well balanced at highway speeds, I'm happy.
Up hills slow, Down hills fast Tonnage first and Safety last.
