NOTE: This site's focus has shifted to Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy role-playing games, and fantasy fiction. If that sounds like your kind of thing, check out my D&D and gaming content or sign up for my free monthly newsletter for dungeon masters. The rest of this old content, motorcycling, aviation, and the like, is still here, just not browsable from the main navigation anymore.
My 2012 GSX-R750, Shoot to Thrill, turned 1 year old on Sunday. I celebrated with a ride to Detroit that took me through a thundershower that lasted 20 minutes. The rain drops — as Forrest Gump would call ‘Big ‘ol fat rain!’ — were so big they hurt when they struck my arms through my riding leathers. During the twisty part, I took it real slow to maintain traction. Once I got up over the pass and hit the long straights I made fast time.
A few miles before reaching Ripplebrook on my way home, the rain had stopped and I had dry pavement. Two nights before there had been severe thunderstorms in the area and there was a lot of tree debris on the road. I even saw banks of hail on the side of the road in the shade that looked like snowbanks. Amazing!
In the year I’ve owned my Gixxer, I’ve put 7,000 miles on it. This is atypical for a sport bike, but consider that during that same year I also put 7,000 miles on my Suzuki V-Strom! That’s a lot of saddle time.
At this point, if someone asked if I liked the GSX-R750 or the V-Strom better, I’d give them a big smile and say, “Yes!”
