ZX7R PICTURES
ZX7R SPECS
ZX7R LINKS
One comment which is so often directed at motorcyclists (by non-riders, of course) is that motorcycles are so dangerous. On the one hand, certainly the risk of injury is much greater when one is on a bike rather than surrounded by a metal cage if there is an accident. True enough. On the other hand, this is not a danger similar to what exists in getting into the sight range of a hungry lion. No one has ever been attacked and devoured by a vicious motorcycle. It is not the motorcycle that poses the danger. And because a bike is smaller and more maneuverable than a car, some hazzards can be avoided. A final point on this was an idea posed to me some years ago by an experienced rider, namely that riding a bike teaches one the importance and techniques of giving full attention to one's surroundings on the road. Consequently, when that rider is driving a car, he is a better driver because of those lessons. I firmly believe this to be true.
Now we are brought back to the question that began the bike story. Why does one do it? What is the attraction which calls a person to set his butt on a fragile piece of machinery (which in essence is little more than a gasoline engine mounted on wheels with a seat on top) and then go tearing down the road? Maybe it was a question like this one which prompted Mark Twain to observe, "The researches of many antiquarians have already thrown much darkness on the subject, and it is probable, if they continue, that we shall soon know nothing at all." Clearly, however, there is an attraction, both to do it the first time and then to continue doing it. For those who choose not to do it, words cannot explain it, anymore than they can explain any kind of addiction to a non-addict. For those of us who do ride bikes, it is partly rebellion against the norm, partly showing off, partly making use of physical skills in ways that cannot be duplicated elsewhere, proving to ourselves, if to no one else, that we can do it. Every ride is a challenge. It is an adrenaline rush. Enough said.
Here are some other fun time pictures:
The bear was
often a riding companion
and we received more than a few stares and double takes when we
cruised the roads east of Syracuse, NY, in 2000-2.
Link to the bears
When the 305 was forced to take refuge in the kitchen from the brutal Wisconsin winter, Frosty, the resident cat, decided to make friends.
The two GPz's poised and ready