Wednesday, July 12, 2006

I want a motorcycle!




I started riding motorcycles in 1980. When I was 19 I bought my first bike, a '77 Honda XL100. I sold my last bike, an '88 Harley 1200 Sportster, in 1992 with the intention of buying another motorcycle the following year. But life--as it has a habit of doing--got in the way for the next 14 years. My wife has finally realized that I'm very serious about getting another motorcycle, so by next spring I hope to get a new dual-purpose bike (I guess they call them dual-sports now), either a Kawasaki KLR650 or a Suzuki DR650. Both bikes can be had new for around $5000 and are capable of highway speeds or exploring unpaved roads (I'm not interested in doing any demanding off-road riding). The Kawasaki has a larger fuel capacity and roughly twice the range of the Suzuki, but the DR has a lower seat height and is lighter than the KLR. I'll be weighing the pros and cons of these two motorcycles in the coming months until I make my final decision.

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