My plan for a long weekend road trip got kiboshed. I won’t go into detail because it really doesn’t matter. I did go for a little local ride through a couple of the coastal North shore towns: Salem, Swampscott and Marblehead. I took as many winding and turning roads and I could to get a good feel for how the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom maneuvers them (not to mention a bunch of brick and cobblestone roads, which the suspension easily handled).
Since the Custom has such good throttle response, I did find myself getting a little daring with it. At stop lights I would pull up in the right hand lane next to other cars waiting at the light and just blow past them when the light turned green. I generally don’t do this on my Volusia because it just doesn’t have that kind of throttle response. I also noticed that more people tend to watch me ride down the street on this motorcycle and I think it’s because of the eye-catching paint color.
A kind of funny observation I had about the Custom is that the engine makes a whirring sound on acceleration that reminds me of a hovercraft from Star Wars. Which made me think of Star Trek and the obvious “Vulcan” reference. And the candy red color of the bike made me think of a lyric from Prince’s song “Little Red Corvette“-which made me giggle when I thought of Mr. Spock actually saying that line from the song:
“I’m gonna try to tame your little red love machine.“
Stream of consciousness while riding a motorcycle can be a funny thing sometimes!
September 4th, 2007 at 11:25 am
I always think of Spock when I read your Vulcan posts, the Prince/Spock thing makes me giggle too!
September 4th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Lizzie - found you through this site. So congrats about that, I think. Great blog, though!
September 4th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Umm…thanks Henry! I guess it’s better to be in the Top 5 of Bangable Blog chicks than to be on the Top 5 skankiest, right?
September 5th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
That’s hilarious! Anyway, I’m sure you are catching people’s eye with that shiny red machine. Your photographer is Top Notch. I have added a link to your blog on mine. Hope it’s OK. I enjoy yours alot.
bikerchickz
September 6th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Thanks Becky, I appreciate the link back!
September 6th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
All I can say is WOW, I’m so happy that I found your blog. I’ve really enjoyed reading about your experiences. I’m really new to motorcycle riding and you’re such an inspiration. I’m adding your blog to my feeds and linking to your blog… I have to keep up with all your great adventures. Ride Safe ~ Jovi
September 9th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Jovi: THANKS! I’m really, really glad that you enjoy my site. It was my intention to share my riding experiences so that other women can learn from them. Take care!