Temperature 42 degrees, sunny afternoon, cloudy evening

I took the XS1100 for a ride Saturday afternoon. First up to Spokane to get tabs for the car and truck, and then a 180 back down to Pullman via 195 to Rosalia and then 27 through Oaksdale, Garfield, and Palouse. I’ve been trying to ride if the temperature threatens to get to at least 45 degrees, the big fairing on the XS coupled with my electric vest helps to make the ride bearable. One good thing about this weather is that I am not too hot and bothered to spend my money on the KLR just now. Once the temperature starts poking around the mid 50’s to lower 60’s, I won’t mind poking my head and chest out in the wind. I imagine that I’ll have about the same percentage of my body exposed to the elements as I used to on the FZR, but I won’t know for sure until I actually ride one. One thing that I can be sure of is that it won’t offer near the wind protection of the XS. I’ve never had a bike with so much fairing and windscreen that the wind hits me in the back.

I don’t know if the temperature ever really hit 45 degrees, but on the ride home from Pullman, the sun went behind the clouds, and that was enough to make me tuck in and turn the vest up another notch. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable ride home, but I’ve had worse. Some of them occurred during the dead of winter on my dirt bikes in Montana; no wind protection and what in the world is electric gear? I did wear a helmet that time of year though. I can recall other rides on the FZR600, riding over Lookout Pass on the Idaho-Montana border in the middle of night. I didn’t have electric gear then either, instead, I used to stuff my pants with toilet paper at the Rest areas and ride in a tuck all the way to Missoula, I like to think of myself as being pretty limber, but I don’t think that I could tuck in behind the windscreen on a sport bike for 90 minutes at a time anymore.

I’m glad I went out yesterday though, the weather went south today and the rain has been coming down sideways for the better part of the afternoon. Man I’m going to be spoiled once the temperatures hit 50. Any day now.

Not much of a weekend to speak of really. The last few have involved one extra day of work, and then I try to stay home to do all of my chores on Sunday to get ready for the next week. Yesterday after I got off of work, I snuck up to Westside motorsports to "price some gear." What I was really doing there was spying on the KLR again. This time they have a red one on the floor with an aftermarket pipe. I don't want a pipe, and I don't really want a red one, but it did give me a chance to look at the three colors that are available, I've already seen the green and the blue ones. I'd have to say that after a whole winter of procrastination that I am probably going to get one in a few weeks or so. I was kind of on the fence for a little while, but my leg fell asleep and I fell off of it about a month or so ago, and the concussion that followed helped me to make up my mind (One of life’s little blessings, I like to think.........whatever works right?).

It'll be either green or blue, I'm okay with either. I really have to quit sneaking into the dealership after work though, it's really getting pathetic. I kind of told the salesmen that I was going to get one so they don't need to bother with the pitch anymore. When I was ready, I would let them know. They must see me coming through the front door and mumble to each other, "There's that odd middle aged guy again, coming to roost on the Kawasaki for a spell."

Honestly, there really is nothing more to see, I've been doing this all winter long, and I have the details of the bike memorized by now. I do wonder why I keep going back to the dealership and I think it's just because I haven't been this excited about buying a bike, or anything else for that matter, in a good twenty years. The anxiety is fun, I kind of feel like a kid again.