Back in the saddle! 

My new ride - a 2009 Kawasaki KLR 650. It has been almost 4 years since I have been on the back of a motorcycle. I sold my last bike, a Suzuki VStrom 1000 at the tail end of 2007 just before my second deployment. I loved that bike. It ate up the road. It was comfortable on dirt, rode straight up, and sipped gas. Back then, we were in debt up to our ears and it had to go. I remember that day well. I rode it from Hinesville to the cell phone lot of Hartsfield-Jackson on a rainy cold day and sold it to a guy planning a cross country bike trip. Broke my heart to see it go. 

But we were on a path to get out of debt and believe me - when that bike left me standing in the cold with a gangster wad of twenties in my hand, we were committed. Rice and beans - as the saying goes. 

Fast forward to last Thursday - I finally took possession of a bike to commute back and forth to work on with the occasional sunday night jaunt through the Kansas countryside. Tonight was beautiful! Outside of Leavenworth the farms just roll on and on, the corn, soybeans and wheat growing like mad in the fields. Simply perfect. 

I’ve owned three other bikes, all Suzukis (SV650, SV100S, and the Vstrom) so this was my first experience with something else. I love it. Gets 60 MPG and is just as comfortable on dirt (which there is alot of here in KS) as on the highway.  It’s a stripped down, economical ride that I put mile 3000 on just tonight. 

Good to be back…