Introduction

My first motorcycle was a 1999 Yamaha V-Star. This little bike put up with more than it's fair share of ridicule from the general public. It seemed, though I know I must have had a hand in it, that the more trash talk that this machine had to endure, the attitude of the V-Star grew closer to the breaking point and eventually leaped directly over the edge becoming a mean looking and behaving little motorcycle. One of the biggest insults hurled at my motorcycle on a regular basis was how incapable a 650cc motor must be as a cruiser. Tipping the scales at just a hair over 'none of your damn business' I can assure you that this bike did everything I asked of it including the highway riding two up, with only 649cc. Anyway, I did not have any problems out of it until shortly before I sold it when there developed a slight shudder in the front end. Never did figure out what that was?

The V-Star was sold to purchase a catalytic converter and some other parts and labor to get our 1993 Chevrolet Caprice Station Wagon to pass the Texas State Inspection. Before long, however I found a 1982 Honda GL1100 Goldwing Interstate that promised to fill the void in my life left by the Yamaha. I purchased this bike from a gentlemen residing in a suburb of Oklahoma City, I then lived in Anna, TX which is about a half hours drive north of Dallas. The trip home with this motorcycle was a journey of its own which I will share in another post, for which it deserves. This bike faithfully preformed the entire time I owned it. I enjoyed my first Motorcycle road trip on this bike, alongside Uncle Dave and his 1986 Aspencade, and have been dying to see the rest of the country ever since.

The Wing and a Kawasaki Ninja 250 that my wife, Tawnya, had been learning to ride on were sold in the late spring of 2008. The exact reason I sold these bikes escapes me just know but I assume it had to do with something along the lines that I would rather eat and feed my family than ride a motorcycle. In hindsight I often wonder if it would not have been more beneficial to keep the bike and just skip a few meals myself?

The drought has ended and I can breathe again now that I have purchased another set of wheels. After a rather long winter and a short but draining battle with a boat ('break out another thousand' Rick would say) I met a beautiful looking sport tourer, a category with which I admittedly have very little experience. This 2001 Kawasaki Concours will be the subordinate character in these tales for the foreseeable future.

I am commuting to and from work on this motorcycle both to try and catch up on lost time aboard a bike and to get a good idea of what I will need to get in order before attacking my first conquest. The counties of Texas...............................