My first Honda

It's been a long while since I posted anything in this blog. I'm not a terribly prolific writer, which is probably one reason I'll never write op-ed columns ;) Still, I don't want this to become a dead blog, so I'll try to get some things in here as I can.

First off, I took the month of August off work and pretty much stayed clear of the internet the entire time. I spent the time well, spending a great deal of time with my daughter, and also some with my brother and my mother. I also managed to get in a concert featuring Hinder, Chevelle, Three Day's Grace, and Nickelback.

At the end I found a replacement for Christine, one which I have yet to name. Here's a photo of the bike: (click any photo to enlarge)


Here's a better photo taken by someone else :)


It's really just a CBR1000 with the Grand Prix bike color scheme. Here's the real McCoy, a GP bike with 220 horsepower (note the lack of turn signals, mirrors, and headlight on the racebike).


This bike still has *plenty* of power for me. I'm a little bit frightened of it, truth be told. I still don't have the aplomb to let it wail all the way through first gear - it accelerates so fast that it's mind-bending. And yet it's quiet and civilized if you want to ride it that way - as you must, 99% of the time :)

Christine used to go 110 mph on a good day, loud, shaky and full of drama. This bike goes 110 with *no* drama and without even breathing hard. It's incredibly competent at high speed. I suspect it would happily deliver 150 mph without any fuss. I may go out to the desert or a nearby track and find out.

One thing I like about the styling of the machine is that it doesn't have a huge muffler hanging off the right side. Instead it has this very clean undertail exhaust design.