{"id":188,"date":"2011-07-04T05:55:10","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T12:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/?page_id=188"},"modified":"2015-05-27T10:18:35","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T17:18:35","slug":"motorcycles","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/?page_id=188","title":{"rendered":"Current Motorcycles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’ve had quite a few motorcycles over the years, covering most of the spectrum of genres.\u00a0 Like many, my infatuation with 2-wheeled transportation began at a very young age, starting on a friend’s small displacement Honda something-or-other.\u00a0 My prior experience had been on Briggs & Stratton mini-bikes with centrifugal clutches.\u00a0 Twist & go, one-speed affairs.\u00a0 But this Honda had 5 gears, each successive selection would make me go faster<\/em>!\u00a0 That was all it took.\u00a0 I was hooked.<\/p>\n

I owned a few bikes before settling into married life and kids.\u00a0 When the family came along, I lost interest in motorcycles for quite a few years.\u00a0 It was only when my youngest was well into high school that the bug bit hard again and I found myself wandering around motorcycle dealerships in search of something to stir my soul.\u00a0 That was in 2003 and there has been quite a parade of bikes taking up temporary residence in my garage since then.\u00a0 I won’t list them.\u00a0 Let’s just say there has been a variety; from dirt bikes to cruisers to sport bikes and tourers.\u00a0 I guess you have to experience them all, at least I seem to.<\/p>\n

For this blog, I’ll just detail what’s in the garage today.\u00a0 There are two:<\/p>\n

2015 Yamaha FJ-09 (stock photo)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"2015-fj-09-02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After my minor spill on the K1600GT, I began to consider getting something a little smaller and lighter.\u00a0 I still wanted a bike that I could tour on, but I wanted it to be easy around town, have acceptable power, decent handling and some high tech attributes.\u00a0 Took a look at the Multistrada from Ducati and also considered BMW’s upcoming S1000XT, but both of those bike are pretty pricy and I really don’t need 160 hp.<\/p>\n

Enter the FJ-09.\u00a0 This bike really ticks all of the boxes for me.\u00a0 Lightweight, compared to the Beemer, with plenty of smooth power from the 850cc triple.\u00a0 Great handling and a bevy of electronic goodies including traction control, ABS and 3 driving modes.\u00a0 A very nice package.<\/p>\n

There’s some work to be done to make it a great tourer.\u00a0 I’ll be adding hard luggage, a taller windshield, heated grips and electronic cruise control, among other things, but I think the FJ will become a very versatile tool for many of my street motorcycling endeavors.<\/p>\n

Looking forward to taking her on her first long-distance trip soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2014 KTM 500 EXC (stock photo)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"500exc\"<\/a>After modifying the WR250X for off-road duty, I found that I really enjoyed trail riding much more than street riding in supermoto trim.\u00a0 My riding buddies all had KTMs and between my lack of skill and riding a lesser bike, I found myself fatally trying to catch up most of the time, usually after failing to negotiate a turn and dumping the bike.<\/p>\n

So, I decided to sell my KLR 650 and the WR250X in order to finance the purchase of a new 500 EXC.\u00a0 Although I do miss the KLR, it was the right decision.\u00a0 I’m really enjoying the KTM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve had quite a few motorcycles over the years, covering most of the spectrum of genres.\u00a0 Like many, my infatuation with 2-wheeled transportation began at a very young age, starting on a friend’s small displacement Honda something-or-other.\u00a0 My prior experience … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/188"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":632,"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/188\/revisions\/632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/soundquarters.com\/bobsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}