Saturday I bought my new bike! I wasn’t planning on doing this until January, but a friend from work was interested in my 250, and Steve just got his new bike… so it all just fell into place. And now I have a blue Ninja 650 🙂

I fell in love with the 650 last year when I saw it in Steve’s Motorcyclist magazine. It was a two page spread of a gorgeous silver bike with red highlights (photo). But at the time I wasn’t ready to buy it. When I decided to buy a week ago I discovered that the dealers get rid of the previous year to make room for the new year, so no one had the silver 2006 model, new or used. The 2007 models were red and blue, while the 2006 were silver and black (they change colors every year).

After thinking about it for a while I concluded that I could live with the blue, it is quite a fetching color after all. I called all the dealerships in the Bay Area and finally found one that would let me do a test ride – Mission Motorcycles in Daly City. I read on the Ninja 650 forum that the throttle was very touchy, especially for those who upgraded from the 250. So when we went out I was very careful – and it was very touchy indeed. I got used to it pretty quickly though. And after the first mile or two I knew I wanted the bike. When we got back, I went through all the paperwork, and rode home on it 🙂

On Sunday Steve and I went for a long ride down to Santa Cruz, 128 miles round trip. My butt hurt a little towards the end, but other than that no complaints. It has so much more power than the 250 – I love the fact that when I roll on the throttle it actually goes! I can’t wait to ride again… and again, and again. 😀