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Back in the Spring
of '98 I found out that I would be losing my on-campus parking privileges
at UNC. They continue to build more buildings, and demolish more parking
lots to make way for said buildings, so I wasn't surprised. However,
I was going to be darned if I was going to park several miles off of
campus, after driving 30 mintues, and then ride a bus for another 30
minutes to work, and pay $200 a year for the privilege. So, I went a lookin' for another motorcycle. I hadn't ridden in a few years, and was pretty well convinced that I didn't want any type of "sporty" bike anymore (my last one had been a '84 GPz 900 -- the original Ninja). A cruiser sounded like the order of the day, so I drug Lace around looking at various bikes. We looked at some 600 Shadows, a 750 Ace, and a couple of Vulcan 800's. Well, at the time the price was rather high (the Vulcan 800's were around 7 grand, and the Ace was 7,500). The little 600 Shadows were used, and only around 3,500 but they just didn't feel quite right to me. |
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Well, I figured
that if I was going to have to spend big bucks, I might as well get
a big bike. I started pricing the "big bikes": 1500 Classic, Intruder,
the 1100 Shadows, etc. Even took a look at the Harley's. Whilst I was
looking and/or calling around to different dealers, the folks up at
Fox's Suzuki/Kawasaki in Roxboro, NC said they had a used 1500A for
sale. So, I grabbed some cash out of the bank (my little side-business
was doing pretty well at the time) and went up there one day after work.
One look at what was to become "Blue Thunder", and I was hooked. I plunked
down the cash, and they loaded him into the back of my truck, and home
we went. Blue Thunder
(christened such by Lady Lace) had only 1,500 or so miles on him when
I got him, so he was only just getting broken in. Even though I still
had some time left on my parking privileges, I started riding the
bike to work immediately (this was in June of '98). Needless to say,
I loved the power of the bike, though the handling was not particularly
stellar. I was quite cautious in corners and whatnot for the first
month or so, and was never truly overly-enamoured with the brakes.
I ran Blue Thunder up to almost 16,000 miles between June, '98 and
March, '99 when Kawasaki released the bike my heart lusted after:
the Drifter. Fortunately, after a nearly year-long stint with a wannabe
who only put 800 miles on him during that time, Blue Thunder is kinda
"back in the family", as a good friend of ours, who lusted after Blue
Thunder while I had him, was able to pick the bike up for himself.
Lace even got to ride him for a while whilst her bike was having its
woes. I'll let Lace give you her impressions of Blue Thunder. Suffice
it to say that I loved the power, torque, and overall personality
of the beast. In a way, I would have liked to have been able to keep
him around, but you know how that goes. Digger |
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Well, I was very happy
to be able to ride Blue Thunder when my bike was in the shop for the longest
time. (oh those months kept piling up) I enjoyed the power, the torque,
the fewer gears, and even more I liked the size of the bike. It's a 1500
but it isn't as large as other 1500 bikes usually are. It handled very
well when we went to the SEVROC Spring Rally in Suches. I was able (and
pleased) that I could keep up with everyone else on those mountainous
roads after just riding Blue Thunder for a couple of weeks. I miss Blue Thunder
and didn't want to give him back to our friend, even told our friend
that he only Thought he had a bike, but I also must say that it's good
to have BlackBerry Passion back in fine condition. Lady Lace |