Can you imagine me dragging my knees on THIS thing (picture below) ??  It had decent power.....enough to humble  a newbie.  It had a 600cc air-cooled (yuck, air-cooling sucks. Just my opinion, not meant to offend.) engine and 8V per cylinder with DOHC. I took my road test on this bike and failed the first time by actually dropping it on it's side. 2 weeks later, after taking a piece of chalk and marking a school parking lot for my practice, I passed.

1991 Yamaha YX600 Radian

[Webmaster's note:

About a year ago, I went to a USENET group, alt.rec.motorcycles, to be exact. About that time, the new line of Suzuki Katanas were released. I was happy about the fact that the new Kats looked fresh and appealing. I was also put-off by the facts that, 1) the rear wheels for both bikes weren't really reflecting today's rear tire size trends, 2) the bikes are still oil-cooled. While my opinion is mine and mine alone, some net-nazis decided to hammer my opinions back down my throat. I really hate it when you can't have a debate on the internet without someone taking it personally....and to think, I didn't even mention religion or politics.....we were talking about a brand of bikes, for Pete's sake! Well, I got run off of that newsgroup and I've never been back, not because I'm a wussy, but because I'm a laid-back kind of guy and if I can't enjoy conversation, then it's a waste of my time. Another list/newsgroup that truly sucks is the TL1000S list at the Sport-Twin page. I was looking for certain info on the TL1000R or TL1000S, which I couldn't seem to find on the web. I finally asked that group and got NO responses, even after 2 requests for info. I finally gave up and thought that maybe my questions were so common that the group didn't feel the need to answer me. I went to their main page again and saw a FAQ. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!! I couldn't find ANY very very basic info on bikes at all, let alone, the TL1000S....all I saw was B.S. techie crap that wouldn't help anyone except someone who owned that bike and liked to hack. Even Club DSM has a basic FAQ for the newbies. So much for a welcoming attitude. My point is this: there are WAY too many groups out on the web fronting like they know it all. There are a lot who think they are helpful but are not. Its not helpful to people when you help when its only convenient to YOU!! What a sad society we live in....(9/2/99)]

1993 Kawasaki ZX6D -- traded the Yamaha for it...IMO, Yamaha sucks but it was a good first bike.  The Ninja is quite a powerful bike for a beginner. It scared the hell out of me when I was driving it away from the dealership (very sensitive throttle). In comparison to the Radian, the Kawasaki had gobs of power, around 90hp.

The ZX6 engine is 600cc in displacement and contains 4 valves per cylinder and dual overhead cam technology. It is liquid-cooled and is vented through a 4-into-2-into-1-into-2 exhaust system. The motorcycle relies on ram-air to get it's 'hussle'. This bike is known for its' 11-second quartermile times (125mph traps). These times were quite competitive in 1993.

Sadly, I have no pictures of this bike, but I did scan pictures from the brochures of both bikes. The 'E' model is depicted on the right and 'D' model is on the left. Notice that the 'D' model seems to be slung lower. The 'E' has a shorter wheelbase and is a more upright bike, as the tank is higher than the previous bike. The 'E' is a more comfortable ride also. I rode it from Fayetteville, NC to Ft. Jackson, SC. I still had to make quite a few 'butt rest' stops but the ride still seemed more comfortable than long rides on the 'D'.

t is perfectly balanced and handled very well. Believe it or not, I had it as fast as it would go.....a speedometer-indicated 155 mph!! This was aerodynamically limited. Needless to say, I had a bad incident where I got dumped off the bike at 90 mph in a corner. I totaled the bike and received massive road rash but no broken bones...count me lucky but skinless. For a glorified true story of this wreck that I wrote as a college-level English class project, click here. The story is a bit dramatic, but since it was an English class essay, I had to make it appealing, with metaphors and such.

1993 Kawasaki ZX6E -- as you see, I didn't learn much. A month after the wreck (and still not over my rash), I purchase the upgraded model of the Ninja 600-series. I had everything that the D model had and more. More power too -- close to 100 hp. The bike seemed more balanced than it's predecessor, with a shorter wheelbase. 

It had true ram-air. I say true ram-air because people misunderstand what ram-air is. The faster you go, the more power the bike makes....it is forced induction of the air into a PRESSURIZED air box. It's not like adding a dryer hose to your airfilter. The bike was BUILT for ram-air and ram-air is not an after-thought. 

Ram-air theory goes like this: Literally, the faster you go, the more power the ram air system makes. Basically, engines are nothing more than glorified air-pumps and the more air you put in them, the more power they will make (up to a point), and since air is forced into the bike's airbox at a high pressure, you get a big pressure charge at high speeds....more air = more power.

When dyno'ing ram-air equipped vehicles, you get a "dry" reading, meaning you get the measurement of power and torque without the benefit of air moving into the ram air intakes (because the bike is sitting still). Therefore, when you see a magazine ad with power/torque ratings on ram air equipped vehicles, you know that the bike would actually make 5-10 horsepower more when moving!! Some magazines add air by forcing it into the ram-air ducts while the bike is on a dyno. I don't like this system....it's not a true reading. Per mag articles, most bikes make their HP at a set pressure at a particular speed (usually around 100HP). Forcing air into the airbox haphazardly doesn't seem orthodox to me.

The ram-air system is RADICAL! You could hear the air being sucked into the intake as you went faster....a very addicting feeling that is.  Kawasaki set the ram-air trend that you see on most of today's race-bred bikes.  I traded my ZX6E because I couldn't shake the trauma of the accident, though I loved riding.  For the story on my wreck, like above, click here. The story is a bit dramatic, but since it was an English class essay, I had to make it appealing, with metaphors and such.

Now, for some of my thoughts on biking:

I haven't been riding a decent percentage of my life. Maybe 3-4 years of riding. I'm very perceptive about the things I do, though. And, crashing a bike at 90mph gives me even more knowledge than most other "non-high-speed crashers" or "non-crash" riders. I know exactly what my mistakes were, even when getting a ride to the emergency room in the ambulance. These bikes can kill, and riding is not some video game. You don't get up and walk away from most wrecks. You always bust something. If you DO happen to get up and walk away, you WILL be marred a bit, road rash in the least. My advice is to leave the stunt riding and serious canyon carving for the track. With my riding group, we started to see a wreck every week because people didn't know their limits or because cars wouldn't expect a stunt and would hit the rider. The local police clamped down HARD on every rider, even those who weren't at fault, which is sad. But, what are the police to do when there is a wreck every weekend because of spirited riding in certain areas? Not to mention property damage. When I wrecked, my bike tore through someone's front yard and self-destructed in a nearby cornfield. I'm sure the homeowner was terrified...what if their kids had been in the yard???

I'm also not keen on inexperienced riders buying hyperbikes as their first bikes.  Maybe if I hadn't been on a ZX6 when I wrecked, I wouldn't have wrecked.  Who knows.  I know of a person who was thinking of getting a Yamaha YZF-600R6 as a first bike!  Now that is PURE stupidity.  That is purely an expert's bike, from what I hear.  It makes like 110-120 hp at the crank, supposedly.  I heard that he eventually got a Honda CBR600F4 (he also crashed it).  That's slightly less ballsy, but still a lot of bike to handle for a new rider.  I cannot understand why someone would want to start out on a bike like that unless he/she has a deathwish.  I've also heard of an even more outrageous thing:  another guy is considering getting a ZX9 as his first bike!  This bike has the potential to run a 9.9 sec quarter mile!  Needless to say, this guy will be scraped from a roadside sooner or later.  Maybe he'll be a catalyst for some sort of law banning new riders from riding 100+HP bikes.  Some countries have laws like that (Japan and Europe are a few examples), and I think America needs it and the motorcycling community needs it also.  Motorcyclists already have the negative reputation of being daredevils, even those riding hogs.  We can do without idiots adding to that daredevil image.

If you're thinking of barking up the "America means freedom" act, spare me.  I'm not a nazi, or I wouldn't even have a page on the internet, but I purely disagree with new riders buying ZX11s and such as their first bikes.  I've seen many people hurt and I've even had an acquaintance killed when he "graduated" from a ZX6 to a CBR900RR.  He split his head on a telephone pole and he was wearing a helmet.  He had been doing wheelies and hit a bit of sand on the road.  Yes, his fault was doing wheelies.  Yes, that doesn't mean that it will happen to you.  I've seen alot of "experts" bite the dust by crashing  because they thought they could handle their bike in any situation.

So, in closing, let's not be riding around like those guys on "Mad Max."  Those who ride irresponsibly give us decent motorcyclists bad raps too.

I'll be possibly purchasing another bike in 2002. We'll be in the U.S. again then and I plan on purchasing something bigger than the 600s I've owned in the past. I'm looking at either a 750cc 4-cylinder or a 1000cc V-Twin. I'm really eyeing the TL1000 (most likely R version), since there's no REAL 750cc 4-cylinders out there.

The ZX-7R hasn't been updated in years and is really in need of some major upgrades. Most late 600cc motorcycles surpass the ZX-7R in performance, especially straightline.. Then again, I haven't ridden a ZX-7 yet...it could very well be what I want in a bike (all I want is stability, not pure speed). Also, the ZX-7R could very well be a bike that I'd have a hard time controlling. The 600s I've owned and ridden had a lower power rating then the ZX-7R, and also couldn't match the -7R's racebred suspension. If only Kawasaki made a sport twin!

The TL1000 is a different story altogether. Either version has tons of torque and a widespread powerband, while a bit too wheelie-prone (from what I've read) for my liking. The -R version is designed to generate more topend power, while NOT sacrificing much lowend torque. The V-Twin sounds awesome! Also, the TL1000R looks like a big bike and, from what I've heard, feels like a big heavy bike also. It also has a serious suspension. Both versions have ram-air (as does the ZX-7R). Which should I pick??! :o)