I'd Like You to Meet Saki.

     Remember a few posts back, when I was telling you about the Honda CBR650F? You know, when I said that I was thinking about getting it in a few months or more. Well, that didn't happen. It wasn't the CBR, but it is rather nice, and I fell in love with it.

     This is Saki. Saki is a Kawasaki Ninja EX650FGFL. It has everything I wanted from the CBR, with the ABS brakes, the color, and just great styling, for a much lower price. The sales guy, was great. He asked be what it would take to get me on a bike today (which was really friday). He knew that I was just there to look around and run a few question by him. I gave him, what I thought was an impossible number to hit, and he managed to hit it. I was a little floored, when he came up and said, "Congratulations". I thought there was no way they were going to hit it, but they did, and even came in a bit lower. We went through all the paper work, and then I had to wait for the bike. He was gassing it up, cleaning it down, and charging the battery for it's trip home. The sales guy told me it was going to take a while, so my drinking buddy, who had met me up there, took off to get some lunch. We wasted a good hour or maybe a little more, and then started heading back to the dealer to pick up the bike. Just as we were leaving, I got a call, saying that they needed about another 20 minutes. We wasted about 10 and then went back.

     They were ready for me. the bike was all charged up with the new plate on it. I was a little worried about riding it for the first time. I hadn't ridden in about 5 years, and I had never ridden a sports bike. I've seen all the videos of people getting their brand new sports bike, and then not realizing how much power they had, and spinning the tires and losing control, just to destroy their bike on their maiden voyage. I got my helmet on, and my buddy was going to follow me home. I got on the bike, which was really comfortable. My whole worry about the seat height being too high, was just not the case. I'm on my toes when I'm stopped, but I'm not leaning or anything like that. Anyway, I clicked it down in first, slowly let off the clutch as I rolled the throttle. I took off smooth as butter. It was like I'd been riding that whole time. I got out on the rode, and felt that freedom that only two wheels can bring you. As I was going down the road, I felt more and more relaxed. I was stopped at a light, when I decided to get on it a little to see just how much power this little beauty had. Before I knew it, I was going 65MPH in a 45 MPH zone. I backed off the throttle and brought it down to speed. If I wasn't wearing my helmet, you could see the smile from ear to ear. It was pure joy. It is real fun to ride.

     I didn't get to ride today because it was raining for most of it. I was heading to Intracoastal Brewing for their annual Bacon Beer Bash. They have 5 different beers that are made using bacon, and they are quite tasty. I only had 2 of them this year, the Maple Bacon Ale, and the Maple Bacon Coffee Stout. They were fantastic. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I will always try a coffee beer, just to know what it tastes like. The things I don't like about coffee are the very things that people do like about coffee. I often help people pick out beers at bars, and I can't tell someone what a coffee stout tastes like, if I have no idea what it tastes like. The only way to know, is to actually drink it for myself. This was one of those very rare cases, that I actually liked the beer. The maple killed the bitterness of the coffee, so that it was as strong as it smelled. It smelled like a cup of black coffee. The taste was much more mild. I'd have to say, that in my opinion, it was the best coffee stout that I had ever tasted.

     I haven't gotten much sleep in the past few days, so I'm going to try to keep this brief tonight. I did want to mention that the RAYS raised $300,000 to donate to the Pulse Victims Fund. The stadium was packed with people coming to gather to honor those that fell on that day last weekend and lend their support through donations and just showing that they won't hide away, and that they will live their lives by their rules, and not those rules of anyone that would try to harm them.

     I'm going to leave you with one more picture of Saki, from another angle, It deserves another look.

   Peace in and goodnight.