GALLERY OF MOTORCYCLES

HERE'S MY LAST BIKE, a 1999 Suzuki GSF1200S, otherwise known as the Bandit 1200. I ride this fine machine at least 600 miles a month. We commute to work together, we ride around the huge Microsoft campus to meetings in various buildings, we ride up to the garage where I'm restoring our '64 Lincoln, and we take occasional pleasure rides. It's an absolute joy, with a big, comfy seat, tons of power on tap at all engine RPMs, great handling, nice semi-upright seating, perfect ergonomics for a tall guy, and decent wind protection. The dealership where I bought it had even installed Michelin Sport tires, the best sporting road tires on the market. Boy, are they awesome on the corners! I can nearly match the "double it and add 10mph" speed posted on highway curves. Not quite... I'm not that brave!

Some people think of this as an old guy's bike, but it would have been a superbike 10 years ago! Best of all, I got it for a really good deal. It had been languishing at the local Ducati dealer (go figure - must have been a trade-in), where we saw it for sale nearly two months before I bought it. Kij saw it weekly as she drove across town, and one day decided to tell me it was still for sale and that I should buy it. Did I mention that I have the best wife in the world?

So we drive to the dealership, and I start to haggle. I had decided on how much I would spend, no more, but the salesperson thought I was crazy. We ended up with my paying $60 more than my amount, which was $400 less than they were asking. I was happy with that. And that was thousands less than new! The best part is that I could get the bike in my favorite color - forest green, a discontinued color.