Tuesday 20 May 2008

My First Trip on my Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R to Newport, RI

I endeavored two years of hardships, long study hours, assignments, classes and late night parties. It wasn’t easy. What made it even more difficult was I did not have a bike for almost two years. However, as we were graduating, I decided to change that. I somehow arranged for some money and got my bike. Now I was looking for a chance to take it for a long ride. Finally I got a chance a day after our graduation. I graduated on 17th may and got an invitation to visit a friend and his family in Newport, RI. It is a old but filthy rich town by the sea. It is known for its huge mansions and was home to Vanderbilt family, one of the wealthiest in world’s history. It is estimated that these mansions would cost more than $250-$500 million to build today.

I got up lazily because I had checked the weather the previous day and it said it would rain and hence I thought I will not be able to ride. Having partied till 05:00 in the morning I was in no mood to go in a car. However the weather was clear. I got ready, unveiled my bike and left.

As soon as I hit I-95, there was miles of traffic. Thought of turning back but then this is not what we xbhpians do. I could see the coolant temperature going up being the traffic. Soon the traffic opened up and so did the throttle.


The traffic got thinner and thinner and soon I saw a very empty stretch of the highway on 28 S. I was in 6th gear and as soon as I hit 7,000 RPM, the bike took off. I reached 120 mph – 192 kmph. But I could see cars in my lanes further down and I slowed down. Still had to brake as I got close. Technically I was approaching those cars at 80kmph which used to be my cruising speed on my pulsar. One is a while I would get off the bike to check on my bag which was not tight and also to take some pics. It was very windy and the first time I was riding so fast so I did not cross the 110 mph mark.


Soon I was in the town. An old town which rich flavor.

New Port, RI City Center


Headed to my friend’s place and was warmly welcomed by his mom. Hung around with my friends. I technically reached at the end of the party J. Then a friend took it for a little spin. He said he used to own the exact same bike in the past. I went around town and drove on the oceanic drive. The view was phenomenal. I stopped at the most beautiful mansion called ‘Marble house’ and I was parking the bike, the guard freaked out to see a biker near the billion dollar mansion. He said it was closed and would not let me take pictures. Anyways, I went on and saw the Oceanic drive it was beautiful.
My Kind of Baywatch



Oceanic Drive

Where to go Next?

It started to drizzle now. I did not want to ride in the rain. I did once and it was not a good experience. That day I rode on emergency breakdown lane at 20 mph as the bike was fishtailing if I rode more than 40 mph. Anyways, back to my trip. I just rode around took some pics and then left for home. Luckily it did not rain very hard though the drizzling made the roads wet and hence I did not overspeed. It was still a great ride back.

I realized that long rides on Superbikes is not a very great idea. I would need to raise the clipons for a better ride position. Also its hard when you get some traffic.

Monday 19 May 2008

I am Finally Boston Biker!


I got this blogname even before it was true. I did not have a bike untill then. But on 3rd May, my life changed. I finally got my hands on my new bike. Its a 1999 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R. I bought it from a guy in Quincy who had maintained it well and the bike had its tuning done under instructions of a racing team manager.

I also got a high end Helmet and a Joe Rocket riding jacket. Although I was ready to ride it on Saturday i.e. the day the seller brought the bike to my place, I could not ride it as it was not registered. I had to somehow get through the weekend. Finally I got up at 07:30 AM on Monday and was the first person to enter the Insurance company's office (In Us, you have to first insure a vehicle before registering it). Got it insured, and went to the RMV. Waited patiently for an hour but then was later told that there was some problem in the paperwork and I will have to now get some more signatures from the seller. I called him and drove about 10 miles to have him sign the paperwork. Finally got it registered and with my license plates in hand, I drove as fast as I could back to my place and attached the plates in record time. BTW, if any cop is reading the blog, yeah I did break all speeding laws that day! Booya!

The 750 CC engine was roaring. The sound was like a symphony. I hit the road and realised the immense power that lay within. As Spidey's uncle says 'With great power comes great responsibility', I rode very responsibly. ;-)

Check out More Pics here:
http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/dhairya/Ninja/



I have been riding it for sometime now and love it. Trip logs on the way.