Kawasaki Motorcycle Blog

Ok, I’m moving off the subject of motorcycles for a second but definitely staying on the topic of KAWASAKI. The Kawasaki Mule is able to be outfitted as an incredible fire and rescue until - invaluable for ranchers or others living in rural areas where the traditional fire unit has difficulty reaching.

The Kawasaki Fire and Rescue unit, as decked out completely by Beartooth Kawasaki, is a fully equipped skid mount fire unit. It is one of the best Kawasaki accessories out there simply because it is such a great service item - fire fighting equipment. Take a look at the full line (completely decked out and ready to ship) that Beartooth Kawasaki has in stock:

Click here to see the Skid mount fire units from Beartooth Kawasaki

It’s 2008 and soon it’ll be spring - time to ride again. Unless of course you purchased that wicked accessory for your Kawasaki that allows you to tear it up in the snow! See last post…

Anyway, with riding season coming up, it’s time again to think about safety. Remember, a wreck in a car is way different from a wreck on a motorcycle…what can be merely a fender bender on a car can literally kill you - if you’re not careful. So, let’s list the most important safety rules, in order of importance.

1. Wear a helment. Even if it isn’t a law. Even if it messes up your head. Better messy hair than death.

2. Wear gear. I see men riding motorcycles in the summer with flip flops and no shirts. One thing to keep in mind: skin and pavement do not mix and the pavement wins every time.

3. Wake up. Don’t ride your motorcycle when your in the slightest bit impaired, either by being sleepy, having a beer or anything. It’s the dumbest thing you could possibly do.

4. Watch out. For other drivers…ALWAYS. Follow the rules of the road and practice defensive driving. On no other vehicle is that so important!

5. Wisdom. Continue to learn motorcycle safety. If you haven’t taken a class yet, do it. Be smart.

Happy New Year to the Kawasaki Motorcycle Family!

I was sitting here thinking about winter and how impossible it is to use the 3 motorcycles sitting in the garage when there is about 6 inches of snow on the ground when I thought … hey, I wonder what other people do in the winter…besides buying an ATV or a MULE.

I came across a pretty cool mod for motorcycles, cleverly called the ‘SnoXcycle’.

It looks like it takes the front wheel and replaces it with a giant snowshoe/snow board and the back wheel and replaces it with a single track system. All in all, it looks like it would be fun to use but my big question was traction.

It looks like you’d get quite a bit of power from the backend track system but that front end bothers me. I would think that keeping the bike/snowboard upright would require some special finesse on the rider’s part…mostly because there doesn’t appear to be much on the front end to keep you upright. Check it out yourself and I’d love to hear from anyone who’s used it:
SnoXcycle

The influx of female riders in the motorcycle industry is amazing. We have noticed about a 38% increase over the past couple of years in the female owners and riders, it’s almost hard to believe that there can be that big of an increase. It appears that not only are gals getting into the sport but husband and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends are finding a way to enjoy a sport they have in common.

I just found out that in Hillsboro Oregon a gal just opened her very own motorcycle accessory shop, she is sponsoring female only rides and combined rides. What this means is for us guys is we now have a way to include our significant others in motorcycles. We no longer will need to justify our purchase of new motorcycles, weekends away from the house and many other events we so love to do. Women no longer want to be eye candy on the back of a motorcycle. They are customizing their own rides and rightly so!

To me there is nothing more awesome then a gal with a motorcycle that fits her personality and enjoys the sport equally as well as the men. I am curious what every ones thoughts are and if they fell the same way I do?

I cannot tell you how wound up I get when someone around me starts talking about how they should repeal motorcycle helmet laws. Hello - does anyone remember Gary Busey? How about Billy Idol? These guys got done right in riding without a helmet. I am and always have been a supporter of mandatory helmet laws. If I get on my Ducati or my son hops on my Kawasaki Vulcan and takes it out on the road helmets are on. Common sense - we want to keep our heads.

Seriously, Billy walks with a limp man. A limp. There’s lots of good vibes available as it is, wearing a helmet. You’ve already got the fact that you’re riding a hunk of burning metal along the road when most people are stuck in traffic in their cars. I guess you could always walk your dog without a helmet, but then you miss out on all the wind, unless you’re taking that walk near the ocean.

I personally really dig my helmet. I spray-painted it day-glo purple and got my mechanic, who dabbles in airbrush art to put Pamela Anderson’s face on the back of it. Friends asked me why I put her face on there, but I’m not a crude type of guy. Plus you have the added feature of every dude passing you in a truck doing a double-take thinking they just saw Pam Anderson sitting on the back of a bike…

My son refused to wear a helmut at first but he learned to change his ways. Why? Well, first I took away his tv time. That was after the first time I caught him taking a bike out bareheaded. The next time it was no more Saturday KFC nights. I think that shut him down. And now he’s got quite a selection of helmets. Actually, they’re pretty cool-looking so one time I tried one on for a quick ride but the thing was too small and it took an hour for me to get it off my head.

There always has been and probably always will - great controversy over motorcycle helmet laws. As a seasoned rider, I personally am against mandatory helmet laws. The reason for this is many and I will try to cover some of these reasons below. But firstly I would like to clarify that by no means does this mean I advocate the abolishment of helmets rather that it should be a matter of choice by the rider.

Firstly, I have been riding my Kawasaki Ninja for over 5 years now and let me tell you this monster of a road bike with its 1352cc engine has supreme power. Now, in the five years I have been riding I have probably covered over 300,000kms and never in that time have I come off my bike. I know what most of you readers are thinking and its luck. Well, I disagree. I boil it down to common sense and a following of the road rules set down by the Roads and Traffic Authority. Sure I’ve given the bike a good hard go – but guess where – on a race track!

Many surveys have proven that most motorcycle accidents have come from not obeying the traffic laws. This said, yes it’s possible that a helmet may have saved a life, but I’ve also seen bike riders decapitated before with their helmet still intact. It’s all about the responsibility of the rider. Should you be caught for some traffic offence then maybe enforce a helmet law for that rider, albeit that is only going to encourage them to do it again.

The second point I would like to make is that we live in a democracy and therefore like freedom of speech why don’t the same rules apply when deciding whether or not we should wear a helmet? Any Government that enforces you to do something isn’t a democracy. I am not hurting anyone by not wearing a helmet, only myself should I possibly come off my bike.

Finally, if you travel to other countries around the world, you will see that numerous places don’t require the riders to wear helmets. Do these places have HUGE deaths from head injuries from bike falls? I don’t think so. I was in Bali and saw a husband and wife riding on a bike and the wife was carrying a baby on the back. Irresponsible – yes, but their choice.

All I’m saying is that if grown adult bike riders don’t wish to wear a helmet then it shouldn’t be up to anyone else but themselves to make that decision. Those people who criticize non-helmet wearing riders are discriminative bigots in my eyes. I bet most of them don’t even follow the road rules properly!

Do you love Kawasaki motorcycles? You love the wind in your face and gnats in your teeth? Want to share that love with others?

If so, submit your ride stories to us here, via the forum, and we will review and post the best ones!