Rider in the action photos: Carlos Barrera

If you were to look at my family history you’d find quite a few famous movie stars within the past few generations. For example, my grandfather starred in the movie “The Wild One”, while my grandfather’s younger brother starred with Steve McQueen in “The Great Escape”. My dad was in the movie “An Officer and A Gentleman” and my older sister was in “Barbed Wire” (no my sister isn’t Pam Anderson). Some cousins have been in movies as well; Mission Impossible to name just one of them. In my family I’m kind of the black sheep. While some of my family went off to find their fortune in Hollywood I decided to be a press bike.

  Press bike? What? Confused? Did you expect someone else to be writing this article? Nope, you’re getting this review straight from the horse’s mouth as it were; although if you call me a horse I’ll run over your foot. See I’ll let you in on a little secret; Moto-journalists get all their best ideas from us bikes. Yes sir, they’re nothing but a bunch of paper-pushers who think that they pull all the strings and come-up with the great (and not so great) articles that you read. Hogwash. All of it. If it wasn’t for us press bikes giving them telepathic messages (ever hear the line “the bike seems to speak directly to your soul”? Guess what…..we literally do!) they wouldn’t have anything to write about.

So I decided to write my own story. I mean, who better to talk about you than yourself right? Hopefully once you read my story you’ll be more inclined to treat your own bike with more respect and to actually listen to her (or him) a little more closely in the future.

Now as many of you know (and as you can tell by looking at the cool pictures) I am a classically styled lady. I would say that I have a “non-athletic” type of body; I have more curves and things are rounder than on sportier motorcycles. Think of me like a Rubens or Botticelli more than a Playboy centerfold. A lady never reveals her weight but I’m sure the Editor of this fine magazine will tell you anyway…probably in some cute little parenthesis at the end of this sentence (she weighs 440 pounds dry – Ed); see, I told you. However don’t let my weight fool you; I am pretty nimble for my size. As a matter of fact with my new 17” cast-aluminum wheels I handle better at slow speeds than almost any other bike you’ll ever ride.

The Editor that you thought was writing this actually told people (while I was standing right there!) that I was the “Golden Retriever" of the motorcycle world; always eager to please and never tries to do anything that might in any way endanger you, surprise you, or that might cause you to get hurt. While that might describe my personality perfectly, no one likes to be compared to a dog, right? Could one of you let the Editor know that please; it really hurt my feelings. But, since I’m “always eager to please” I put the hurt behind me and pretended I didn’t hear a thing.
Looking classy on the outside while being a complete bitch on the inside just isn’t cool so I make sure that my classic good looks wrap around an equally classy interior. My heart is 865cc of pure parallel twin gold that puts out, oh, about 67hp at 7500 rpm, and 51lb ft at 5800. No I’m not into drag racing or spinning my rear tire (even if it is only 3.5” wide) exiting a corner or any of those wheelie shenanigans.

I’m more about nice sight-seeing rides on back country roads than I am about riding around with my hair on fire (well, your hair on fire) while bungee jumping out of a 747 at 35k feet. You want to ride like a hooligan? Let me introduce you to my cousins the Triples, Speed and Street. I do love riding in the city too and would make a perfect commuter bike; you can even outfit me with a windshield and saddlebags! Now how versatile am I, hmm? One of the things that makes me so easy to ride and live with, even for a newbie, is my smooth throttle response and spot-on fuel injection.