WHAT THE SHREK
2006 Kawasaki Dealer Meeting
Story by Tom Van Beveren
Photos Courtesy of Kawasaki Motors Corp, U.S.A.

A Ninja ZX-14? In your dreams. Or is it? Just when you thought that sportbikes had got as big and powerful as they could possibly be, Kawasaki has thrown down a new gauntlet that will have the competition seeing green. Big green. Powerful green. The sort of green that will have rival dealers asking just what the Shrek is going on?
When Kawasaki dealers from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico gathered in Orlando for their annual meeting a couple of weeks ago, they were hoping they would get something new to grace their showroom floors in 2006. They got the usual changes--new colors, updated specs, wow-factor graphics, and the usual hype--including a spectacular stunt show that had supermoto bikes leaping and sliding, cars laying rubber and raising smoke, and fireworks galore.
But they also got two new big sportbikes, a new cruiser and a great mid-size sportbike perfect for the short set. Plus a four-stroke motocrosser and a dual-sport bike. And plenty of new quads, mule utility vehicles and jet skis. Oh, and by the way, one of those sportbikes is the brand new, 1,352 cc, Ninja ZX-14.
Totally new for 2006, the Ninja ZX-14 is the most powerful bike in the Kawasaki line-up. Officials refused to say just how powerful, but if the green team’s aim was to set a performance standard for others to follow, it succeeded.
Kawasaki engineers and designers teamed up to create a motorcycle that turns the company’s Ram Air and fuel-injected engine into the core of a powerful, torque-producing, aerodynamic stunner that will draw attention from onlookers whether it’s on the road or merely parked on the roadside.
Wrapped in your choice of Passion Red, Ebony or Candy Thunder Blue, the new ZX-14 makes blending into the scenery nearly impossible. It accelerates with ease, handles with assurance, and exudes an aura that is unmatched by anything else on the street.
No numbers on horsepower or torque were available during our brief look at the bike, so we can’t promise that this will be a Hyabusa slayer, but it looks great and should do well with the gotta-have-the-biggest crowd. Sporting an M.S.R.P. of $11,499, we’re sure to see plenty of these out in the canyons soon. And the idea had Green dealers fair rubbing their hands together.
For more on this story, pick up an October 2005 issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.

Ask the Sergeant:

Dear Sarge:

I have a question about passing a car that is waiting to make a left turn. I’m resisting the urge to use insulting stereo-types but I recently followed a car driven by an operationally challenged individual from a left-turn lane into an intersection, then stopped behind that car while we both waited for oncoming traffic to pass. The oncoming traffic seemed to be over a hundred yards away and an 18-wheeler could have completed the turn without danger, but the challenged driver in front of me insisted on waiting.
This situation seemed ridiculous and I was running late, so I made my left turn from behind this driver and basically undercut her on the left. I glanced at the silver-haired, elderly driver as I passed her and she just gave me a bewildered and confused look as I went by.
My obvious question is, did I violate any traffic laws by beginning my left turn from behind this woman and cutting under her as she just sat there?

Via e-mail

First of all, allow me to compliment you on your incredible exercise in political correctness. You can bet that I will be putting the expression “operationally challenged” into my literary repertoire.
Let me begin to answer your question with what is becoming a frequent observation in my column. Just like splitting lanes, there is no specific section in the California Vehicle Code that prohibits this maneuver, but there are a number of sections of the CVC that could be applied if you execute the maneuver in an unsafe manner. Violations such as unsafe passing on the left, passing without sufficient clearance, and, in extreme cases, reckless driving, could be applied if the observing officer is confident that the Traffic Court Judge would agree with him.
Section 21752 (d) of the California Vehicle Code says that you cannot drive left of center on the roadway when you are traversing an intersection. This section is what is used to cite someone who passes another car in an intersection but then continues straight on the same roadway. To me, “traversing” means that you have to exit the intersection on the same roadway that you entered on. It does not prohibit you from making a left turn onto a different roadway, so I could not imagine you receiving a citation in the situation you described, but remember, this is a judgment call by the observing officer and, as with all judgment calls, you roll the dice and take your chances.
Now that I have answered your question I will admit to you that I have made this same maneuver on several occasions on my personal motorcycles. I would never do it on a police bike because it would not be considered positive public relations.

For more on this story, pick up an October 2005 issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.

Project bike story:

LICENSED TO LUAU
Story by Anne Van Beveren
Photos by Tom Van Beveren

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and laugh out loud. There’s no point in asking why; there’s precious little point in even asking how. In this case, even the question “What?” seems to push the envelope of common sense.
But perhaps that’s the essence of the problem. Expecting even a modicum of common sense when you just got passed by an ’80’s-ish scooter, with a bamboo exhaust, Hawaiian print seat, and honest-to-goodness tiki torches flaming away on the back end. To make matters worse, the contraption is piloted by a man in a grass skirt and it appears to have been carved out of wood.
It’s not every day you get to enjoy a sight like that. Which is probably just as well.
The party-hearty pilot and owner of the wooden wonder is one Mark Hogan, known to his riding buddies as Colonel Hogan. Thankfully, by the time I found that out, I had learned the very valuable lesson that even a journalist should not always ask “why.” We’ll just let that one go.
The scooter, it turns out, began life as a Honda Elite 50, back when, nobody quite knows. It was discovered by a buddy of the Colonel’s, stuffed in a dumpster outside a self-storage facility. Where it probably should have stayed. But Hogan’s buddy knew he liked to tinker, and the scooter was certainly ripe for a little of that.
“An old gentlemen had thrown it away. He said he had given it to his grandson, who had lowered it and messed up the engine trying to fix it, then lost interest. It was all in pieces and parts, totally disassembled and had been sitting for years,” said Hogan. “I’ve been tinkering with things since I was a little kid. I’ve always been a gear head and I do machining and welding and things like that for fun.”

For more on this story, pick up an October 2005 issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.

Way2go

WHAT A WAY TO GO!
Story and photos by Anne Van Beveren

It being the month of Halloween ‘n all, you need a ride that’s absolutely to die for. Free 2 Wheel dug deep and, buried within the suburbs of Los Angeles, we found a route that will turn a day’s ride into an eternity, and provide a jolly ghoul time for anyone willing to do a little dead reckoning.
It’s a trip that will have you seeing stars—all sorts of movie and entertainment icons. Sure, they are just a little past their prime, but on this journey, you can be sure that all of them will be home, and that they are simply dying to see you.
Our journey begins in the dead center of North Hollywood at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills—one of the largest, best-manicured and most lavishly landscaped cemeteries in California. It’s the large expanse of golf-course-like green just south of the 134 freeway, immediately to the west of Griffith Park, and it’s open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents get to stay a little longer. Like, forever.
Start your grave expedition by exiting the 134 Freeway at Forest Lawn Drive and riding Forest Lawn Drive west to the gates of the cemetery. Note that Forest Lawn is the second cemetery you come to on this road. The first one is Sinai Memorial Park, which we’ll save for another day. Note also that lingering in the cemetery is not encouraged and that you are in the presence of mourners, so please, show some sensitivity.
Turn left into the main gate of Forest Lawn--the one flanked by a Gone-With-The-Windish large white mansion on one side and a fountain full of spouting cranes, storks, whatever, on the other. Make a stop at the information booth to pick up a map. The cemetery covers a lot of acres and its meandering roads can have you going round in…

For more on this story, pick up an October 2005 issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.

Interview

KNIGHT OF THE REALM
Story and photos by Reid Libby

If you spend any time in Pasadena, you can’t help but notice that it is one of Sou-thern California’s older com-munities. The architecture, streets and points of civic pride all suggest that this is a city with more than a few summers under its belt.
So it seems only appropriate that, when the melodic baritone of a motorcycle exhaust gently jostles the peace of a warm evening, it too should be of a suitable vintage. Long-time Pasadena resident Bill Bibbiani is more than happy to oblige by revving up his version of the music, sort of a “Tocatta for Twin Cylinders,” as it were.
Bibbiani’s instrument of choice may vary in specifica-tion, but not in origin. Norton motorcycles reign supreme in his garage. Production of the venerable twins ceased 30 years ago, bestowing a certain air of antiquity that makes them the ideal mounts for zipping about the historically rich City of Roses.
Wonder what the attraction is in riding around on a bike more than a quarter of a cen-tury old?
“It’s certainly not about elapsed times or top speed,” says Bibbiani, a retired school board administrator. “It’s about getting on the bike and riding. If you want to ride something a bit different and have a lot of fun doing it, the Norton is the way to go. Give them some time and they just sort of grow on you.”
It’s a good thing Bibbiani has his priorities in order, other-wise he would be in for a big disappointment. These days a modern motorcycle with even the most casual of sporting pretensions will up and leave your typical Norton for dead.
For more on this story, pick up an October 2005 issue of FREE 2 WHEEL at your local dealer, or use the handy order form page found on our web site.