Then a Suzuki GS55ES, pseudo cafe racer with the half fairing. Reviews when it came out said it had a pretty flat power curve,* and everything was tucked up enough that you were unlikely to scrape anything no matter how hard you threw it into the turns. In other words, great fun in the twisties, but capable enough for 4 hours at freeway speed without being painful.
* Which at that time meant not enough at the bottom end to make the front come over too easy, and not enough on the top to be worth wringing it out.
If I had it to do over, I'd rather have had a dirt bike so I could get comfortable with sliding around. I'm sure I rarely pushed the capabilities of anything I rode.
* Which at that time meant not enough at the bottom end to make the front come over too easy, and not enough on the top to be worth wringing it out.
If I had it to do over, I'd rather have had a dirt bike so I could get comfortable with sliding around. I'm sure I rarely pushed the capabilities of anything I rode.