Old Faithful...

So after my debacle with the GS yesterday, I was reluctant to go out and try to get the Ninja started today.

But it was B-E-A-Utiful outside and I felt that it just had to be done.

The Ninja has been tucked in a corner of the garage since about October of last year, just sitting there, patiently waiting for me to fire her up.

I pulled her out of the corner and she squeakily rolled along the garage floor, telling me that maybe she needs new brakes this summer. But she only whined about that for a minute.

I got the key in and hit the starter. She tried her hardest, but after 6 months of just sitting, her heart wasn't into it. I knew the answer though. I got the jumper cables and gave her a lifeline to the Civic.

Hit the starter again...after about 10 seconds she fired right up...yelling loudly through her Kerker straight through race pipe that she wasn't upset about "the other woman" that's sitting in the garage right next to her.

A little throttle caused her to die again...but that's normal for her, she's a bit cold blooded. Another click on the starter sent her into a rage as she raced to about 8k RPM...time to lay off the choke, I guess.

I let her sit and idle while I went in and got my gear together. When I came back out I shut her down and poured a can of fuel system cleaner into her tank. She started right back up for me after that.

I turned her around and started down the driveway, and we went for a quick spin. She gladly took me up to 90 as we raced down the backroads near the house. She hugged the road on one of the sharp turns I know of. She purred like a kitten at idle...albeit a very large, angry kitten.

Yup. The Ninja made me not hate motorcycles today. She started and ran as if she thought she had something to prove...never even asking me why there was another bike in the garage.

When I got home, I noticed a scratch on her side that I had never noticed before. Probably a stone thrown up by the snowblower this winter, or maybe something that she had thrown up on her during the ride today. So I grabbed a sticker and bandaged her up...I like putting stickers on the Ninja, makes it feel more like a race bike than it already does.

At least now I know that when the Suzuki's not cooperating, the Ninja is always there for me.