So I accepted a great new job working with awesome people in an area we both want to move to, largely for personal reasons such as great housing opportunities and the area is like a giant playground when it comes to the hobbies we enjoy. The catch is that we won't be moving for another six months or so and until that time I've got a nice long 170mi round trip daily commute. In passing a friend of mine brought up the commute and inquired as to how terrible it must be to deal with every day, I suppose to some that could be the case. Personally, I think it is all about how you look at it. I mean, I get to ride my bike for a few hours 5 days a week and I get to see the sunrise and sunset every day, it's hard to look at that with a frown. Though now I do mildly regret selling my F4i, that sure was a nice bike and would have made the commute much smoother, but everything happens for a reason and I was just going too damn fast on that thing.

I started out doing the commute on my FZR, a ratty bike for sure, but the 600 definitely makes quick work of the ride. At roughly 50mpg, it certainly beats the drive in any car, esp my trucks which get 12-15mpg. Of course, the downside to doing a long daily commute on a sportbike is most certainly due to the riding position, hunched over and looking up. After a few hundred miles of that, your neck and lower back start to pay the price.

Enter the 225; I can sit upright, it has nice soft suspension and it gets a whopping 84mpg allowing me to do a full 170mi ride on 2 gallons of gas, something which would set me back about $50 to do in the Rover, costs a mere $7 on the bike. Of course, the bike only weighs about 260lbs so in addition to limits of the smaller sized air cooled motor that means my top speed really should hover around 55-60mph, lest I be fighting the northwesterly demons for my life. Having done the ride many times I can honestly say that it is actually not as bad as I would have thought and it does force me to chill out on the streets, another reason for getting the little bike.

I've got to say, this bike is just awesome. Great on the trails, decent on the street and easy on the wallet. When I eventually run this one into the ground, I foresee the newer 250cc version finding a spot in my garage. Of course, that might be some ways off however, as with proper maintenance, this single cylinder 4 stroke can run for decades. :)