My reporting of my beloved bike is on the 125DUKE which has appeared
in this column many times now.
This is my beloved and congratulatory bike as this is full of my “firsts”,
i.e. my first 125, my first import, and my first water cooled engine.
The main use is to ride around town.
I would say that the fuel consumption is around 40km/L.
I have written about when I first purchased the DUKE here,
but there are lot of people who ask me questions when they find out
that I bought this bike like
“It is only 125 after all so doesn’t that lack power?”
No, it’s not enough (lol). However, I bought it knowing that, so it’s fine
with me.
In other words, this is the result of my choosing my beloved bike after
giving a lot of thought about how I’m going to use this bike differently
depending on the occasion.
Hacchake who also rides the bike for 100km everyday also said,
“If you are looking for comfort, other bikes are better.
But this is perfect for those who are looking to casually enjoy sports riding.”
Well, this is very well said.
here is the enjoyment in being able to pursue ‘relatively fast speeds’
also on the circuit!
I bought the DUKE for the purpose of riding around town and for mini bike racing.
If I want to travel a bit farther or go for long touring,
I have another bike, a 1100 Katana.
I think it is important to ‘differentiate between uses’
for different purposes like this.
Of course, it’s fantastic to be able to do everything with only one bike.
I’m sure there are people that ride a GSX-R1000 everyday for going to work
and going to school for example,
but I think that that does not serve the bike’s original purpose, most likely.
This is why I think it is good to ‘differentiate between the use’.
It’s good to be able to say I have an APE100 even though I have a GOLDWIG,
or I have a Ducati1198 and an SL230 or I ride a XJR1200 and a JOG
depending on the occasion, etc.
There are lots of owners that differentiate between use
in our editing team as well.
Hacchake seems to have additionally purchased a ZX10R
on top of a DR400SM, Matsu owns a CBR1000RR and a FORZA,
and other bikes, Fukusuke, I think has a CB1100 and a Spacy100,
and Riko chooses between a Hyper Motard and a Majesty125.
The 200DUKE was displayed at TMS. No...I ‘m not regretting that!!
This is why I have settled with owning two bikes, the 1100Katana
and the 125DUKE.
I also have a bicycle and a car, so I do need to differentiate between the
different uses.
I would travel by car if I’m going anywhere with my family, ride a bicycle
for training purposes, ride the 1100Katana for going long distances
and ride the 125DUKE for everyday riding.
This DUKE which was my first 125, my first import,
and my first water cooled engine that I ended up buying takes me
to many different places almost everyday.
What’s fun about riding a 125 around town is that although I can’t run fast,
I can now relax without having to be in a rush riding at a mitigating speed
within the speed limit most of the time (lol).
It is also quiet and it has good fuel consumption.
What a clean and handsome style. It is so cool!
The only problem is...I don’t ride the Katana so much anymore, hahaha.
This is the end of my reporting on my beloved bike.
<You can go long distances with a DUKE too! Nakamura>
(Article of January 3, 2012)
