Well, I was in Vancouver on business and over the weekend I had some time to kill. So I did what any gearhead would do.... I rented a Suzuki Bandit 1250S and rode my ass off!! My impressions of the Bandit.... wonderful engine turbine like power delivery, great riding position, confidence inspiring handling. Down side: clunky gearbox, I kept hitting the horn when cancelling the blinker, that's about it. I rode from downtown to Whistler, to the Olymic village and back then to Mt. Cyprus, Horsehead Bay and Stanley Park. Thanks to the Olympics, they pumped about 2 billion dollars into highway 99from Vancouver to Whistler. AWESOME ROAD!! Sunday a.m. downtown Vancouver was dead so I rode all through the city. That was quite cool too. Here are some pics from the road.
Wished I had known you were here. Work permitting, a couple of us would ahve met and joined you for a ride.
That would have been great. It was a total last minute thing. In fact, that Saturday a.m. I was just going to rent a bicycle and ride around Stanley Park. While I was checking out bicycles, I noticed an ad for BC Cycle I took the Canada Line and walked over to their shop. This was my first visit to Vancouver, it was beautiful weather, I figured how many opportunities will I get to do this?? They had a great selection of bikes including an 09' VFR. I wanted to try a different bike and I was torn between the BMW GS800 or the Bandit. Considering the distance and speed covered, I think the Bandit was the right choice. $247.00 for 24hrs rental including bags, helmet, jacket, gloves and insurance..... that is a bargain and a half!! The bike had 1200km on it, most of their bikes were nearly new and the guys there were excellent. Vancouver is beautiful, period. This was the BEST way to get out of the city and see the sights. The mountains, lakes, falls and wildlife were all stunning. It reminded me of Switzerland but without all the attitude.... A real sportsman's paradise. Ya'll are very lucky to live there. I would have a really hard time getting to work on nice days if I lived there! I'm trying to convince my boss to have our group 'summit' meeting in Vancouver from now on :wink: Next time I will plan ahead and give you a shout!
