Strange Co-incidence

Last Saturday after my side cases were installed I decided to go for a short ride to put on some miles. I am trying to break the engine in according to the instructions of my dealer and it was best to stay away from the faster roads or continuous RPM's. In city riding you are constantly working the clutch and throttle which is good for the rings and pistons. I do not usually infringe upon family time which is Saturday evenings and Sundays so I tucked my bike away, wiped the bugs off, said goodnight and plugged it into my battery tender. I quickly tip-toed away as I can't stand to hear my bike whimpering.

We decided to go out somewhere for dinner so I got ready and waited in the car, turned on the radio, reclined the seat and slowly drifted away to the sounds of 60's music. I heard a car pull up and park. I turned my head, opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of the taillights. I cranked my head more to the left to catch a peek at the driver and wouldn't you know, it was my riding buddy "JohnB" with his new SO (Squeeze by Jack "r's" definition)

Me (Bobskoot): "Hi John, haven't seen you around lately"

John: "Hi, was just driving by and decided to stop to see if I was home. I bought a new "something" today.

Me: "I bought something too"

John: "what did you buy?"

Me: "I'm not telling, but I have it in the back. Why don't you come and see it ? What did you buy?

John: "If you're not telling then I'm not telling"

Me: "Okay, follow me . . . "

We get out to the back and I show him my new Suzuki Wee-Strom.

John: "It only has one exhaust"

Me: "Okay, now tell me what did you buy"

John: "I picked up my new V-strom this morning. I got a great deal on the DL1000 with factory cases"

Funny thing that we should happened to purchase basically the same bike, although mine is a Wee and his is a Vee. The Wee has the 650cc engine, while the Vee has the larger 1,000 cc engine.

While on my ride I actually drove right past John's condo and decided not to stop. I also drove right past his dealer around the time that he was actually picking up his new bike. The next day (on Sunday) we decided to go for a little ride. I arrive at John's and this is what I see



John is busy trying to remove all the factory warning stickers



John also has a fleet of bikes, among them a BMW K75, Sherpa 250, Honda CB400A & a Yamaha TDM 800 dual sport



It's hard to imagine that we both bought the same type of bike, in the same colour (Black) without telling each other. His plan was to do more 2-up touring so he wanted to have the larger motor. His Vee came with the factory top & side cases.



We planned to meet at my place later in the afternoon, have dinner somewhere and then go for a ride. We had some errands and some shopping to do. Soon it was time to go home and meet up with John and his squeeze, Lauren. Wouldn't you know, as we were coming onto the approach to the Oak Street Bridge we were racing a black bike. It soon occurred to me that this bike looked very familiar. Somehow my eyes are more tuned to notice V-stroms on the road, esp black ones. I back off the gas and let the bike pull in, in front of me


(JohnB & Lauren, riding his new '09 VEE DL1000)

I get a chance to pull alongside for a photo op. They don't recognize me yet



Notice Lauren's new Joe Rocket jacket with the pink accents. We decide to visit a neighbourhood restaurant which serves Italian food and park our bikes in front



Here's another view with my Wee in the foreground, and the Vee behind.


(WEE & VEE, two more black sea level ballons ready for the road)

It's a very warm evening and we manage to get a table by the sidewalk with a view of our Stroms



I think it's a bonus to be able to see your bikes


(Lauren & JohnB)

I had the baked Lasagna



and Mrs Bobskoot had the roast lamb with greek salad. It looked better than mine but I said nothing



We rode down to Steveston, a fishing community about an hour south of Vancouver. It was just after sunset and my gorilla pod was at home



We made one final stop at Finn Slough where we said our good byes for the evening. I headed home, northbound, while JohnB headed east towards New Westminster



It was a warm summer night. A perfect time for the Wee & Vee to get acquainted