Back in the saddle
By: Andre Paquette

Dear SV Rider,

I have not owned a motorcycle for about six years now but...

I managed to severely break my right ankle and tibia in Oct 2004 on a bicycle of all things and after several operations, built in ankle hardware that "buzzes" at the airport and some painful physio it gave me time to think about allot of things. One of those things is appreciation for mobility. Oddly enough though the first thing that came to mind when it happened was; will I ever be able to ride a motorcycle again considering my foot was a complete 180 degrees in the opposite direction from what it should be. (I have omitted several words that were said loudly when the accident happened and since) We all need to be reminded sometimes that life is for living and for me that includes a motorcycle.

So with a solid month in bed with motorcycle magazines in hand and a computer to surf at my finger tips I started thinking seriously about riding again.

I have owned everything from starting at age 14 with a Kawasaki KDX80 two-stroke dirt bike, Honda Shadow 500 and 750, Honda CBR 600 F1, Suzuki GSXR 750, Katana 1100 (the old one with retractable windshield, cool feature), and finally 7 years ago a Harley-Davidson Sportster. So as you can see I have done every kind of riding possible with exception of the ball of death, no thanks on that one.

This next part brings me to why I am writing in the first place. Inspiration from simplicity, fun and the all around functional motorcycle the Suzuki SV650.

I did have a chance to ride an SV650 around a block or two in 1999 when it was first introduced and liked the torque pulling attitude it had from the twin cylinders. Well I am getting better with physio and with the SV screen saver on my computer as inspiration I went to my local Suzuki dealer here in Mississauga, ON Canada last week and purchased a new 2005 SV650s (in the hit you in the face Yellow) still in the crate straight from Japan.

So thank you SV Rider for providing a great site for research and just all around information. We all need to be reminded sometimes that life is for living and for me that includes a motorcycle. Now show me the after market parts list and let the snow melt, I am back in the saddle with a twitchy right wrist !

Keep two up,
Andre Paquette