The Drain
Authored by Josh Pigney
It sits in the garage on stands for 96% of the year, and yet its presence dominates my life in every single way. Standing tall at 44in, draped in metallic maroon and silver, it is the absolute biggest drain in my life.
This 2009 Kawasaki ZX6r motorcycle not only drains my mind and body when ever I'm on it, but also my pocket book in every way possible. It takes my time and forces me to work on and maintain it. It forces me to take days off work, and continuously has me rescheduling life around the days I use it. It's a pure, unadulterated, and dedicated track bike completely unusable as a road-going daily motorcycle due the lack of lights, horn and turn signals. It may sound terrible so far, considering the things stated above. Its not really hard to see that it may even borderline as a toxic relationship. This, however, couldn't be further from the truth. For everything this bike takes from me, it gives me something in return ten fold that I just can't replicate in any other area of my life;
Pure happiness and adrenaline.
The track is its home, and I gladly take it back there just 15 days a year. 15 days out of 365 that make it all worth while, and makes the other 350 days not so terrible. Its a drug perpetuated by my own desire for happiness, and that straight shot of adrenaline. I welcome its presence and have adapted a lifestyle based around speed and things that go fast. It isn't the first motorcycle I've had, nor will it be the last. The next bike I can guarantee will drain me in the exact same ways as all of its predecessors did, and its return will be more than I can ever be thankful enough for.