Author: Aaron Weber

My father told me he was worried about me buying a bike, especially something with a giant 650cc engine. I said, 650 is small these days. He said, mine was 500cc, and I imagine they’ve got a lot more power out of them in the intervening fifty years or so. I said, sure, but they also have emissions controls and better handling and brakes.

So I finally got around to looking up the stats to see if my bike is dangerously overpowered compared to the one my dad used to ride. The best equivalent I could find for his 1958 Matchless competition single was the a 1988 replica, which pulls about 34 HP. Megan’s bike, the LS 650 (“Savage” or “Boulevard S40” depending on the year) does about the same, although at lower RPM, which I think means it has more of the “low-end torque” everyone goes on about.

My Suzuki SV650 is indeed comparatively overpowered, at 70 HP. That sounds about right– it’s certainly perky when I want to zip around something. But I can still feel comfortable saying that it’s not completely insane, compared to others. After all, Annete’s friend Erick just got a Yamaha YZF-R1, which has a liter engine and a breathtaking 172 horsepower.

It helps to have a sense of humor about marketing writing. For example, Lagunitas Brewing Company has the following written on their promotional beer coasters: “This unique lovely and dlightful adult style beverage can be used directly from the glass to remove stubborn grease stains and it also dobules as a refreshing dessert topping! Any intentional misuse of this product or concentratino and inhaling (“huffing”) of its vapors is dangerous and can lead to permanent health effects.”

I can’t seem to find video of the classic Saturday Night Live commercial about Shimmer, the floor wax/dessert topping, but you get the idea. Brilliant marketing aimed at people staring into their beers in bars.

It’s a shame I don’t actually like India Pale Ale.