Ideas for a Bike Birthday in Seattle

My wife's friend has just begun to show a strong interest in motorcycles. It's her birthday this Saturday. We want to give her a motorcycle birthday in Seattle.

The plan is to drive down from Vancouver (BC) on the Friday, stay overnight, and spend Saturday checking out motorcycles. I'm looking for suggestions as to the best bike shops and hangouts so that I can create a birthday bike tour for her.

The friend seems to like motorcycles in general, but she's expressed particular interest in Ducatis, Aprillas, and a Triumph Thruxton (though she's thinking of a Ninja 250 for her first bike). But this is a great chance to let her see all sorts of motorcycles in their wonderful variety.

So, suggestions? Dealers? Museums? Ad hoc congregations of motorcycles?

My favorite shop in the area is South Sound BMW in Tacoma. It's huge and has lots of fun old bikes sitting around. There is a great little lounge area with a fire place to just hand out and you can see almost anything there.

Go see Dave at Moto International for a great experience at a shop that is what every motorcycle shop should be.

But watch out for his dog. That fat bastard stinks.

For lunch or dinner, check out Cafe Veloce in Kirkland. The theme is vintage Italian racing bikes. Food's good too.

museums? head to St louis,
that said, some one was working on one, not sure if it got off the ground. there is a REALLY cool one in downtown centrailia, a bit south of seattle, call ahead as they may not be open all hours. old stuff. real funky.

stops along the way.... triumph dealer in B-ham, howard hes near the waterfront, old time funky shop, good guy. skagit powersports in burlington, cycle barn in arlington, lynnwood moto plex, as mentioned moto international. try on gear, better yet buy gear, also MSF safety classes are way cheaper in WA state then BC, some are held in B-ham, Burlington. worht looking into.

really for a first bike, I wouldnt get a Duc or Aprilia, go w low power, low weight ala 250 as you mentioned, then move up. have fun

Seconded.

My wife is from Vancouver, and also a rider, so glad to see you coming down.

I second what has been said about the first bike. Yes, the Italian bikes are sexy, but a first bike should almost be disposable.

One dealer you shouldn't miss is Renton Motor Cycles (RMC) in Renton. It is just off 167 at the 180th exit, near Ikea. They have all 4 Japanese brands, and it is HUGE. My sister-in-law's ex, who was an Aussie and rode a Hyabusa, was totally blown away by this dealer. It is a former warehouse home store (not Home Depot, the other chain that went out of business). They also have a new Harley Dealer (actually, Downtown Harley is an old dealer, but the building and location are new) in their parking lot. The HD dealer and RMC also have cafe's in the dealerships.

A little further down the road is Hinshaw's, my favorite dealer. Not a Kawi dealer, but they are a big Honda dealer (as is RMC, but they do more Honda volume) and you might look at the Honda CBR250R, a worthy competitor to the Ninjette.

http://powersports.honda.com/2011/cbr250r.aspx

MSRP is less than the Ninja 250.

There is a Kawi dealer on 140th and 20th (Northup) in Bellevue, near where I work. They are not very big, have never been in there, so I can't say much about them.

I'd love to hook up and say hi, but we are going out of town to a wedding this weekend.

Have fun and good luck. Pls report back with what happens.

FYI, my sister-in-law still lives in Vancouver and her ex was living there as well when he came down.

Agreed on both. RMC is fun to go visit because you can sit on EVERYTHING there. I take my kids there all the time to go sit on quads and dirtbikes. And Hinshaws is also a great KTM shop, plus they have Victory bikes.

And depending on the lady's size, I would also recommend considering a Suzuki SV650 as a first bike. It's very 2v Ducati-like, plus it's cheaper and droppable

b-day in seattle ?
anthonys at WF in seattle, or shilshol , great for lunch on the water, great H-hour too
best restaurant in snohomish county is the bistro san martin in arlington, ( make a res) no water view though

hondas new 250 would be worth a look, has ABS option. too bad the pinheads at honda do not make a standard like the new generation JP/Euro spec vtr250 or a Valadero version here. or better yet 450 versions of those models