I took the ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island on Sunday and this motorcycle was in front of me in the ferry line. It's a
Suzuki 650 that looks like it's been around the block a few times - including Alaska. It's a functional bike with the metal saddle bags, large rear rack and GPS. The guy riding it lives in Seattle and was meeting his friend who got on the earlier ferry. I hadn't thought of a 650 as a touring bike but reading through reviews at micapeak.com it's obvious that owners really like the
Suzuki DL650 for distance riding and lots of other things. It's got a big gas tank (5.8 gallons), top speed of 115 mph, 0-60 mph in 3.98 seconds and there's a new one on
eBay for $6000 (MSRP is $7500).
The fare for a motorcycle is $3.05 and you get to get on and off first. You have just enough time to drink a cup of coffee on the run from Mukilteo to Clinton. You get to park your motorcycle on the front of the ferry on the main deck at water level so you get a nice view too.
I rode the back roads along the water up
Whidbey Island to
Langley, over to
Fort Casey State Park and then north over the
Deception Pass Bridge and dropped down to
La Conner where I sat by a fireplace in a bookstore and drank a cup of coffee.
These are a couple of pictures I took at Fort Casey of the water and some tame deer that were hanging around.
