Competition Entry #3

Our next entry comes from Poland, but resides in Bangkok. His name's Maciek Klimowicz and his not only a bike lover but a talented photographer as well. I'll only post a few of the great pictures of his Kawasaki GTO, but if you want to see more, hop over to his blog www.skokwbokblog.com.

There is also a pretty funny video of him 'kissing the asphalt'.....sorry Maciek :-))

Maciek's story:

There's a beautiful machine on the third floor of a completely empty parking lot in my apartment building. It glitters in the sun setting over Bangkok. I'm so tempted to turn the engine on and give it a spin. And I do. After all, it is my. My first motorbike.

It is 9 years old and has over 24 thousand km on the odometer,125 cm ³ two-stroke engine, two cylinders and 9 seconds to 100km/h. It's fuel tank is decorated with a Kawasaki GTO logo. I bought it for 10.000 Baht from a Canadian guy, who recently left Thailand having spend the last 10 years of his life here. He arrived to the land of smiles a decade ago for a holiday. He left with a wife and a child, leaving a house and a motorcycle behind.

GTO is an Asian classic. I see them everyday on the streets of Bangkok – roaring, spitting smoke, doing their job. Used by delivery men, postmen, and not so long ago, by police too. That makes it a perfect bike for this part of the world – spare parts for this model are available everywhere and any mechanic will fix it with a hammer and a screwdriver. Provided that the motorcycle breaks down at all .The chances are limited, as GTO is said to be very reliable and my bike is in an excellent condition (in contrast to most of the GTO's I encounter on the streets of Bangkok)The previous owner bought it brand new from a shop. 10 years changed my Kawasaki into a vintage motorcycle.