Palomar Mountain's ''Ninja Menace''

As a Kawasaki owner, I have to say (maybe biased) that "Ninja" is the most recognized name in motorcycles. You ride anything that doesn't look like a Harley, and it will be called by the masses a "Ninja".



Seruzawa is right.......Kawasaki is probably dreaming of all the bikes they will sell on name alone. Who wants a "GSX-R" when you can have a "Ninja"? I mean, that's advertising that takes DECADES to develop.



Ninja name is probably as recognized as "Ferrari" by now.



But it does go both ways.

I and my V4 collection and my long gray pony tail moved a few years ago, so I can't speak to the present situation; but as one who lived for 20 years in neighboring Julian and has ridden at least 50K miles on Palomar and the connecting highways, I can tell you that media stories similar to this one and the same animosity from the locals has existed on Palomar since at least 1980... and justifiably so, though it is one (two actually) of the most fun roads to ride on a sportbike anywhere.

It's tough for LEO's because there's only a couple of places wide enough for them to set up operations, and the two roads that meet at the top of the mountain have no side roads... so the LEO's are only there for a few minutes before warning signals are passed up and down the mountain and the LEO's are SOL.

Incidentally, legend has it that the appellation Squid was invented on Palomar because of all the San Diego Navy guys who would get no-money-down loans on GPZ's or FJ's or RZ's and go kill themselves on Palomar... the Marines made it off limits at one point.

Some legendary SD riders used to be there most weekends. Don Vesco and Earl Roloff and Dave and Don Emde used to ride the mountain regularly, including a traditional Sunday afternoon contest coasting down the mountain... but there was always a boat load of irresponsible reckless out-of-control squids there, too.

Palomar is a microcosm of the best and worst of the sportbike riding world, and of it's inherent dilemma: There's NO justification for endangering anyone other than yourself, yet for those of us with the Need, it's just no fun unless you're getting the heart rate up a little, even at an age where the pony tail has turned gray... and a few track days a year just don't adequately feed the Need.