During my first trip to the Americas in 1977, I wound up in Valle De Bravo, Central Mexico, where I visited a friend. While there, I had the opportunity to borrow a motor cycle which allowed me to explore the surroundings in a way I otherwise never could have.

It was a Kawasaki 500 Mach III, an unbelievably fast bike with such a flimsy frame that it was considered extremely dangerous – just what an invincible 24-year-old, high on life during his first trip to America needs! I knew the bike from its reputation, and I also knew that it could get to 200 km/h in a blink of an eye. I was going to have the bike for a week, so I was pretty careful to learn its idiosyncrasies and soon noticed that they were not always benevolent. But I managed to stay on without incident.

On the third or fourth day, out in the lush country side around that quaint town, I came upon a stretch of road with only soft winding turns, almost straight, well-paved and with clear visibility for a good mile or so. Why not stretch this machine’s legs a bit? 200 km/h might be a bit much, but let’s see what I can handle before saying “I want my mommie!”

So I opened it up. The massive acceleration almost ripped the bike from under me, and I had to lean forward, clinging to the handle bar. But of course I didn’t release the accelerator a bit. I was very focused, and only occasionally glanced down to see the speed. 80, 90 … hmm, this feels a lot faster … 100. Granted: High speed on a motorcycle was not an everyday occurrence for me, and so perhaps I was just not used to how strong the wind would get. I was wearing a pretty flimsy helmet with a leaky visor and my eyes were tearing, and yet the bike was barely making it past the 120 mark – nowhere near the 200+ it should do. I was a little surprised that I started getting intimidated by the violence of the event. I had gone 125 on a bike before, but this was different. There was a disconnect between my perception of speed and my knowledge that this Kawasaki should be able to do a lot more. “Perhaps it’s not getting to full speed because the altitude? And yet it feels so FAST! But it should do over 200. What, only 125?”

Then I saw: It was mph! 

“Mommie!!”