Our friends over at Boodworth Motorcycles are offering up $200.00 in free stuff with the purchase of a new bike or scooter through the end of the month. Here's the the info from their site:

Purchase a new motorcycle or scooter before February 29, 2012 and receive $200 in parts, apparel, or accessories FOR FREE*!

This week's Editor's Pick for Used Motorcycle in the area is a very clean looking Katana 600 over at Mid-South Motoplex near Clarksville. Katana's were initially the king of Suzuki sportbikes in the early eighties but soon they were playing second fiddle to the race replica GSXR's. Still the Katana's were capable and affordable bikes and this was beared out by very high sales numbers for many years (outselling GSXR's for a long time).

The 2000 model Mid-South has for sale was part of the second to last generation of the Katana and these bikes actually make very good light sport-touring machines. They have very good wind protection due to the large, curvy fairing. The include a center-stand for easy chain maintenance on the road and the seat is actually comfortable for long rides (your mileage may vary). 

I haven't seen this particular bike in person and haven't heard it run so I'm not attesting to it's mechanical condition but if it is in good shape it's a very good "all-rounder" for a reasonable price of $2788.00 (if it is in good mechanical condition). You can contact Mid-South Motoplex at 931-368-0237

Recently I've managed to get back in the swing of picking an "Editor's Pick" for used bike available at local dealers and I'm starting off 2012 hitting the ground running. Castle Powersports has one of my favorite Honda sportbikes on hand at the moment, the VTR1000 Super Hawk (or Super Chicken as they are affectionately referred to). This particular VTR1K is a 1998 model (the second year of production) and even though it's 13 year old now, it still is pretty high tech for it's time.

Using a 90-deg, 996cc, V-twin engine producing 109bhp, the VTR1K used this engine as stressed member with the swingarm directly conected to it. The Super Hawk's engine produced 71 ft/lb's of torque at 7000rpm and combined with the 420lb dry weight, this bike could stomp away from the traffic light with authority.

This particular Super Hawk looks very good in person and seems to be well maintained. I have not ridden it personally so don't assume it's in perfect working order without having it checked out yourself. If you're a fan of V-twin sport bikes and always griping about how there is such a dearth of choices in this category (excepting Ducati's) here's a chance to get one of the best examples of V-twin sporting goodness with Honda reliability. Contact Jan Taylor at 615-851-4403 over at Castle Powersports if you're interested in this bike and tell her you saw it here. 

I was over at Bloodworth's earlier this week and saw this little diamond in the rough in the used area downstairs. It's a 2000 Monster 750 Dark. This bike has over 45,000 miles on it and it has definitely been ridden as intended so she's no cream-puff (perhaps a diamond of lesser color in a room of diamonds is more appropriate above). However it's good see that a bike like this has seen nearly 5000 miles a year on average as I'd rather look into a used bike that has been ridden than one that has sat in the garage (or worse, outside) for several years. 

I didn't hear it run so I can't attest to the way it runs. What I can tell you is that I've seen cleaner bikes, but also ones much worse as well. It looks like the bike has been dropped, but not crashed. As best as I can tell the two small dents on the right side of the tank (very small and hard to see in the photos) match up with the buttons on the controls on the handlebars. Likewise there is a bit of scraping on the bottom of the right side fork but these scrapes are not directional as one would see in a crash, but rather like what one would expect to happen if it simply fell over (I know, Blasphemy!). 

Despite these cosmetic issues the price seems about right at $2999.00 they are asking for it/ I think with a bit of TLC she'd make a great commuter / weekend warrior. This Ducati is this week's Editor's pick for used bike and may very well be the last one of 2011. Is it too late to get it under the tree