A Good Thing Gone Bad

You've got to hand it to Kawasaki. If anybody has done a better job of making a name for themselves, we're not sure who it is. After years of naming their sporty bikes "Ninjas," the name has become interchangable with "sportbike." It seems many a boulevard squid (and even some of the less-informed senders of e-mails we receive here) call nearly every non-cruiser a Ninja.

For the most part, this is a beautiful thing for Kawasaki, the name of their product rolling off people's tongues everywhere, even when it's not needed. But sometimes, there really is too much of a good thing as the following news item fromYahoo newsdemonstrates...

Three motorcyclists could face homicide charges for the deaths of two people over the weekend in Floridacity.

According to Miami-Dade police, three drivers on Ninja motorcycles wereheading south on Card Sound Road, but they went into the northbound lanestrying to pass a car, forcing a Honda Civic that was heading northbound toswerve off the road.

That Civic hit another motorcycle, killing two women on it.Eyewitnesses say the drivers on the Ninjas were traveling at speeds up to 100mph.

Eight people were also injured. Four of them had to be airlifted to the RyderTrauma Center.