Bike Biography: What's your story?

So I think there should be a thread about our bikes, go figure. Whats your story? How'd you get it? What got you started in motorcycling? What makes your motorcycle yours and how did it get to where it is today? Give us your BIKE BIOGRAPHY.

I'll start it off...

I bought my bike in December of 2006. My previous bikes were an 1982 Kawasaki 440LTD, followed by a '95 Ninja 500. I found it on a local bulletin board. It had a smashed gas tank, a replacement upper fairing spraypainted black, and it didn't run. It was in a barn with the tank and some of the plastics off of it. Also, the speedo was broke.
This is what it looked like when I got it:


Took me a little while to figure out why it didn't want to start. It only had 3 spark plugs in it! Anyway, since I've had it I put fork seals in and I just installed the FactoryPro shift kit. I had the gas tank fixed and painted at a local body shop and the upper fairing painted white. Needed tires too. Later I added the custom seat cover and a custom LED message brake light ( http://media.putfile.com/102-2511 ).

The kid I bought it from told me he was going to fix it up and ride it again, but while he was in Madison, WI (he said his grandma got stabbed, so he visited her in the hospital and then went to a bike dealership) he bought a 1000cc gsxr. Me and a buddy borrowed his dads truck to go pick it up. But first we had to pick up the 86 fzr he bought for 500 bucks. So we both got new to us bikes that night, it was quite exciting.
I bought it for $1500, after talking the guy down from $1900. I sold my ninja 500 to a friend of mine for $1200 to fund the purchase of the CBR. Sometimes I think about how when I get some more money I'd like to buy a newer cbr, but honestly, I just love this F2. I just love the look and the color scheme. I don't think I ever want to sell it. It's not perfect and in some spots its not exactly pretty, but its mine, and its all I need.
As it sits, here's what it looks like.



So, whats your story?

oh hell i could type ALOT here, Elmer. i have to wake up at 3:30 am for work and its 9:30. im hitting the hay and i'll return tomorrow to type my '01 F4i's biography and how it became mine.
 
nice bike, by the way!

^^ Your not offline yet and its 10:30 ........

I love going fast, and anything that will get me there, its my ecstasy. I think the first sport bike I ever noticed was the late 90s gixxers, I love those things, I thought they looked so nasty. (I didnt begin appreciating cruisers until after I got my cbr). I never had the opportunity to get a bike until I was old enough to emancipate myself, as my dad is afraid of his own shadow, and my mother fell off her brothers bike when she was young, so she was pretty adverse to it. I decided that I was going to have one in about january of my senior year in college. This was a little less then a month after I got back from a semester in europe. It was there that I saw how many people daily drove motorcycles, and that was the final push. Shortly after I made that decision, my best friend, who is a pit mechanic for nascar, calls me and is like hey want to get a bike? I am like hell yes, that was that. We started looking at zx6r's, cause we knew that they were the most aggressive, and being young and stupid, practicality is of no factor. We went and looked at them, but after some research, my buddy realized that he couldn't afford one, cause he had a DWI like a year ago, and could not afford even the basic of insurance coverage. He then went and bought a VTX1300. Being a college student with student loans and basically no credit history, no one was really willing to lend me any cake to get a bike. I got upset, took some time off, and just kinda gave up. About a month later I was poking around and saw the new cbrs on 'sale' at one of the local dealers. I went down there, filled out the form, and poof, I had enough. Turns out I got approved for liek 8500, but when I filled out that honda form I was looking at 06 1000's, so my 8500 did not cut it at all, but a month later, with some money in the bank and some credit, I was good to go. I picked it up three days later :). I actually wanted the white, but when I got there, no special was on the white, because all the girlies wanted the white one. I said screw it, I could paint it for less, and got the blue, best choice I ever made. I had it for three days, and road it through a bush. That is another story in and of itself. I didnt like it stock, because I think they all look the same, so I did it up the way it is now. I left the slight rash on the bike though, did not replace the fairing, because I think its bad luck... If its too shiney, something bad will happen, or so I think. Thats my story.

I've got a long story but can make it short.  How I got my 900
 
Decided to get a bike when my brother destroyed my other and started shopping for one.  I found what I thought was a deal of a lifetime but it was 100 miles away .  Oh well, it was a great deal for an old YZF 750.  I pack up and get my truck ready to go pick her up and after a few hours of driving, the store I where I was going to buy the bike, was closed! WTF Middle of the week, no holidays.  Turns out they had a death in the family (it was a family bike shop or somethin)  So I was bummed, naturally.
 
About a week later I went to deliver some parts to a local shop around town where I used to work.  Mike, the owner asks me, "You know anybody lookin for a clean sport bike for $3500?" (which was the exact amount of money I wanted to spend.) I said "Uhhhh yea I am!" He takes me out back to the gravel lot and pulls the cover off a pristine 93 900RR.  After a quick look at the beauty, and knowing the owner personally, I said "Sold, let me go grab my lid"
 
2 years later she's still pristine and runnin strong.

My first bike that I owned clear and free was a 92 F2.  This was when gas prices really started to get stupid in 2000 or so, and was talking to my wife and said I wanted a dedicated bike, mine all mine, hey, cheap insurance, great gas milage and fun to boot.  She was cool with it as she is with anything I do, so I started looking around.  I originally thought about getting the latest and greatest shiny new bike, but listened to those more experienced and decided on a good used sportbike knowing the ole saying of "there are two kinds of riders" so off shopping..........couldn't find a 600 class bike anywhere!   Called up a dealer in Oklahoma about an hour away from me and he said they had 4 or 5 600's from 2K to 6K.  I went to the bank and withdrew 8K and headed up.  He had a few really nice rides, but for 3K he had a nice F2, it was painted all black, but with some gawdy decals, to mention, "louisianna style" on one fairing and "classic F2" on the other...eeewwww, oh, and the thing was covered in neon lights....umm, yeah, ok, but it was clean, had a chrome swing-arm and rim, as well as other good bits.   I said I'll take it, went in, bought full gear, paid cash for everything, loaded it up and brought it home.  Next day went out and dumped it.  After a quick lesson in fiberglass repair, I fixed it and dropped it off at a local shop and had it sprayed with dupont tripple black, I wet-sanded it three times with clear coats after each time, and after it was all said and done, she sure looked pretty.  I of course rid the bike of those awfull decals and put OEM white decals on it, clear coated over them and wet sanded that coat also.  Anyway, 5 years and 30K miles later and no accidents, I wanted a new bike, so I put up the F2 on craigs list for 3500 up here in Seattle and sold it in a matter of minutes.  Next day went to the local dealer with more cash in hand and came home with my 06 1KRR.  In a few days I had flush mounts,frame sliders, spools, puig double bubble, fender eliminator, an Arrow Exaust, PC3, some carbon fiber goodies, heated hand grips a few HRC decals and so on.  I removed a few OEM decals to make it a bit more subtle in appearance, just to my liking.  I was gonna keep the F2 and turn it into a street fighter/stunter, but the deal with a new bike was to sell my old one.  Still have it and given the choice, I wouldn't trade it straight across for an 08, I just like everything about it.  Shes super clean, gets riden rain, shine and even snow.  I get comments of approval all the time and absolutely love the bike, but still miss the F2. 

Gawd, your all so young. In 1968, I got to ride a mates Honda 90 around a football field, only reason he let me was because I gave him the money to fill up the tank with petrol. Anway, having never driven/ridden anything other than a push bike, I stacked it. I was of course by then, hooked & two weeks later bought my 1st bike, a Suzuki A100, quickly followed by a Bridgestone 175 & almost as quickly by a Honda CB250, which I had two spectacular stacks on, two weeks to the day, a part.
I've been a motorcycle courier (three different companies in Sydney) & I've commuted on all my bikes, (except the present one) & have never had a stack since the last big one in 1969 (although I have come bloody close more than once).

So in no particular order, cause I can never quite remember:
Suzuki A100 - Bridgestone 175 - Honda CB250 - Bridgestone GT350 - Suzuki GS? 200 - Suzuki GSX250 - Yamaha piece of crap XS400 - Kawazaki Z650- 2 Yamaha XZ550's -
Kawazaki GPZ 750 - Suzuki GS 650 - Moto Morini 500 SEI - BMW R65 - BMW K100- Moto Guzzi Monza 500 - Moto Guzzi Le Mans 1000 - Suzuki GS500- Honda CX500 - Honda CBR600 (Current bike)

quote:

ORIGINAL: pacemaker

Gawd, your all so young. In 1968, I got to ride a mates Honda 90 around a football field, only reason he let me was because I gave him the money to fill up the tank with petrol. Anway, having never driven/ridden anything other than a push bike, I stacked it. I was of course by then, hooked & two weeks later bought my 1st bike, a Suzuki A100, quickly followed by a Bridgestone 175 & almost as quickly by a Honda CB250, which I had two spectacular stacks on, two weeks to the day, a part.
I've been a motorcycle courier (three different companies in Sydney) & I've commuted on all my bikes, (except the present one) & have never had a stack since the last big one in 1969 (although I have come bloody close more than once).

So in no particular order, cause I can never quite remember:
Suzuki A100 - Bridgestone 175 - Honda CB250 - Bridgestone GT350 - Suzuki GS? 200 - Suzuki GSX250 - Yamaha piece of crap XS400 - Kawazaki Z650- 2 Yamaha XZ550's -
Kawazaki GPZ 750 - Suzuki GS 650 - Moto Morini 500 SEI - BMW R65 - BMW K100- Moto Guzzi Monza 500 - Moto Guzzi Le Mans 1000 - Suzuki GS500- Honda CX500 - Honda CBR600 (Current bike)

Is ths term "stacked" synonymous with laid down, crashed, dumped, ate dirt, wiped out, etc.?

quote:

ORIGINAL: ta8218

quote:

ORIGINAL: pacemaker

Gawd, your all so young. In 1968, I got to ride a mates Honda 90 around a football field, only reason he let me was because I gave him the money to fill up the tank with petrol. Anway, having never driven/ridden anything other than a push bike, I stacked it. I was of course by then, hooked & two weeks later bought my 1st bike, a Suzuki A100, quickly followed by a Bridgestone 175 & almost as quickly by a Honda CB250, which I had two spectacular stacks on, two weeks to the day, a part.
I've been a motorcycle courier (three different companies in Sydney) & I've commuted on all my bikes, (except the present one) & have never had a stack since the last big one in 1969 (although I have come bloody close more than once).

So in no particular order, cause I can never quite remember:
Suzuki A100 - Bridgestone 175 - Honda CB250 - Bridgestone GT350 - Suzuki GS? 200 - Suzuki GSX250 - Yamaha piece of crap XS400 - Kawazaki Z650- 2 Yamaha XZ550's -
Kawazaki GPZ 750 - Suzuki GS 650 - Moto Morini 500 SEI - BMW R65 - BMW K100- Moto Guzzi Monza 500 - Moto Guzzi Le Mans 1000 - Suzuki GS500- Honda CX500 - Honda CBR600 (Current bike)

Is ths term "stacked" synonymous with laid down, crashed, dumped, ate dirt, wiped out, etc.?

That would be correct




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quote:

ORIGINAL: D2DGraphix_600RR

^^ Your not offline yet and its 10:30 ........

 
.........i leave 3 websites up that i check regularly. i dont turn my laptop off, only close it.........which is why i was still online.

Got divorced.
 
buddy bought 1000RR said it was fun.
 
took MSF (been 20 years since on a bike) to ride his bike and figure out what type of riding I wanted to do.
 
Rode 1000RR for a little, too much bike for me.
 
bought a 'buyers guide' magazine
 
read magazine while moving a  yacht to Miami
 
called dealerships in Florida, cheapest one was in Miami
 
walked in bought bike.
 
told buddy with 1000RR to get a trailer
 
picked it up after it was assembled.

I wanted a motorcycle when i was 16. My friend always wanted a Harley, I wanted a sport. That kind of died away. Got married. About 5 yrs ago, co-worker said he was looking to sell his brother's bike who died of cancer. Showed me some pics...showed the wife. She didn't want me to get one so I respected her concerns. Got a divorce. About a year later, another friend calls

Friend: "You ever think about getting a motorcycle license?"
Me: "yeah, like when i was 16."
Friend: "Well, get your permit and sign up for the class with me. The class is free."
Me: "Um...OK"

Took the lessons. Then I watched about a gizillion crash videos to talk myself out of buying a motorcycle. I was originally looking at honda cruisers. Then the co-worker said that he still had his brother's bike. So I took a look at it. Purple/Red/Black '94 F2. Spent about 3 hours trying to get it to start (It was sitting for 5 yrs without running), but it wouldn't have it. Told him that I would buy it, settled on $1900.

Having no experience in carb work, I pulll them 3 times trying to make sure they were all clean. First time I followed step-by-step someone posted. 2nd time to manually clean jets (instructions were absent the first time). It finally started. Neighbors complained about me trying to start it in the morning (have to rev engine to keep it running during warm up), so, I pulled the carbs a 3rd time and found that I didn't clean out the idle jet.

Basically, what makes it mine, was the work I put into getting it running. I like learning to do things and teaching myself the parts that I have learned, in terms of carburator work, really made the experience worthwhile for me. It tossed me once...but that was just to teach me a lesson about tires. I'm not particular fond of the red on it...I have been thinking of repainting and learning how to airbrush...but decided to keep it stock for now. It's not a clean bike. Rash on the tail from original owner, Rash on the side from where I dropped it. Scratched up windscreen...but that is what makes it that much better for me. I won't obsess about the way it looks (which I don't like doing) and thus I won't spend a lot of time and money to maintain the appearance.

quote:

ORIGINAL: woo545

Neighbors complained about me trying to start it in the morning (have to rev engine to keep it running during warm up), So, I pulled the carbs a 3rd time and found that I didn't clean out the idle jet.

So your the little prick that woke me up in the mornings :)
You would not believe how many guys I've met with new bikes, that have just gotten divorced.
Don't know if their divorced, so they bought a bike or divorced so they could buy a bike, either way, works for me.
Yeah I agree with ownership being the blood & sweat & tears that you put into the buggers, I'd also add,the bullsh*t stories that you can come up with to get a loan ("yes I'm going to re dercorate the bathroom") & then convince your friends, why you got a such & such make & model.
I also agree about learning as you go, (especially the lesson in, should have left the bloody thing alone) Its amazing how quickly you can come up with a fix when you need to ride.

aside from riding our honda fourtrax's and fiddies at Lake Texoma i started riding real motorcycles when i was 16.  This guy I worked with in HS owned a red 954 and i had a love affair with that bike.  So i saved up what money i could and bought a beat up laid down F4. Never registered it, was a total squid and drove the piss and rain out of it.  Then i grew up and wanted something nicer, got an 01 F4i then sold it bought an 04RR, sold it last thanksgiving and now have purchased my first new bike ever.  07RR
 
At first it was all the Pu**y i saw my co worker getting from his bike that got me into riding. Then i bought one and realized that pu**y was just a perk, the real dividends were paid on the quiet country roads.

Okay... so my story isn't nearly as neat as some of these... but here goes! (Enter: Novel! haha)

Back when I was in gradeschool (early 90's) my dad had a small dirtbike, some kind of limited thing they only made for 2 years. I don't remember anything about what kind it was, just that it was yellow. My grandparents let me ride it around a few times in their yard, then my dad took it over and I'd ride it around out in the big field accross from my house. Well, a friend of mine came over, I got the bike out and went to "Show off". This being said... I knew how to make the bike go, I could shift... but I only knew how to shift UP... and I wasn't any good at the whole "brakes" thing. Needless to say I ran out of grass in a corner and right through a patch of "thorn" trees (those ones with the long, 2 inch spikes all over the branches). I remember closing my eyes and feeling the branches hit my face, kneck, arms... and clanking off the sides of the open face helmet I was wearing. Next thing I know, I'm laying upside down, down a hill in a small clearing in the trees, the bike is laying on it's side, idling facing the opposite way and I look like Freddy Crugar had come at me. That ended my motorcycle career for the most part. (rode a trials bike and a few other dirtbikes once in a while)

Fast forward to 2005. My daily driver was a 1971 Dodge Polara that got 10mpg highway/town, no matter what. Gas, the cheap stuff, hits $3 a gallon. I'm spending almost $250 a month on gas, and the only place I will drive is back and forth from work (about 15-20 miles each way, highway). With no raises in site... this was denting my budget pretty bad. So... and here's my dirty secret... I convinced my wife to let me go looking... at scooters. That's right... I was going to buy a scooter. Now, in all fairness, anything on 2 wheels is better than nothing (especially a black on black gas guzzler with vinyl seats, no AC, and finicky window motors). I knew it'd be a stepping stone either way. Anyways... so I get to the dealership and start looking around. Sure, I drool over the hot 600's and 1KRR's, the yamaha r6 and r1's, the big victory cruisers... all of that. But, fact is, I couldn't afford those. I was banking my entire hand (with the wife, who was deathly afraid I would kill myself on anything 2 wheeled, but scooters seemed more "harmless" to her somehow) on cheap cost, cheap insurance, and great gas mileage. So, I get to looking at a blue honda scooter. Little 250cc, "Sport" *snicker* looking job. Priced right around $4500 or so. Now... here's where I did something smart/lucky. My parents came along and I told them when and where I'd be looking.

My dad, thankfully, did some looking around in the dealership and found a little yamaha 250cc motorcycle while I was out figuring out things with the scooter. He told me to sit on it, "just to see". I did... and that was it... scooters were done. I was about to start the paperwork, and once more... my dad saved me. He reminded me that the whole reason I was looking at the scooter was because it was a Honda, and that I'd spoken highly of Honda reliability... so I shouldn't "settle". (My wife almost goes to tears in fear of this 250cc bike... she says that because it was an actual motorcycle, it scared her more, THAT took some convincing!) So, I ask the guy if Honda has a 250, he says "yes"... gets a book out and shows me a picture of the Honda Rebel. With that, I fill out the paperwork, they order me a white one. A day or two later, they put it together and I push it up into my dads truck with less than 1 mile on it. Rode it as "practice" around the neighborhood that was behind my shop for about 3 weeks while I was waiting for the MSF course. Took it, learned a ton and passed, got my endorsment... and proceeded to ride the piss out of that thing. I started riding everywhere again, it brought the love of "cruising" that I'd had as a teenager back into my life. I rode it rain, snow, ice, or shine

Well I was 6 years old and my Grandpa had my uncles old/beat 1669 Honda C50 in the barn at his old house.  It was a fam TGT and they decided to get it out and get it running.  After about and hour of playing they got it running, but had no brakes and dry rotted tires.  I was scaerd to death of it-it's so loud!  I would ride it a few feet at a time then jump off LOL!  I got to the point where I could not stay off the thing and then I ended up getting a KX80 and loved it.  I then moved to qauds and that was fun for a while, but I was getting hurt alot and got sick of hauling it an hour and a half away to ride so I traded it in on a GS250.  I rode that for a month and got my endosment on it.  The day I got my endoesment I decided to take the whole day off work and go back to the dealer to get a 600.  I did not have alot of cash to spend and they gave me $1500.00 for my 250.  I walked in the showroom and there she was.  A nice, but kinda dirty 2000 F4.  back in 2000 I wanted a new F4 so bad, but I was 21 and living at home and mom would not let me have a bike as long as i lived there so i never got one then.  They were asking $4k for the F4.  I talked them down to $3800.00 with new rear brakes installed at the time.  I paid cash for her and I have loved her every since.  She has almost 30K on her now and runs like a champ. BeforeI got her it was droped at about 5MPG so the stator cover and left plastic had a bit of rash,but nothink major.  i fixed all that and added some new mod's and had a full service done.  I looked at about 4 other bikes that day, but the F4 kept drawing me back to it.  It's like Burnie Mac said in the movie Transformers " The ride picks the driver"  Well my bike picked me that day and I named her Bumble Bee and was before I even seen the movie.  She does look like a bike version of Bumble Bee from the movie.

First day of kindegarden was on the back of my dad's HD. Been around bikes my entire life.
 
Attempted to purchase a gsxr when I was 20. Had the credit approved, but could not swallow the cost of insurance. So I backed out.
 
I had an apprentice who had a few bikes at one of the last companies I worked for. He practically gave me a '03 R6 for a summer. I was hooked! When he needed to sell the bike at the end of the summer I did not have the cash to buy it, or I would probably be into Yamaha's now.
 
Waited till the end of the following summer and purchased a '02 f4i. I rode the piss out of that bike. Love and still miss my f4i. Put over 10k on it in 4 months.
Thought I was getting into financial problems and sold it. Ended up the day after I sold it, I ran into a very large contract and did not need to get rid of it.
 
Spent the next few months keeping an eye out for a used '07 600rr with low miles and a good price.
Then I found a screaming deal on my '04 1000rr and could not pass it up.
Put about 3,500 miles on it in a matter of a month or so and stacked it into a gaurd rail.
 
Currently in the process of putting it back together, been without a ride since the 24th of March. I should have the final parts (plastics) here in a week or so.
Soooooo looking forward to getting back out on 2 again.

well i've always liked sportbikes, they're loud, fast and look cool as hell haha. it always was eye catching seeing one parked....sitting perfectly still and looked like it was going faster than the speed of sound! i always wanted one but my family was always against it. i got a yfz450 quad to tool around on and ended up stunting the hell out of it and making 2 trips to the hospital. i finally sold that and decided to pay it off and begin looking for a sportbike. i had taken the MSF course in '05 and already had my license.
 
i found a '01 F4i on craigslist.com for a decent amount given its low miles and mint condition. w/ the quad sold and the loan long gone i decided to dive right in. got approved for the loan and picked up the bike.
 
this month actually is a year since i've had it. its seriously been there w/ me through good times and bad (weather)......i rode through the MD winter aswell. i've had it for a year and already put 23k miles on it. the bike has been so reliable thus far and i can only hope it keeps up.