My Motorcycle History
I have always had a fascination with motorcycles. It started at a very early age. I remember having an electric-powered motorcycle when I was about 4 years old. It was the little toy ones that you plugged in and charged for a few hours. Then you could ride it for about 30 mins before the battery would run down. It of course didn’t go very fast, but it was still fun.
As I got older I still kept my passion for motorcycles. We were never rich, so I was really surprised when my parents got me a dirt bike that I had wanted, the Honda Cub. It was a cheap little thing, but was really fun. It was an automatic so I didn’t have to worry about switching gears. It also didn’t go that fast, but it was fast enough to enjoy the ride. I use to use it to ride around town. Trying to stay off the roads when I thought a cop might be around since it wasn’t street legal and I was only like 13.
As I got older I really wanted a street legal motorcycle. Like a lot of  concerned parents, mine worried I would hurt myself. I had a couple of friends that had motorcycles so I would sometimes ride theirs to practice. When I was about 18 I decided I would go ahead and buy my own motorcycle. Since I worked and made my own money I didn’t have to ask my parents. I ended up getting a Honda Ascott FT500.
The bike wasn’t pretty, but it was a great starter bike. It was cheap enough so I wouldn’t worry about dropping it and had enough power to get me on the highway. The bike was pretty reliable and I had a lot of fun on it, but I eventually wanted something better. It just seemed natural to step up to a sport bike. Since I was partial to Honda, I started looking at their 600 bikes. At first I started looking at used CBR600F2 and CBR600F3 motorcycles.
I just figured I couldn’t afford a new one. One day I went into a Honda dealership just to check out the new bikes and decided I would go ahead and see what the payments would be. To my surprise they were very affordable and I qualified for financing. I was really  happy. It was my first new bike. I also bought matching race leathers. I had the Honda Racing jacket and pants. I believed heavily in safety first.
It took me a little bit to get use to having a new sport bike with better brakes and a lot more power than I had been use to. It was fun to really get on it on occasion. It was also fun because two of my best friends also had good sport bikes and we could go riding together.
Unfortunately, one day a suburban hit me while we were on one of our rides and my bike didn’t fare as well as I did. The insurance company at first wanted to total it out, but since it was financed I would have to come up with the difference of what it was worth vs what I owed. Since it was on the border of being totaled they actually went a head and paid to fix it. So I rode it for a while but then it was time to upgrade again.
I continued to stay with Honda and decided to get the 2004 CBR600RR. My friends knew of a place in Mississippi that sold them for a $1000-$1500 discount if you paid cash. So we planned a road trip to go get it. Luckily there were a couple of us and we rotated riding and driving the car back. It was really really fun!
That bike lasted awhile, but I had the itch to upgrade and wanted to upgrade my camera. I figured I could go ahead and sell it and then just save up to buy a new one within a year. Plans sound so good when you come up with them, but then life has a way to kick you in the balls. Then other things come up and before you know it over 2 years pass without getting a new bike.
Well this year the itch to get a new one was just too strong. I couldn’t get exactly what I wanted but ended up getting something cheap that I could use to ride for the summer while I wait to get I want. So I spent a little time on craigslist and cycletrader till I found something that would do the job. I was starting to get a little down about the selection that was available. So when a blue and silver 2007 CBR600RR popped up I knew I had to jump on it. I had looked at getting this exact bike back in 2007 but didn’t want to spend the money at the time. Funny how things work out.
It ended up being a great decision to go ahead and just grab a bike for the summer. My girlfriend also loves bikes and even got her own. Then I convinced my sister and brother-in-law to get one too. So now I can ride with my friends and family.
I’m sure there will be tons of fun to have this summer and loads of stories to go with it. I look forward to it. Looking toward the future though I think I’ll be breaking away from Honda. I’m wanting to branch out and get something a little more exotic and less mainstream. So for the time being, I have my sights set on the Triumph Daytona 675! You don’t really see triples much and they get really high reviews. So maybe by this time next year I’ll have it!!! Hope everyone rides safe!
