When I was in High School, I had a small group of friends that would go out and ride dirt bikes with me pretty much constantly. We got reckless and crazy, as teenagers will do, and injuries happened infrequently. I graduated in '98 and moved on to the Air Force, where I've been itching to buy a street bike since 2000.
Fast-forward to two weeks ago. I finally take a long look at my finances and voila! I can afford a hike in my monthly payments to Honda. (with whom I already had a loan for my '97 Civic) To the Honda dealer I go! I sat on an '02 CBR600F4, and decided it was a bit too high and the seat was kinda uncomfy. Sat the brand-new '05, and fell in love almost instantly. Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I tooled the bike around the parking lot once or twice. The throttle scared me some, but otherwise it felt ok.
I bargain-shopped a bit, went around and sat a GSX-R 600 at another dealer and the raw feel of that one scared the poop outta me. I know the CBR600 has about 95% the power of the Gixxer, but it simply FEELS less raw to me, less like the barely-restrained animal she is.
So, back to the Honda dealer. We haggle for a minute and about 2 hours later, I ride out to a parking lot nearby, with a VERY experienced rider friend of mine watching me the whole way, on a brand-spanking new 2005 Honda CBR600F4i. I know, I'm crazy, but it was love, and I was more than a little out of my mind at the time.
Plus, the payments came out to be exactly what I wanted, and Honda really gave me a great deal on the APR (60 months, 6.9%) Plus, the more equity I put into this bike, the more I'll get for her on a trade-in eventually. Not that I plan on it anytime soon... Two weeks later, I'm still getting the feel for the beast of an engine that I'm riding and coming to terms with the level of risk I've managed to take. I've become very, very aware of my own riding skills and the relative lack thereof, and this bike's uncanny ability to surpass them without half a thought. So far, so good, but I'm still kinda nervous about her. Thankfully, I have good riding buddies who watch me constantly and correct every minor thing I do.
Anyways, I'm new to Sportbikes and I'll be wandering around these forums now. *waves hello*
