Hey all!
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:40 am
Hey guys,
New to the forum, first time poster and only been reading a day! Spent most my time on the newbies part the forum trying to glean information wherever I can! Currently I'm sat in Fort Myers airport, down in south west florida, and I'm about to head home - Manchester, England. Well, just south of, but close enough.
Anyway, a little about me - I'm Rob, 24, from Manchester England, I'm currently closing in on finishing my pilots license in Europe, I spent a year in 2010-11 doing my US Commercial license, so now I've just got to finish the other to have everything I need - flying is my passion, i wanted to find a career where the situation changes every day, and wanted to do something fun - I think that's one of the most important things in life - to enjoy what you do. Other interests are skiing, gaming (I'm a hell of a geek really! And of course, a few beers with my mates.
So, biking is something I've always wanted to do but my spoken reaction has always been 'I'd kill myself in five minutes' - what changed? I got a little older, and I finally made it into Florida Motorsport down in Naples. My friends and girlfriend would tell you that's been the trigger. I haven't shut up about the idea since going in there. Sure, I sat on the big choppers, and the thousands, and fell in love with the 600's - really liked the Matt black Ninja 600 I found in there, but it seemed fairly heavy to start with, and much to the abuse of my R6 riding cousin, it seems way too much. I did however find a beautiful white Ninja 250 in there. Unfortunately I cant stay in the states, otherwise I might well have bought it there and then - with no prior experience!
It's bitten me though, and despite my large apprehension over biking, it's really something i want to tackle and enjoy. I have family friends and relatives who bike, so I guess I have a good foundation of knowledge there to pick on, but you can always learn more. Hell, before I visited this forum I thought 24 was a older age to get involved, fearing that a lot of bikers are bikers since they're born! Having found a couple'a threads made by 50+ year olds, it's great to know that's not the case.
So, long term I don't know exactly what bike I want, but right now I have my heart fairly set on either the Ninja or CBR 250 - I realize the SV650 and the like arent bad choices, but at 6'1" and 175lbs, I'm not the beefiest guy, something light would make me more confident. A "lack" of power (if you could call it that) sounds better than a 180mph encounter with a solid object.
I'm going to check out a school when I get home, and the Kawasaki/Honda dealerships nearby, but if anyone has any specific course they'd recommend around Manchester / North West England, I'd greatly appreciate it! And to hear of any good groups in that area also would be fantastic. But mostly, I just wanted to say hi. The funniest thing is, despite being 24, I imagine mentioning this to the parents will bring a lot of negativity, I suppose we're all never old enough to evade a bollocking from our parents eh?
Thanks guys,
Izo/Rob
New to the forum, first time poster and only been reading a day! Spent most my time on the newbies part the forum trying to glean information wherever I can! Currently I'm sat in Fort Myers airport, down in south west florida, and I'm about to head home - Manchester, England. Well, just south of, but close enough.
Anyway, a little about me - I'm Rob, 24, from Manchester England, I'm currently closing in on finishing my pilots license in Europe, I spent a year in 2010-11 doing my US Commercial license, so now I've just got to finish the other to have everything I need - flying is my passion, i wanted to find a career where the situation changes every day, and wanted to do something fun - I think that's one of the most important things in life - to enjoy what you do. Other interests are skiing, gaming (I'm a hell of a geek really! And of course, a few beers with my mates.
So, biking is something I've always wanted to do but my spoken reaction has always been 'I'd kill myself in five minutes' - what changed? I got a little older, and I finally made it into Florida Motorsport down in Naples. My friends and girlfriend would tell you that's been the trigger. I haven't shut up about the idea since going in there. Sure, I sat on the big choppers, and the thousands, and fell in love with the 600's - really liked the Matt black Ninja 600 I found in there, but it seemed fairly heavy to start with, and much to the abuse of my R6 riding cousin, it seems way too much. I did however find a beautiful white Ninja 250 in there. Unfortunately I cant stay in the states, otherwise I might well have bought it there and then - with no prior experience!
It's bitten me though, and despite my large apprehension over biking, it's really something i want to tackle and enjoy. I have family friends and relatives who bike, so I guess I have a good foundation of knowledge there to pick on, but you can always learn more. Hell, before I visited this forum I thought 24 was a older age to get involved, fearing that a lot of bikers are bikers since they're born! Having found a couple'a threads made by 50+ year olds, it's great to know that's not the case.
So, long term I don't know exactly what bike I want, but right now I have my heart fairly set on either the Ninja or CBR 250 - I realize the SV650 and the like arent bad choices, but at 6'1" and 175lbs, I'm not the beefiest guy, something light would make me more confident. A "lack" of power (if you could call it that) sounds better than a 180mph encounter with a solid object.
I'm going to check out a school when I get home, and the Kawasaki/Honda dealerships nearby, but if anyone has any specific course they'd recommend around Manchester / North West England, I'd greatly appreciate it! And to hear of any good groups in that area also would be fantastic. But mostly, I just wanted to say hi. The funniest thing is, despite being 24, I imagine mentioning this to the parents will bring a lot of negativity, I suppose we're all never old enough to evade a bollocking from our parents eh?
Thanks guys,
Izo/Rob
kinda...