i knew for sure when i started looking on craigslist that i didn’t want to get anything more or less than around 600-700 cc, but i hadn’t made my mind up yet about type. i knew i wouldn’t get a chopper or a cruiser or a soft-tail… and i wasn’t looking explicitly for a sport bike, either. i almost got a triumph street triple with a two brothers exhaust and a few other mods, but the guy changed his mind and decided to keep it. that bike was ideal; more of an upright riding position but also a bonafide naked street fighter style (no fairings). my only objection, besides the factory exhaust which fortunately was replaced, were the headlights. i don’t know what the deal is with the british, but i think the over-sized can mufflers and bug eyed headlights are their way of keeping to the ‘classic’ look? triumph is one of the oldest bike manufacturers in the world.
another thing i was certain of was i wouldn’t get something with more than 5000 miles on it. bike’s aren’t like cars, and a motherfucker who rides hard can be taxing on the engine. of course i saw plenty of nice bikes for great prices, but they all had around 10000-15000 miles on em.
so finally i found a garage kept 06 cbr600rr with 4000 miles on it. honda put out two in 06 (i think)- white and tribal orange - and i happened to find the tribal orange one. not exactly what i had in mind but i reckon it’s appropriate for a sport bike. everything is stock on it and it’s in near mint condition.
see the thing is, buying from a dealer is never what it seems. you end up paying 400-500 more than the sticker price because of all the reprocessing fees and shit, so i went with craigslist. but craigslist can be sketchy and you gotta examine the owner as much as you do the bike. this guy was a moderately wealthy second owner who rode the bike for about 2000 miles and then parked it. he just wasn’t into it. that’s good, because that means he never was really into it… which means he probably didn’t rag the bike out when he rode it. more of an experiment with him; let me buy a sport bike and see if i can get into it.
now i can imagine wanting something a little more like a 700cc in the future, but certainly nothing like a 1000cc. who needs a bike with a car engine in it? but no, i’ve never ridden a sport bike before, so this middle weight bike is ideal for me and so far i’m quite satisfied. my issue with the smaller bikes was i didn’t want the engine to struggle at high rpms when doing 80 on the interstate, and the cbr600 has no problem with this. in fact, that’s where it becomes anxious. the fucker wants to go faster… and if you aren’t watching the gauges… you’ll look down and suddenly you’re doing 110.
so far i’ve had no issues with comfort… except for one minor thing. that little numb sensation right at the inside of the palm/thumb. no problems with back, wrist or ass pain… just the hands. i’m gonna wait a while to see if i can adapt rather than buy gloves and/or gel grips, though. i don’t want to ‘accessorize’, man. i’m not buying all that corny riding shit; jacket, boots, pants, designer back pack, etc.