My very first vehicle was a motorbike, she was a 2013 Honda CBR 250R. That bike was my pride and joy, my Girlfriend gave me a tiny toy version of it for Christmas 2013 and a receipt for the down payment on a full size version from our local Honda shop, Too this day BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!
I lost the phone I had at the time and the photos never showed up in my google cloud my girlfriend however still rides the Repsol so i was able to snap a pic this morning.
She has had it lowered and a tuner put on it and changed the sprockets, IMO she ruined it, it used to be so much fun. I would pull up next to 600cc and 1000cc bikes at red lights and for the first 100ft they couldn't touch me, of course after that they got so far ahead of me I wouldn't be able to see or hear them anymore. lol Now its sluggish at lower speeds but it can reach 100mph now, bad trade off IMO she gained 3-4 mph on the upper end, and lost its zippy take off.
Any whoozle I thoroughly rode the shit out of the 250 for close to two years, then I ran across a used CBR 600 F4Y on craigslist, it was orange had a two brothers carbon exhaust and I wanted it.
I rode two hours out to meet the guy from craigslist, my uncle drove me out to him with his truck and trailer, (bless him) and I got to finally see the bike I had been drooling over for days on craigslist.
The bike was originally priced out at $2,000 USD but my aunt finagled him down over the phone to $1800. SCORE!
The guy selling the 600 let me give it a test drive, probably a bad idea on his part it was the biggest bike I had ever been on. Needless to say 2 miles out and about on the bike scared the shit out of me and gave me a huge thrill, I was sold.
I rode the 600 till December 2017, when it finally started giving me issues. I am not mechanically inclined in the least so I did what any self respecting idiot would do and threw up up on Craigslist for $800. A bunch of people wanted the bike so one guy offered $950, I wish I still had that bike.. No pictures of it, they were on the same phone I lost as the 250R.
So fast forward a few years and I'm wanting another bike I've been working hard saving some money for who know what and I'm starting to get bored with my Hyundai Elantra.
So on Friday May 28th after particularly bad day at work I decided I was getting back in the saddle, Me being the lazy sod that I am had my Aunt call around for me I really wanted a 2017 CBR 1000RR a big boy bike. lol
I wanted the 2017 because it was a 25th anniversary edition of course I struck out, she did however find me a 2018 that was only a 100 miles up the road and had 0m on the speedometer, The very next day I again got my uncle to give me a lift, this time it was on the back of his Honda Goldwing trike. (Not a bad ride at all, when I'm due for a geezer glide that's where I'll settle I'm sure.) After 2 hours and what felt like a lifetime of waiting at the small dealership they got me out the door for $13,505.00 it hurt it hurt bad, but I wanted the bike right then.
After not riding for a few years and then jumping on what I considered an absolute monster, I was actually thankful that I was told to keep the RPM's low during the first 600 miles.
The day I got the 1000 my grandma was nice enough to name it for me, she called it the Red Death. lmao
Here she is the day I got her, no mods or aftermarket parts yet.
And in the kitchen (my girlfriend was not happy about this)
So Honda's are not loud bike's from the factory, I'm not a person that want to scare every animal in neighborhood when I roll up, however I do like a bike sound decent. All that being said I installed an aftermarket Two Brothers carbon exhaust, its much smaller, looks way better, and shaves of a good bit of weight. I also put on some T-Rex frame sliders, spool sliders, and fender eliminator, it all came in a nice kit, there were some other bits and bobs but I am a stoner and my memory reflects that.
And now every time I get on the 1000 I'm risking a big ticket because I cant have all that power and not use some of it, so in the interest of getting to work without cops following me (at least that's what I told my girlfriend) so I went out and bought a Honda Grom, they are small 125cc motorcycles that are just a blast to ride. I managed to snag a Blue 2020 Honda Grom for $3500 out the door.
And boy o boy do I love this little thing, max speed 0f 75mph downhill, with the wind at your back yet still buckets of fun.
What I did not know about Groms when I bought it is exactly how fun and easy they are to modify, they are like a Lego motorcycle just clip and bolt follow the instructions and wam bam thank you mamm here's something unique. I now have way more in the bike than it will ever be worth but its mine and I love it.
I went from a 2v 125cc with 9hp, to a 4v 181cc with 22hp
I changed most of the bikes internals but wanted to leave as much of the original bikes looks as I could.
The bike went from a 4 speed to a 5 with a Takegawa clutch, a forged Kitaco crank shaft, Ohlins shocks front and rear, a Kitico clutch cover, a Takegawa 181cc 4valve superhead big bore kit, a Akrapovic full titanium exhaust and a plethora of other little things but these listed are what helped with the power boost. I did not change the gearing so I could get more speed, my Grom does not go faster than other Groms, it just gets there quicker.
I enjoy doing the MiniMeets and Small engine meet ups way more than I do the larger bore gatherings.
My favorite place to ride my bike is in the mountains in North Carolina USA, there are many great rode's and and places to stop and go sightseeing. I particularly enjoy riding through Deals Gap also known as The Tail Of The Dragon, it has 318 curves in 11 miles. I can run my little Grom through there somedays at absolutely breakneck speeds (weekdays before morning traffic), I have way more fun on my little bike than I do the 1000 go figure.
One cool thing is there are tons of photographers along the Dragons Tail and they post the pics online for you to purchase.
Anybody else have a love of motorcycles or any stories or pictures they would like to share?
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