My Motostory, because it's winter and I'm bored

[kbob2000]

Want something to read that isn’t a “which exhaust, tires, flash, bars, seat should I get” thread?  I’m bored and its winter so here’s my moto-story.

 

I’ve been wanting to throw down my experience with riding for a while so here goes.  My moto-background is… I took the MSF course in 2006 and picked up a 2004 Katana for $3700 with about 3K miles.  I sold my car and commuted for about a year, put about 4K miles on the Kat.  Didn’t have great gear and got a little tired of getting wet and sold the bike.  Honestly, enjoyed the bike for ergos, power and sound.  Picked up a 2004 CBR600RR about 8 months later which I owned for about 1.5 years and barely rode at all.  I went to Iraq for about half that time but mostly I didn’t enjoy sport biking in the Florida panhandle.  I also needed a little cash on hand to buy my house.  Went about a year and a half without a bike and then bought a Harley Fatboy as my dad was moving down with his and I wanted to be able to ride with him.  Also bought a Nightster for my wife not too long after as she didn’t care for being on the back of a bike.  I rode it more than her though, as I had several issues with mine and it was in the shop a bit.  Not to mention, it’s pretty difficult to ride when you have small kids.  Didn’t do any long trips in the remainder of my time in Florida although I always wanted to.

 

 Moved to Germany in 2013 and decided not to bring the Harley as I was afraid of maintenance costs.  Didn’t have a bike for 3 years until I offered a co-worker $500 for his 2006 GSXR 600 that had been sitting in various garages for the last 4 years.  He took it without a second of deliberation, just wanted to be rid of it.  I nursed it back to health and rode it for what little bit I was home during that year.  I was bitten by the bug at this point and just wanted another bike that was fun but a bit more comfortable than the GSXR. I scoured the internet for the winter and decided my tax free status made the MT-07 and unbeatable deal.  I picked up my 2017 ABS model in Tech Black in February ’17.  As I started it at the dealer to head home, I knew an exhaust was in my future.  I ordered a Mivv system which is really popular in Europe that night.  Literally installed in the morning before work the day after I got it.  My plan from there was to buy all the stuff I wanted for the bike over the first few months of having it so I could enjoy it for the next 3 summers (leaving in Jan of 2020) with no regrets or wishing I would have bought something sooner.  So I ordered Bitubo suspension from Paul at Bellissimoto, FTecu bench kit, CRG mirrors, levers, Givi windscreen, R&G axel and frame protection, SW Motech Blaze bags, Ogio All Elements waterproof duffle, a USB power adapter, phone mount and some red decals to change up the appearance a bit… all within the first 3-4 months.  Was able to do a couple of trips down to Switzerland and Italy that summer.  Got a little over 5K miles despite being gone for work quite a bit. 

 

Fall came around and I ordered heated gloves and a wiring harness for the bike to extend my season.  I was able to ride every month from Feb 2017 to Dec 2018 at least once, sometimes with snow on the ground.  I did a moto-camping trip into the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) where some of my all-time favorite roads are in May 2018 before I had to leave for 7 weeks in Romania.  I bought a Bagster seat when I got back from that trip as I suffered quite a bit on the way home (mostly my fault for not taking more breaks).  I was able to take a few trips to in 2018 and rent bikes as well.  In March, I went to Barcelona with to friends and rode a Triumph Tiger 800 xR for 2 days into the Pyrenes.  Really fantastic roads around there and I love Barcelona.  In July when I was in Romania for work, I solo rented a BMW F650GS for 2 days and rode the Transfagarsan Highway, saw Vlad the Impaler’s castle and rode the highest pass in Romania (Transalpina?).  It was a cool trip although the weather generally really sucked.  In August the real treat of the summer was renting a BMW S1000XR in Zagreb, Croatia with a couple of friends.  We rode down into Bosnia for an hour or so and then back into Croatia for the night.  Rode up the coast and stayed over the border in Italy the next night, and then spent the last day riding across Slovenia (besides a 30 min dip into Austria on a killer road on which I managed to get a ticket).  Really awesome time besides dropping bike in a gravel parking lot on top of a mountain (last day).  Rental guy was super cool and got some the replacement parts on ebay so I didn’t go broke fixing scratches.  The S1000XR is an amazing machine!  The quick-shifter and auto-blipper were ridiculously fun.  It isn’t something I was interested in but, wow.  Just fricking wow. There’s plenty of reviews out there so I won’t spend too much time on it, but it’s a do it all weapon.  I didn’t love the tires that were on it and I’m glad I don’t have to pay for maintenance for it but it’s pretty perfect for someone who wants a versatile bike (if ya got the cash).

 

I should mention that I started riding on the track in 2018 as well.  I put some Michelin Power RSs on the GSXR in April and took it to Mettet, a small track in Belgium.  Didn’t make it back until August and was able to have a lot of fun booking a whole weekend and getting pretty comfortable with kneedown antics.  Did another weekend in September and got moved to group 3 because of my laptimes (group 4 is fastest) and that was pretty satisfying.  Destroyed my rear tire on that weekend and got a new one put on at the same time I had Road 5s mounted to my 07.  Tried to squeeze one last track day out at the end of September at Zolder but went down as it seems I should have replaced the front when I did the rear.  The cheap Chinese plastics on the GSXR exploded, broke off left clip on and cracked the stator cover ending my season a few sessions early. Only cost about $200 to fix mechanically and I got some used track fairings on FB marketplace for 300 (almost 2 sets actually). 

 

That pretty much brings me to now, looking out the window at 6 inches of snow.  Looking forward to more trips and track days in my last year living in Germany!  I tried to be brief if you can't tell from my writing style.  Hope I didn’t put anyone to sleep, lol.

 

I posted a few pics in a gallery I just made, if you'd like get a little visual.

[e30kawi]

Sounds fun riding around Europe in fairy tale picturesque landscapes!

[kbob2000]

58 minutes ago, e30kawi said:

Sounds fun riding around Europe in fairy tale picturesque landscapes!

It is not lost on me how fortunate I am to have these opportunities!  Just wish I had more time and money to take advantage, but I do my best.

 

[cyow5]

3 hours ago, kbob2000 said:

It is not lost on me how fortunate I am to have these opportunities!  Just wish I had more time and money to take advantage, but I do my best.

 

I had an internship in Germany for a summer (Stuttgart) and had neither the time or money to really explore. I was able to get out a bit, but now I want to go back and make better use of my time there. I also went to Switzerland, and the scenery around there is like nothing I had seen. I grew up in North Carolina, and those "mountains" didn't do the word justice compared to the alps. 

[kbob2000]

4 minutes ago, cyow5 said:

I had an internship in Germany for a summer (Stuttgart) and had neither the time or money to really explore. I was able to get out a bit, but now I want to go back and make better use of my time there. I also went to Switzerland, and the scenery around there is like nothing I had seen. I grew up in North Carolina, and those "mountains" didn't do the word justice compared to the alps. 

Every time I'm in the Alps I say, "the Alps never disappoint."  Mostly do it now to annoy my wife, but it's true. 

[Cruizin]

11 hours ago, kbob2000 said:

Want something to read that isn’t a “which exhaust, tires, flash, bars, seat should I get” thread?  I’m bored and its winter so here’s my moto-story.

 

I’ve been wanting to throw down my experience with riding for a while so here goes.  My moto-background is… I took the MSF course in 2006 and picked up a 2004 Katana for $3700 with about 3K miles.  I sold my car and commuted for about a year, put about 4K miles on the Kat.  Didn’t have great gear and got a little tired of getting wet and sold the bike.  Honestly, enjoyed the bike for ergos, power and sound.  Picked up a 2004 CBR600RR about 8 months later which I owned for about 1.5 years and barely rode at all.  I went to Iraq for about half that time but mostly I didn’t enjoy sport biking in the Florida panhandle.  I also needed a little cash on hand to buy my house.  Went about a year and a half without a bike and then bought a Harley Fatboy as my dad was moving down with his and I wanted to be able to ride with him.  Also bought a Nightster for my wife not too long after as she didn’t care for being on the back of a bike.  I rode it more than her though, as I had several issues with mine and it was in the shop a bit.  Not to mention, it’s pretty difficult to ride when you have small kids.  Didn’t do any long trips in the remainder of my time in Florida although I always wanted to.

 

 Moved to Germany in 2013 and decided not to bring the Harley as I was afraid of maintenance costs.  Didn’t have a bike for 3 years until I offered a co-worker $500 for his 2006 GSXR 600 that had been sitting in various garages for the last 4 years.  He took it without a second of deliberation, just wanted to be rid of it.  I nursed it back to health and rode it for what little bit I was home during that year.  I was bitten by the bug at this point and just wanted another bike that was fun but a bit more comfortable than the GSXR. I scoured the internet for the winter and decided my tax free status made the MT-07 and unbeatable deal.  I picked up my 2017 ABS model in Tech Black in February ’17.  As I started it at the dealer to head home, I knew an exhaust was in my future.  I ordered a Mivv system which is really popular in Europe that night.  Literally installed in the morning before work the day after I got it.  My plan from there was to buy all the stuff I wanted for the bike over the first few months of having it so I could enjoy it for the next 3 summers (leaving in Jan of 2020) with no regrets or wishing I would have bought something sooner.  So I ordered Bitubo suspension from Paul at Bellissimoto, FTecu bench kit, CRG mirrors, levers, Givi windscreen, R&G axel and frame protection, SW Motech Blaze bags, Ogio All Elements waterproof duffle, a USB power adapter, phone mount and some red decals to change up the appearance a bit… all within the first 3-4 months.  Was able to do a couple of trips down to Switzerland and Italy that summer.  Got a little over 5K miles despite being gone for work quite a bit. 

 

Fall came around and I ordered heated gloves and a wiring harness for the bike to extend my season.  I was able to ride every month from Feb 2017 to Dec 2018 at least once, sometimes with snow on the ground.  I did a moto-camping trip into the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) where some of my all-time favorite roads are in May 2018 before I had to leave for 7 weeks in Romania.  I bought a Bagster seat when I got back from that trip as I suffered quite a bit on the way home (mostly my fault for not taking more breaks).  I was able to take a few trips to in 2018 and rent bikes as well.  In March, I went to Barcelona with to friends and rode a Triumph Tiger 800 xR for 2 days into the Pyrenes.  Really fantastic roads around there and I love Barcelona.  In July when I was in Romania for work, I solo rented a BMW F650GS for 2 days and rode the Transfagarsan Highway, saw Vlad the Impaler’s castle and rode the highest pass in Romania (Transalpina?).  It was a cool trip although the weather generally really sucked.  In August the real treat of the summer was renting a BMW S1000XR in Zagreb, Croatia with a couple of friends.  We rode down into Bosnia for an hour or so and then back into Croatia for the night.  Rode up the coast and stayed over the border in Italy the next night, and then spent the last day riding across Slovenia (besides a 30 min dip into Austria on a killer road on which I managed to get a ticket).  Really awesome time besides dropping bike in a gravel parking lot on top of a mountain (last day).  Rental guy was super cool and got some the replacement parts on ebay so I didn’t go broke fixing scratches.  The S1000XR is an amazing machine!  The quick-shifter and auto-blipper were ridiculously fun.  It isn’t something I was interested in but, wow.  Just fricking wow. There’s plenty of reviews out there so I won’t spend too much time on it, but it’s a do it all weapon.  I didn’t love the tires that were on it and I’m glad I don’t have to pay for maintenance for it but it’s pretty perfect for someone who wants a versatile bike (if ya got the cash).

 

I should mention that I started riding on the track in 2018 as well.  I put some Michelin Power RSs on the GSXR in April and took it to Mettet, a small track in Belgium.  Didn’t make it back until August and was able to have a lot of fun booking a whole weekend and getting pretty comfortable with kneedown antics.  Did another weekend in September and got moved to group 3 because of my laptimes (group 4 is fastest) and that was pretty satisfying.  Destroyed my rear tire on that weekend and got a new one put on at the same time I had Road 5s mounted to my 07.  Tried to squeeze one last track day out at the end of September at Zolder but went down as it seems I should have replaced the front when I did the rear.  The cheap Chinese plastics on the GSXR exploded, broke off left clip on and cracked the stator cover ending my season a few sessions early. Only cost about $200 to fix mechanically and I got some used track fairings on FB marketplace for 300 (almost 2 sets actually). 

 

That pretty much brings me to now, looking out the window at 6 inches of snow.  Looking forward to more trips and track days in my last year living in Germany!  I tried to be brief if you can't tell from my writing style.  Hope I didn’t put anyone to sleep, lol.

 

I posted a few pics in a gallery I just made, if you'd like get a little visual.

Great post man, and yes, I surely do get sick of the exhaust, tires and parts posts.  Thanks for sharing that, I hope this inspires others to share similar stories. 

[Zephyr]

Sounds like a great time.  These kinds of posts almost make me wish I didn't live on an island....  Almost.  Perhaps one day I'll have an opportunity to visit some places like this.  Good read.

[firstyammerha]

One fall on vacation in Arizona and New Mexico really opened this Georgia boys eyes regarding the word "mountain". A highway that is 8000 feet  up is something to experience.

[pegasus46]

On 2/4/2019 at 4:41 PM, Zephyr said:

Sounds like a great time.  These kinds of posts almost make me wish I didn't live on an island....  Almost.  Perhaps one day I'll have an opportunity to visit some places like this.  Good read.

You live in Hawaii and are complaining? hehe

[Zephyr]

8 hours ago, pegasus46 said:

You live in Hawaii and are complaining? hehe

Keyword "Almost".  Lol.  I do wish that I had opportunities to attend more training and experience track days.  The maximum amount of training available locally is the MSF Basic Rider 2 course, which I haven't seen offered in about a year.  I need to put together a few ride reports around here.  Nothing spectacular, but we have a handful of decent roads and some nice views.

[Beemer]

13 hours ago, pegasus46 said:

You live in Hawaii and are complaining? hehe

IKR! Who could ever get tired of the Hawaiian mountain, "Ka-mon Aiwana Laia". 

[firstyammerha]

there were some tight twisty back roads on Maui that I enjoyed in that Focus rent a car a few years back. Oahu did not have the biking population that we have here in the continental U.S. by my observation. Maui had more but they seemed to be rental bikes. Pic 1 speed doesn't lie when your're in a Budget Focus and pic 2  means pucker up those cheeks if you go in above the speed limit.

[Zephyr]

I'm one hop to the East on the Hawaii Island.  Maui has a lot of sketchy drivers... In Ford Focus's wearing loud aloha print shirts ... lol j/k  I lived in Maui for a few months prior to relocating to the Big Island.  It's a nice place, but as with all of the islands they suffer from lack of infrastructure to deal with the increased traffic on the roads, leaving us lowly 2-wheelers feeling lucky if we can break 20 around those corners.

 

PS.  Sorry OP for hijacking your thread

[firstyammerha]

noticed single lane bridges a number of times going from one side of Maui to the other using the back roads. Lots of really rickety "leanto"type houses also. Still beautiful country. And I abhorred the Hawaiian shirt thing even though the wife was pushing for me to get one.

[Zephyr]

Those leanto houses are basically what many folks live in around here where I'm at.  We call them coffee shacks as they were built on the coffee farms to house workers (and family).  Didn't need much in the way of covering due to the moderate climate, just something to keep the rain out.  Been here for 17? years if memory serves and I still haven't worn a typical aloha shirt.  There are some Hawaiian prints that are quite attractive, but t-shirts and polos suit me just fine.

[DewMan]

6 hours ago, Zephyr said:

  There are some Hawaiian prints that are quite attractive, but t-shirts and polos suit me just fine. 

Please tell me you're not wearing the Magnum P.I. short shorts.

[Zephyr]

25 minutes ago, DewMan said:

Please tell me you're not wearing the Magnum P.I. short shorts.

Only for my 'ol lady.