Hello everyone from the forums. Being a new CBR owner as of last week, I thought I might join this online community so I can give and take advice from its knowledgeable members. So I guess I'll start out with a little about myself and my riding history.

*edit - sorry this gets long-winded, read on if you really want...

I was born and raised in a small town in the middle of Idaho. My first solo motorcycle ride at 9 or 10 years old was on my grandpa's Honda Trail 70 which he had bought new in 1972. The bike has served its whole life on a farm rounding up cattle / being generally abused so it was a little behind on maintenance (I need to get a picture of this thing). I'm talking about stacked carpet samples for a seat and pop cans holding the exhaust together. But it was fun to ride and I was hooked.

My parents soon after bought the family a small fleet of Honda Trail 90s (pic below). Being 4th out of 6 kids in the family I was usually stuck on the hard metal cargo rack clinging to my older brothers whenever we went riding. The bikes served us well and took a beating throughout the years. Amazingly they all still run.


These bikes got me through till high school and I decided something bigger was more up my alley. Working as a dishwasher one summer I managed to save up some money to put towards a new ride. One fall evening while the rest of my family was camping, I read in the in the local paper was an ad for a 1985 Honda 350x (one year older than me). I didn't sleep the night before going to look it over. I had a hard-on for ATCs ever since I rode my uncle’s balloon-tire-suspension ATC185. I paid the man $1000 for it and didn't even try to haggle him down. In fact I never even got a title for it... or a bill of sale... But it ran like a raped ape and I was jazzed. I tried hiding it from my parents, but they soon found out about it after doughnuts and burnouts magically started appearing on our gravel driveway. I still own it and it still can do 6th gear power wheelies (mostly due to the pogo-stick action of the blown front forks). Here it is pictured next to my little brothers 200s.



So the trusty (and deadly) 350X somehow got me through high school. I attended college and in the summer of my freshman year I made some money fighting fire for the Forest Service. I decided to spoil myself with a new toy so I picked up a new 2005 Honda TRX450R. Talk about a night and day difference coming off the ATC. The 450R was a blast to ride and was surprisingly tough, even when I nailed an Isuzu pickup at about 40mph. I bounced off the windshield and into the ditch; no broken bones just some new battle scars (thank god for helmets and riding gear). The bike, on the other hand, was a different story. Bent frame, banana shaped shock, destroyed plastic, bent bars, steering stem etc... We pulled the truck off it, hooked the electronics back up, and it fired up and hauled me 20 miles back home. Lesson learned I guess. After a new frame and a couple thousand in accessories it was back in running condition with some needed upgrades (suspension and skids among other things). It's still in use as my primary trail riding machine.




My next purchase was for commuting back and forth from class and my apartment. I picked up a mint condition 2003 XR400 and converted it straight to duel-sport service. The winters up in Idaho were long and boring and I started reading supermoto forums. Well long story short, after a way too much $$$ spent in aftermarket parts I had a pretty decent supermoto setup. Excel/Talon wheel set, 426cc high compression piston, Hotcam stage 2, WB exhaust, and a laundry list of other thing. I didn't realize just how much fun riding this thing could be. It sucks on the highway and it sucks to use it in town, but if you take it on any twisty paved road you'll be fighting to keep up with it. The bike continues to impress/scare me and anyone else who I let ride it.



It still gets some use off-road too.



My next bike was a spur of the moment purchase. Another ad in the paper landed a 1968 Honda CL90 in the garage. For 300 bucks it smoked like crazy and needed overhauled; a good winter project. I still use it around town now and then. It gets about a million miles to the gallon; handy when gas was over $4 a gallon.



And finally, if anyone is actually still reading this, my last bike to add to the collection. A 2002 600F4i. Picked it up for $3800 with 8000 miles on it (good deal???). Absolute mint condition, adult owned, and not molested in any way. Don't really have much to say about this one except Idaho winters suck. My plans are to keep in stock and use it to travel in the summer. Being totally new to street bikes I'm unsure whether or not I'll keep it. I guess we'll see if it grows on me. (sorry for the crappy cell phone pic)



Thanks for reading

 

Great intro... Welcome to the forum!

 

That has to be the longest intro I've seen on the Forum !
Nice work, and good to see you !
Look around enjoy what's on offer.
Nice F4i BTW.

 

hey Nath, a great intro and thank you for all the pics and background!!

I hope you enjoy your stay here, be safe!!

Jules

 

Hi and [sm=welcomesign.gif]Nath and thanx for the most excellent intro!
The F4i for that price was a good deal, harder and harderto find those super clean F4is out there,great find.
Great to see all those Hondas [sm=wootwoot.gif]
I think you'll find the F4i is an excellent street bike once spring comes around [sm=massbounce.gif]
Feel free to stop by the F4i forum if you have any ?s

 

I actually really liked the read. Good to have you on the forums, hoss.

 

[align=center]Hi Nath!
[sm=welcomesign.gif] to the CBR forum.
Very nice Pics.
Many greetings from Germany/Bavaria after Idaho sends [sm=happybounce.gif]
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[align=center]Nicky#69
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Nice mix of bikes/toys...welcome.