Lateshift
01-05-2007, 02:53 PM
Well out with the new and in with the old as they say (well i do anyway :D ).
Having deliberated long and hard about my next bike, purely down to what i could justify putting shed loads of miles on without the need for trying to keep a warranty on a new bike i decided last week to actually go out and finish the job by finally buying one.
I have to say its the hardest thing i have ever done, you would have thought handing cash over to someone so you could ride a bike away would be the easiest thing in the world but sadly wasnt the case for me :D
Most of the bikes that stood out of the crowd had either been sold or were over-priced, and on the odd occasion nothing like they were in a photo and one (this was the iceing on the cake) smelt as dodgy as one of Arthur Daley's "Ere Tel i have a job for you" errands :D
Imagine turning up at a bike shop and being told "i am not selling the bike to you" :D
Anyway, the list, it would appear that Dal had been camping in my attic for some of this as he was strangely enough looking at the same sort of bikes as me :eek: :D
It quickly got narrowed down from B series Ninjas (always fancied a 636) to newer models of the same bike (C series), to even earlier bikes that i had always liked but never bothered with before.
Namely the early R1,
Now some people like to go for the new bikes, i know i did with the Aprilia, but for me, i had always liked the attraction of the bikes that came in with a bang, had nasty reputations (apart from the TL because they scare the crap out of me :D ) for being far too lairy for the road and earned some sort of hooligan reputation.
Bikes like that for me were the first watercooled GSXR 750, the early Fireblade and the 98/99/00 R1.
Having searched high and low and had a few depressed days trying to get hold of an early R1 i finally found one down in Gillingham, advertised through MCN, so i left a message and another, and another (you get the jist here :D ) but unfortunately heard nothing back,
In a last ditch effort i found that Pole Position in Saaaarfend had a 99 R1 (the only paint scheme for the early R1's i liked were the Red and Whites but not the 98 version as its a dirty white), in coincidentally the right colours, immaculately looked after but with 22K miles on it, however the budget was near to what i wanted to spend (before adding other stuff :D ).
Anyway cutting a very long story short (big cheer from the crowd :D ) i got down there on Thursday after work to find someone was out on it for a test ride, the result? they bought it there and then :(
However after lots of ranting and raving about why i had held off from just paying the deposit over the phone as intended, i then get a text from the fella i had been trying to contact all week.
Do you still want the bike, sorry i have been away and only just got your message, if you do ring me.
I ring, he answers, i tell him that my budget is £3300 and i hope i am not offending him by asking him to come down from the £3500 price tag he has on it.
That will be fine he says!!! :D
So, MilleUK kindly took me down there yesterday, i handed over the cash without even having test ridden this bike, and you will see why, not only did it sound like it was brand new, it also looked like it too :)
7700 miles on the clock, 2 owners including the fella i was buying it from, owned by him since 2003 and in that time had only covered 6000 miles.
12 months MOT & Tax
Harris rearsets
Harris exhaust hanger
Carbon Akrapovic can
R&G lowers
Seat Cowl
Stainless brake lines
New EBC HH pads all round
Ohlins steering damper and Harris fitting kit
Rhencullen undertray and integrated lights
All the original kit that came off the bike
All the paperwork for the bike
All the previous MOT's
HPI certificate
2 keys
The only thing the bike needs is a front tyre which is well past is sell by date :D
The sale couldnt have gone better, the bike is a credit to its previous owner it really is that clean and when he said its never been ridden in the rain he meant it :D
Having ridden it back from Gillingham yesterday and into work today i have to say its so mild mannered in the traffic its unreal, but hit the throttle and its beyond scary, i had a ZX9R that had been tuned and i was convinced that it would outrun most bikes on the road with its bottom end power but this thing kicks the arse out of scary when you nail it :D
a 6th gear roll on from 60mph was literally 100 in the brief 2 seconds i managed to count :eek: :eek:
Anyway just one or two photos :)
http://www.mick753.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/R1side.jpg
http://www.mick753.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/R1rearright.jpg
http://www.mick753.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/R1rear.jpg
Having deliberated long and hard about my next bike, purely down to what i could justify putting shed loads of miles on without the need for trying to keep a warranty on a new bike i decided last week to actually go out and finish the job by finally buying one.
I have to say its the hardest thing i have ever done, you would have thought handing cash over to someone so you could ride a bike away would be the easiest thing in the world but sadly wasnt the case for me :D
Most of the bikes that stood out of the crowd had either been sold or were over-priced, and on the odd occasion nothing like they were in a photo and one (this was the iceing on the cake) smelt as dodgy as one of Arthur Daley's "Ere Tel i have a job for you" errands :D
Imagine turning up at a bike shop and being told "i am not selling the bike to you" :D
Anyway, the list, it would appear that Dal had been camping in my attic for some of this as he was strangely enough looking at the same sort of bikes as me :eek: :D
It quickly got narrowed down from B series Ninjas (always fancied a 636) to newer models of the same bike (C series), to even earlier bikes that i had always liked but never bothered with before.
Namely the early R1,
Now some people like to go for the new bikes, i know i did with the Aprilia, but for me, i had always liked the attraction of the bikes that came in with a bang, had nasty reputations (apart from the TL because they scare the crap out of me :D ) for being far too lairy for the road and earned some sort of hooligan reputation.
Bikes like that for me were the first watercooled GSXR 750, the early Fireblade and the 98/99/00 R1.
Having searched high and low and had a few depressed days trying to get hold of an early R1 i finally found one down in Gillingham, advertised through MCN, so i left a message and another, and another (you get the jist here :D ) but unfortunately heard nothing back,
In a last ditch effort i found that Pole Position in Saaaarfend had a 99 R1 (the only paint scheme for the early R1's i liked were the Red and Whites but not the 98 version as its a dirty white), in coincidentally the right colours, immaculately looked after but with 22K miles on it, however the budget was near to what i wanted to spend (before adding other stuff :D ).
Anyway cutting a very long story short (big cheer from the crowd :D ) i got down there on Thursday after work to find someone was out on it for a test ride, the result? they bought it there and then :(
However after lots of ranting and raving about why i had held off from just paying the deposit over the phone as intended, i then get a text from the fella i had been trying to contact all week.
Do you still want the bike, sorry i have been away and only just got your message, if you do ring me.
I ring, he answers, i tell him that my budget is £3300 and i hope i am not offending him by asking him to come down from the £3500 price tag he has on it.
That will be fine he says!!! :D
So, MilleUK kindly took me down there yesterday, i handed over the cash without even having test ridden this bike, and you will see why, not only did it sound like it was brand new, it also looked like it too :)
7700 miles on the clock, 2 owners including the fella i was buying it from, owned by him since 2003 and in that time had only covered 6000 miles.
12 months MOT & Tax
Harris rearsets
Harris exhaust hanger
Carbon Akrapovic can
R&G lowers
Seat Cowl
Stainless brake lines
New EBC HH pads all round
Ohlins steering damper and Harris fitting kit
Rhencullen undertray and integrated lights
All the original kit that came off the bike
All the paperwork for the bike
All the previous MOT's
HPI certificate
2 keys
The only thing the bike needs is a front tyre which is well past is sell by date :D
The sale couldnt have gone better, the bike is a credit to its previous owner it really is that clean and when he said its never been ridden in the rain he meant it :D
Having ridden it back from Gillingham yesterday and into work today i have to say its so mild mannered in the traffic its unreal, but hit the throttle and its beyond scary, i had a ZX9R that had been tuned and i was convinced that it would outrun most bikes on the road with its bottom end power but this thing kicks the arse out of scary when you nail it :D
a 6th gear roll on from 60mph was literally 100 in the brief 2 seconds i managed to count :eek: :eek:
Anyway just one or two photos :)
http://www.mick753.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/R1side.jpg
http://www.mick753.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/R1rearright.jpg
http://www.mick753.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/R1rear.jpg