Mixed news. I've brought a new bike

Well - I've been looking for a new bike for awhile. I've just brought a CBR600 which I'm pretty excited about. It's alot more trackable and comes with alot of spare parts to make it possible to take it to the track. It's currently clab in race only rubber, has a second full set of plastics and a third tail section and a brand new set of road rubber. It's red and black... safety wired up and ready to go.

My problem is that my shed is too small for two bikes. I've had to make the difficult decision to sell my maxim. The good news is that I've sold it to a friend of mine who is getting into the biking world. The XJ served me very well and it's sad to say good bye. If I could have kept it I would have as they serve two very different roles. So it's with mixed feelings that I've sold her to a good friend of mine... I'll still get to see her lots as we plan on riding together.

Cheers,
woot.

XJ members that still are interested in meeting up - The next two weekends are possibilities. I've got inlaws visiting and I'll be out trying my new toy out.

 

bah hope u wont leave wooterman!
and also can we see some pics?

 

Pics will follow - remember that this is/was a track bike so it's got it's share of battle scars. I'm going to street it this year and see how we get along. Painting it is likely going to happen next year.

I'll be in and out of here - not leaving but am going to be really busy prepping my new toy.

This place has been a wonderful resource, and I've met some really great people... I'm not going too far away!

Cheers,
woot.

 

Woot won't vanish. There's too much XJ flowing in his veins. :wink:

Congrats on the new purchase Woot. They are a nice bike, even if they are a Honda. :lol:

 

Sounds like fun, do you plan on taking it back to the track, or is it going to be purely street now? What year is it? Always been a big fan of the CBR's. Time for some pics...

 

2000 - I do plan on taking it back to the track. Probably not this year as I just blew my bike budget.

It's comfortable enough I think I'll also be able to use it for my touring - plus I'll have a weapon of a twisty bike. I'll just have to REALLY REALLY control my right hand.

The squids will be all over this bike - body work on both sides has touched the road leaning and the tires on it currently are track only. This isn't the typical poser bike wear marks - the guy who owned it before me REALLY did use it as a race bike. I got it cheaply because of that, but not ridiculously cheaply because it has some expensive race parts on it.

- full exhaust
- rebuilt forks
- after market rear shock
- side covers replaced for the track
- tires !!!
- full set of spare plastics (including solo tail and competition upper)
- second spare tail section
- sprockets +2 rear, -1 front.

 

Here's a snap the previous owner took of her.

Without the decals sorted out the red and black is a bit weird looking... note the sliders (white) on her sides and the spare rain tires next to her.

 

That was going to be my next question since I knew you had done some of that with the Maxim.

 

It felt good in terms of position when I rode it... it's a sportier sitting position than the maxim, but like my old ninja it spreads the weight better on your backside than the maxim did for me.

Reaching forward for the bars has never bothered me as I've got long arms... it's not as big a stretch for me as it is for others.

I never did get around to building my solo seat - which is what I really needed to do.

In a week or two I'll be listing some spare parts I have... a seat pan is amongst the goodies.

 

Woot, I know I'm not alone when I say we're gonna miss ya round here.
Don't be a stranger and good luck with your new ride.

Looking forward to your list of spare parts.

 

I think I'll still be pretty active... and who knows I might convince the new owner to join up

Getting rid of me might be the hardest part

 

I found a webpage with sound clips of various exhausts... this one sounds an awful lot like mine... although I think mine is a tiny bit deeper.

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146-0410 ... andd_d.mp3

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0410_pipe_clips/

I'm not a loud pipe person - but I've now got one of the loudest pipes out there :-/ ok so I'm giddy when I ride it - but I know just how rude it is so I'll be considerate... sorry... a bit excited to have a track bike again.

 

Sorry to hear of your loss dear brother. Hard to imagine you did this willingly. Sounds like you scored on the CBR. Nice set up. Most of my riding friends run CBRs. I've got all their old calipers (four piston Nissins!), rotors, shocks, and sprockets. Some of it will be grafted onto my FZR, the rest needs to find a new home. Any interest? And by golly you'd better not fade off into the sunset, your too much a part of the the place. I'd miss your wit and knowledge.

 

oh, oh! that is the same year cbr I had! I had two. one was a cali bike, the other a 49 stater. I went overbore by a millimeter, lightened the crank, ported and polished the head, new cams, did a ton of hose work to it, had a 520 conversion on it, powder coated rims, polished frame and swingarm, race rubber, revalved the forks, put a f4i rear shock on it, lowered the front, raised the rear, had goodridge dash 2 lines on it....I think that was it. nice bike...oh, m4 exhaust too. we raced professionally in ama and took seventh that year (with missing two races) in the superbike class (obviously not with my bike). that is where we picked up the tricks on the hose routings. daytona 200 in '02.

 

I really didn't want to sell the XJ. I had thought about restoring her and even keeping her in my den... beautiful faithful bike...

My problem was that I didn't have enough shed space for two bikes, nor the money to keep both on the road. Last time I did that I had my ninja on the road - narrowly avoided a few tickets and nearly got killed by a cat. The maxim miles dropped signifcantly and only picked up when I had to rebuild the ninja... the maxim is possible to ride with very bad knees!

The good news is that the maxim has gone to a good guy who should put some miles on her... it's his first bike. Infact - I'll still have visitation rights as we're probably going to be riding together this summer.

Robert: Keep me in mind with any parts. I don't think I need any at the moment but as I assess the bike I might be looking.

 

UPDATE

So - awhile ago I was hunting for a new bike. I tested the ex650, the zzr600... I looked for a VFR... maybe an SV650... maybe an XX. I couldn't find what I was looking for really.

A few weeks ago I guy I know from a different forum messaged me - he's selling his bike. He wanted some reasonable sum for it, but he would sell it to me for less. He said he wanted it to go to a good home. I understood that... that was one of the conditions of selling the maxim.

So I went to look at the bike - a raced 2000 cbr 600 f4. The body work is all solid but doesn't have the full honda side cowl wings. A shame really. It has a full D&D pipe ( something like this: http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146-0410 ... andd_d.mp3 ) that is a bit loud for my taste. Delicious sounds but not early in the morning or through a residential area.

It was clad in a nice sticky set of track rubber and came with a new set of street tires. (I'm currently running the track rubber on the street and having alot of fun... avoiding rain like the plague though). It also had a full spare set of race plastics and a second spare tail section.

So - after a bit of humming and hawing at home I decided it was doable... and infact crazy not to. I called up my buddy who has been asking for the maxim for sometime - and he agreed to purchase it immediately. My bike was sold now time to get my new bike.

I've logged over 400km in the 3 days it's been home... 100 home, 100 last night to pick up t-shirts and the rest on some of my favorite twisties on the long weekend.

It's an absolutely amazing bike. I can't get over the brakes or the suspension. It is very compliant and very quick. It is reasonably light ~400lbs and is pretty comfortable. In some ways more comfortable than the maxim.

Gas milage isn't bad - the second tank I've put through it was about 45mpg. I expect that to go up when I eventually go back to stock sprockets (currently -1/+2) and when I get tired of using 2nd gear to acheive highway speeds

Another great feature - real headlights!!! I have never owned a vehicle that has thrown that much light on the road... was awesome last night. Perfect tempature... no cars and lots of light.

I've gotten used to the cluch - it bites alot harder than my previous bikes... which made getting into the bike shed up a narrow ramp tricky. No burn outs on the ramp yet!

The other funny thing - my mom - staunch 'if you get a bike you move out' loves it. Infact - she wanted a picture of herself on it and was thinking about learning how to ride. Further - she was thinking about trying it as a passenger...

Anyway - new profile picture - the first one of the CBR:

 

Glad to hear mom came around. See, you just have to hit the right note. Slap the right paint on a jalopy and mom will let it in the driveway. Good on ya Woot!