Perspectives: My Story

First off, if mom ever reads this, sorry 'bout the language ;)

For those that care, here's my story.

It all starts at Frank Sisson's Silver Dollar Casino in 2003. My buddies Matt and Blaine (RIP) who I worked with, both rode bikes. Matt had a Katana 600 (now a 600RR) and Blaine had a gorgeous GSXR750. They are the guys that got me into street riding, after a many year hiatus from dirt/trail riding. When I got into street bikes a few years ago, I must admit, I didn't like the look of fighters. I didn't understand it. I have always loved fully faired bikes, in fact I still do. I owe my obsession to my friend 'e'. I bought an SRAD750 and shortly thereafter, met e. He also had an SRAD 750 and was a fountain of knowledge for me. He taught me a lot about that bike. He also sold me a lot of parts because he fightered his. He was born in that end of the world and grew up with fighters so it wasn't a new concept to him (in fact, he has a letter published in issue 2 or 3 of SSB). Anyways, I saw his bike and everyone called it ugly. I thought it was cool and original, but I loved my SRAD the way it was. Times moved on and a close friend passed away. I sold my beloved SRAD to buy Blaine's 00 GSXR750, as I had promised I would do when he was in the hospital (melanoma cancer at 26). I loved the new bike (still do), but I was hankerin' for something else. Then I got an email. Turns out that e was cleaning his room and found a pile of old issues of Streetfighters magazine. He offered them up, and I gladly received...I collect magazines it seems (over 500...sick I know). Anyways, I got to reading and fell in love with the power, personality, and engineering behind them. My tastes grew into a new love and my old love for Slingshot GSXRs was seen in a new light...I had to have one.

e's SRAD GSXR

















































Shortly after this time I started at my current job, where my boss collects and races vintage Jap bikes. More power...excellent. More exposure to the high performance stuff, and, being a wrecker as well, I noticed that I was going upstairs, seeing parts and thinking, "damn, that would look sick on this bike"...the ball had started in motion. The raw look, the bare minimum, the engineering...I had to have a streetfighter, and had to have one now. I saved up a little bit of cash, about $1000 and went on the hunt. I looked at all sorts of stuff but they either didn't fit the bill of what I wanted or were too much. Then some guy came by the shop with a 1994 ZX6E for sale...he had just moved to town and he needed rent money more than a bike. $900 and one lien check later, I owned it. "This bike is in good shape cosmetically, what am I doing" was my thought as I tore into her bodywork, but I couldn't stop. You all know the rest of the story.

While I may never be satisfied with the bikes I have, I know now where my niche in this industry is.