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Motorcycle History

My first bike was a 1984 VF500F that I bought pretty much on a whim. My girlfriend and I had broken up after a seven-year relationship, and I needed something to take up all my time. The bike was perfect. It never ran right, and eventually I think it blew a head gasket and munged the head. I spend a bit of time riding, a lot of time fixing, and learned that you get what you pay for.

My second bike was its big brother, a 1986 VF750F I bought from a school friend. Awesome bike. Loads more power, very nimble (so I thought), and tons of fun. I continued to learn to ride and really had a blast. I tagged 200kph a couple of times, and really loved it. Classic memories of the VF750F include feeling the steering going "mushy" one trip, and realizing the front tire had a slow leak and had been at 7psi for the last 50km. I had to leave it in Ottawa when I moved to California, and eventually sold it to another friend, Kevin M, who fixed it up and also used it to learn to ride on. Awesome bike for the money.

My third bike was the latest and greatest Interceptor: a 1998 Honda VFR800i. Fuel-injected, 800cc, linked brakes, modern suspension. It ruled. I couldn't believe how crappy the previous bikes were in comparison. The VFR800i is a fantastic machine, understandably rated "best all-around bike" by pretty much everyone who ranks bikes. It's a wonderful motorcycle, extremely easy to cruise on, very forgiving when ridden hard.

1998 Honda VFR800i

Modifications to the VFR, all extremely worthwhile:

Heli bar risers
Corbin seat
HPS frame sliders
Integrated radar detector
Givi Wingrack2 and hard bags

VFR with hard luggage:

VFR and Givi: Yummy (600x450:127Kb)		Side view (600x354:108Kb)
What an awesome bike (600x450:138Kb)

I eventually sold the VFR to a guy in Texas to finance my racing addiction. It was a hard decision, but at the time it was the right one. Now I just wish I could get my old bike back!