langoptc
Member
Hey! from south of Atlanta, GA
Long-time lurker. Recent RT purchaser. Probably more than past time for me to belly up to the BMWMOA membership bar...added bonus being all the pics I get to see as a member that weren't available to me as a guest.
A little bit about me...
Very big Honda fan for a long time. 1988 CRX, 1993 Civic, 1995 Del Sol, 2000 Odyssey, 2005 Element, 2012 Civic, 2017 Civic...Honda mower...Honda pressure washer...you get the idea.
Riding appealed to me when I was younger but I like to think I was intelligent enough to know that I wasn't responsible enough for a bike. Decided I wanted to take up riding for my mid-life crisis when I turned 50. Did my homework (as well as an MSF class at the Honda facility where the CBR250R was one of the bikes available for the class) and bought a used Honda CBR250R with 141 miles. The story was the parents bought their kid a bike for his birthday and his grades went south so the bike got put up for sale. His loss, my gain. Rode that for a couple years and decided I was ready to move up. I probably should have upgraded to the CBR500R but I got a pretty good deal on a low mileage 2007 VFR800 25th Anniversary model. In hindsight, it was probably too much bike for me at the time.
Fast forward five years or so (a couple years ago) and began thinking I would like to do some touring and while the VFR is a fun bike, the ergonomics just aren't conducive to touring (at least for me even with helibars and lowered pegs - especially the older I get) so I thought I wanted an ST1300 seeing as how I had no desire to cut the Honda umbilical cord. However, the more homework I did, the less appealing the ST1300 became...heavy bike that carries the weight up high, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, etc. OK, so what else is out there???
More research and most everything I read indicated that the bike to go touring on is an R1200RT so I started looking and fell head over heels in lust with the 2017 carbon black metallic wethead. I just did not like the styling of the hexhead/camheads. I remember watching the youtube review by Motorcycle Experience of the sand beige hexhead and thinking that bike just does not appeal to me...the styling doesn't appeal to me...the color doesn't appeal to me...it's just not the bike for me. However, I couldn't justify the price tag of the wethead. Truth be told, I couldn't justify the price of the hexhead when I started looking.
Well, the more I looked at the hexhead/camheads the more they grew on me (especially the price). I decided I wanted a blue 2009 or later. A silver 2009 became available close by about a year ago and I went to take a look but I just didn't get that "I have to have this bike" vibe. I continued scouring craigslist and cycletrader frequently but no joy until February of this year when a 2009 Sand Beige Metallic about 150 miles away with relatively low miles appeared on craigslist. Went to look at it and even though it wasn't in the best cosmetic shape, I still got that "I have to have this bike" feeling. Yes, the same bike from the youtube video that didn't appeal to me previously. Funny how things work out. Make no mistake, I still lust after the carbon black metallic wethead and hope to have one some day but I am in love with my hexhead.
Anywho...that's my story and I hope I can make a contribution to the forum once in a while. In the mean time, I'm hoping to learn as much as possible. Here are pics of the current bikes.
Long-time lurker. Recent RT purchaser. Probably more than past time for me to belly up to the BMWMOA membership bar...added bonus being all the pics I get to see as a member that weren't available to me as a guest.
A little bit about me...
Very big Honda fan for a long time. 1988 CRX, 1993 Civic, 1995 Del Sol, 2000 Odyssey, 2005 Element, 2012 Civic, 2017 Civic...Honda mower...Honda pressure washer...you get the idea.
Riding appealed to me when I was younger but I like to think I was intelligent enough to know that I wasn't responsible enough for a bike. Decided I wanted to take up riding for my mid-life crisis when I turned 50. Did my homework (as well as an MSF class at the Honda facility where the CBR250R was one of the bikes available for the class) and bought a used Honda CBR250R with 141 miles. The story was the parents bought their kid a bike for his birthday and his grades went south so the bike got put up for sale. His loss, my gain. Rode that for a couple years and decided I was ready to move up. I probably should have upgraded to the CBR500R but I got a pretty good deal on a low mileage 2007 VFR800 25th Anniversary model. In hindsight, it was probably too much bike for me at the time.
Fast forward five years or so (a couple years ago) and began thinking I would like to do some touring and while the VFR is a fun bike, the ergonomics just aren't conducive to touring (at least for me even with helibars and lowered pegs - especially the older I get) so I thought I wanted an ST1300 seeing as how I had no desire to cut the Honda umbilical cord. However, the more homework I did, the less appealing the ST1300 became...heavy bike that carries the weight up high, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, etc. OK, so what else is out there???
More research and most everything I read indicated that the bike to go touring on is an R1200RT so I started looking and fell head over heels in lust with the 2017 carbon black metallic wethead. I just did not like the styling of the hexhead/camheads. I remember watching the youtube review by Motorcycle Experience of the sand beige hexhead and thinking that bike just does not appeal to me...the styling doesn't appeal to me...the color doesn't appeal to me...it's just not the bike for me. However, I couldn't justify the price tag of the wethead. Truth be told, I couldn't justify the price of the hexhead when I started looking.
Well, the more I looked at the hexhead/camheads the more they grew on me (especially the price). I decided I wanted a blue 2009 or later. A silver 2009 became available close by about a year ago and I went to take a look but I just didn't get that "I have to have this bike" vibe. I continued scouring craigslist and cycletrader frequently but no joy until February of this year when a 2009 Sand Beige Metallic about 150 miles away with relatively low miles appeared on craigslist. Went to look at it and even though it wasn't in the best cosmetic shape, I still got that "I have to have this bike" feeling. Yes, the same bike from the youtube video that didn't appeal to me previously. Funny how things work out. Make no mistake, I still lust after the carbon black metallic wethead and hope to have one some day but I am in love with my hexhead.
Anywho...that's my story and I hope I can make a contribution to the forum once in a while. In the mean time, I'm hoping to learn as much as possible. Here are pics of the current bikes.
