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Dan's Blog:
Memoirs of the Future
Why did I buy an R1?
 Many people have asked me, 'Dan, what made you buy an R1?'
'Well, I didn't mean to!'
'What, you bought a 12,000 dollar bike on accident?'
'I bought it on purpose...but I intended to buy a 600...'
Here's the story of how I came to buy the R1
When I had an 02 SVS, I was thinking of mods I could throw on the bike to make it handle better in the suspension department, and hey, while I was at it, maybe I'd massage the engine for a bit more horsepower...and how much would it be to powdercoat the wheels and frame...and..and...
If you've ever priced top-shelf suspension, ya know it's not cheap. A single rear shock can cost over a grand, and forks, often much more than that. Powdercoating isn't all that expensive, but it takes time and effort (and know-how) to remove the wheels or the frame, if you're the daring type.
I thought about it and asked myself, 'You know, why don't I just upgrade the whole bike?'
I had me at 'you know'.
I set about renting or borrowing every 600 class supersport I'd consider buying. I rode an 03 R6 in CA which I rented from www.sportbikerental.com. Santiago from the rental place dropped the bike off at my door, no charge (before they started charging for that) and I had a great time riding all over Malibu. The bike was soooooo tall tho...my right foot felt like it was a foot off the ground at the stops.
 Next, I rented a CBR600RR in Hawaii for 10 days. The CBR ignition had a little issue, so I ended up riding another 03 R6 til the CBR was ready. The CBR was a lot of fun..butter smooth...little vibration on the brakes (this was an 04 with a known factory brake issue) but the Jardine exhaust sound coupled with the inline 4 was just loverly....and the power was nice...totally different from the lower-revving twin I was used to. Cornering was excellent...this bike got the wheels turning about owning one, tall as it was for me.
 Too bad Oahu doesn't have a lot of turns....I took to using some of the nicer on and offramps off the H3...good times, and amazing scenery...just cruising on a sporbike in a different part of the world is a great experience. In fact, I've ridden a scooter all over Rome (even at night, in the rain, on cobblestone!) and I rode an R6 in Dubai....nothing like zooming past the Burj Al Arab, only seven start hotel in the world, on a sportbike. That hotel is insane..the colors change and in person, it's like a spacestation or something out of the movie, 'Contact'. Wow....it's one thing to experience another place...but being on a bike makes you the tour guide with legs to go as far as you want...and every sense is filled with as much info as you can process.
The next bike I rented from Sportbikerental.com was this 04 Gixxer 6. I rented it in 2004 and it had just come out, right after it was re-designed.
 This bike has great power for a middleweight, but for me it was waaaay too stretched out, it was plain uncomfortable most of the time (and remember, this is a guy who uses an R1 as a daily ride). Then again, I'm on the short side (5'3"), so taller people will probably love this bike and find it to be roomy. The suspension was great..awesome in the canyons where I took it. The low speed fuel injection was a bit lurchy, and this wasn't just an issue of throttle control coz usually I have pretty good control at low speed..being a shortarse, this is a necessary skill! :D
Overall, it's a great bike if it fits you...but that's 2004...I'll post back when I ride the 06 model! Riding this Gixx only fed my curiosity about inline 4's...
 The next bike I borrowed to ride was a cool blue ZX-6R. I looooooved this bike. Great power, great handling, great looks (nice and clean). I remember the suspension being so much more compliant than my SV, with more feel. This is the bike which sold me on getting an inline 4. All of this testing was simply out of curiosity...and finally my curiosity was satisfied....I was gonna buy one of these..I was so close..got the dealer cost reports and everything..but then...
THIS guy had something to say about that!
 Yes, this reads, 'Slowmike', and he's a purveyor of a certain kind of 'speed' found within the recesses of the Yamaha R1. Ok, so the image on the left is a photoshop of a Valentine's pic he took of himself on his bike, but make no mistake, Slowmike is anything but slow.
After a little discussion about literbikes, we arranged for me to ride his for one day after I took care of the insurance. I had never ridden a literbike, and you can't exactly rent these at the local shops...probably an insurance liability issue.
So....I took a quick run on the R1 the night before the rental day and wow...within minutes I knew I had to have one. The power was insane..not insane as in 'crikey mate I'm gonna Diiiiiiiiee' but insane as in smooth, like buttah, electromagnetically smooth, and civilized too. No jerky fuel injection, the ergos fit me better than any 600 and I could touch the ground very well due to the R1's skinny waist. The look of course is amazing (in my opinion) and the handling was incredible too. Ok, I'm gushing, but wow, what a bike.
This is what the bike really looked like .
She's a beaut eh?
So, this is the story of my research...I intended to get a 600, I really really did...but ya know, there's nothing more crystal clear than riding every bike you're considering before you buy. To that end, I recommend renting or borrowing a bike if you possibly can, before you buy. The magazines can tout this or that as being the top dog for the current issue, but you won't know how a bike suits *you* till ya ride it.
Needless to say, I bought an R1 in black...er, Raven.
I've had it a little over a year and have put about 24,000 miles on it. I looooove it...and it's actually quite comfortable..I could probably tour on the thing if I wanted to, and the aftermarket support is very good. One of the first things I had to do was install a Puig Race windscreen (double bubble) because of the crazy windblast with the low stock windscreen. After that, I got some frame sliders (naturally, after the first drop) and some hot Pazzo levers, in black as well as a Yamaha rear seat cowl.
Soon I'll be looking for some Ohlins and possibly, Carbon Fiber wheels....looks like modding is yet another addiction I'll have to contend with....and I'm loving it.
Here's the R1 soon after I bought it.
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