Never Meet Your Heros

[dolly3900]

Today on my way in to work (sunny coast road, lovely ride), I came up behind a minter of an FJ1200.

Now I have always loved these bikes (don't judge me) and had a little play with the guy on the road down, you know, traffic leapfrog, gave a little wave when I turned off and thought no more of it.

A little later, had to pop out and parked in town, right next to said FJ and had to have a look around as I had been thinking of one as the next addition to the flock.

Bare in mind that I am not a little bloke, which limits my bike choice (hence the CBF), I did not realise that the FJ was such a small bike, it is tiny by comparison and whilst that is cool when you try to emphasise the sport part of a sports tourer, but not when you are officially a giant looking to fulfill their dream, only to have it shattered in one go.

Anyone else had the same thing happen, love a bike, covet it for years only to be disappointed when you actually get to see one up close or ride it for the first time?

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Mike
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2002 Rieju RS2-50 (Sold, spares or repair), 2010 Suzuki DR-125SM (Traded for ->), 2007 Honda CBF 600 (Sold), 2010 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 (Briefly, now returned), 2007 Suzuki Intruder 1800m (Even More Briefly, traded in for ->), 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650

[doggone]

No, but it's a good thread title.

[fozzym]

I though you were going to say you met Rossi and he was a right twat or something!

Funny idea of what a hero is

For the record I think that FJ is a pretty big bundle of bike but then I am a normal size fella!

[pinkyfloyd]

Oddly enough, on the flipside. When I was 15/16 this little beastie was a firm fixture on my bedroom wall:

https://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv177/gixxergirlK8/Old%20school%20bikes/1991GSXR750.jpg

and many times I dragged myself over to the picture.......

When I finally passed my test a friend gave me a long term loan of a bike he had rotting away in his garden. He fixed it up, put it on the road and I took my cruiser 125 with ghey cruiser boots and picked the bike up:

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/be1ly/new/CIMG0184.jpg

Talk about cat that got the cream. It only took 20 years but I rode home from Peterborough on the very bike I used to dream about as a kid and by god it was fast and fun!
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[Rogerborg]

[stinkwheel]

I lusted after an SDR200 for ages.

Then a saw one and realised it would disappear up the crack of my arse. I sat on it and realised I wouldn't even be able to turn the handlebars on account of my knees getting in the way of my elbows.

I wasn't disappointed because it's exactly what I thought it would be. Only smaller.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[thx1138]

not quite, but I've gone to look at old bikes, just like ones I used to own with a view to buying them

and then thought, actually it's a bit crapper than I remember and walked away

[dolly3900]

[N cee thirty]

About 6 years ago when i started off out looking out for 50cc bikes i thought a gilera dna looked good on teh Internets, then i saw the plastic fantastic ride passed me one day when i was in town, thought fuck dat and saved a little bit more and risked it on a rs50 instead
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[1198]

When the zzr1100 was released I knew I had to have one. What teenager wouldn't want the fastest bike in the world?
24 years on, I've got one. When I look at it I smile. When I ride it I grin. It's brilliant! Yes, cosmetically and style wise it's showing its age, but I don't care!!

[Clanger]

I lusted after the Honda Hornet for years, the older version with yellow/black paint scheme and the lower hung exhaust pipes. When I 'finally' went to test ride one I found it rather spongy and really small and not at all what I expected.

As for your thread title...'not meeting your heroes', I was going to write there's not a chance in that happening, 'cos Steve McQueen has been dead a long time now.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[G]

[moonzoomer]

[Richy CB1000]

Just a laugh, still wearing an Akito in that pic? Mines I think 18 years old now.

[Rogerborg]

[Grubby]

I spent ages trying to get my Hayabusa to be comfortable to ride over 50 miles only to give up & realise that Suzuki have built something that is impossible to make comfortable. Got my money back on it though as the guy that bought it paid top dollar.....Bet he's got shoulder & neck problems too if he's still got it.
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I am me & you are he & we are all together. See how they run like pigs from a gun!

[gorillaonabik...]

I was the same when I bought a blade back in the day. I bought it without test riding it, threw a leg over it and realized it was squeezing me in a place that didn't need squeezing...
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FZR400 (blown engine), ZXR750 (blown engine), ZX6R (accident), CBR600 which had engine issues after which I learned to change gear..., CBR900, CBR924 (stolen), CB600, CB1300 (everything blew up), BMW K1300GT (written off, hit from rear while stationary), Bandit 1250 for a couple of months, Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (nicked) and somewhere in there, I wrote off a Ducati 748 at Cadwell.

[Sload]

Not a bike, more a type, 600 naked supersport. Love the look of them but they are crap for distance cruising, great for the other things though.
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Honda Varadero >> Triumph Speed Four >> Honda CBR1100xx

[Shaft]

[Piercee100]

Not high tastes, but when I was a kid my brother in law had a new Honda CD200 which I always thought was cool and how a motorbike should look and sound (it was 1983). I bought a CD200 and still own a CD185 in bits and have discovered they're total crap. I can live with the poor performance but can't stand the vibrations and aweful fuel economy and how it eats valve stems. I like the light weight and comfortable seat, but that engine is the worst thing I have ever touched.
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Rides: Honda H100a (Retired), VT500e (Sold), Kawasaki ZX400 (sold), Kawasaki GT550 (Sold), Suzuki Inazuma (Daily), Honda CD185t (Broken), LML Star 2t (Last run edition).

[Polarbear]

I agree with Shaft. I'm not a little bloke and have had 3 FJ's over the years. They certainly aren't small bikes.

Grubby, Rear sets transformed my K7 Busa.

Suzuki GT500 was my most dissapointing bike. I expected a much bigger version of an X7/RD250 but it was a slug.
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Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[arry]

I've always wanted a 748 - that was my bedroom wall poster. Can't fit on one, though, so maybe I'll just buy one, stick it in the garage and never ride it....... much like my sprint then really

[stinkwheel]