Greetings!
My name is Josh and I live in Denver, Colorado, USA. I just picked up a 1973 CB500 with 17000 miles last night. It is roadworthy but is a mild project. It has a sticky float(s), leaky shifter and needs paint. I'm looking forward to being able to tinker.
I've been riding since July 2003. My "starter bike" was a friend's 1975 CB100 (or 125?). I rode it around his neighborhood for a year and took the the MSF course and got my license in July 2004. I didn't ride again until I bought my first bike last March, a 2002 Honda VTR1000F SuperHawk. I've found that a crotchrocket (or "#$%*rocket" as some of my friends say) is not the bike for me. My hands go numb after 20 minutes of riding. And while being able to go 0-60 in less than four seconds is an admirable quality, I've found that 1) there's not many good places to do it, 2) it's terrifying. About two weeks after buying my SuperHawk I wrecked someone elses 1994 CBR600. Valuable lessons were learned. I walked away (actually ran to find a mirror) from a 45mph lowside with some mild road rash and a bruised rotator cuff. But the most important lesson I learned is to never ride anyone elses bike, ever.
The wreck did not scare me away from riding. As soon as my shoulder would allow (about three weeks) I got back on my SuperHawk. But I found that, despite being comfortable and confident with it mentally, my body found it uncomfortable physically. Sadly, I only put 200 miles on the bike the entire summer. Which is not fair to myself or the bike. So hopefully I can find a good home for it and enjoy my more upright CB500.
Only other thing I can think to say is that I'm a systems manager at a small environmental information company and also a bouncer at a bar (nice contrast, eh?).
Thanks for reading.
