Hello from Costa del Sol..
Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 1:38 pm
Hi all,
Glad I was finally able to register after having my first registration deleted!!
But I'm sure it was because of my dodgy looking email so fair play to the admin, and thanks for letting me join the community in the end. 
My name is Alek and I was born and raised in London UK where I spent most of my motorcycling years so far, on and off bikes since I was 13, and my last bike was a pristine CBR900RRV which I had for 3 years and sold a year ago.. I just moved to Marbella in Spain last week and decided very quickly that I need to get riding again. Having weighed up all the options and requirements for riding around here, I eventually decided on a VTR. Quite a few reasons really - 1: I haven't owned a V-Twin yet. 2: I wanted something that sounds the bollox but doesn't look like some dodgy road or dirt bike when I cruise around the ports in Marbella. 3: Over the years I have become an appreciator of low and mid-range acceleration (always put larger teeth sprockets on the back of my sportsbikes just to have that edge over people in the city), and I knew the VTR wouldn't disappoint in that area even with stock gearing. Not interested in speeds over about 140-150mph any more at all. I doubt it out-accelerates my old RGV250/DR800engined creature from 0-60 but the 50-100mph kick is incredible so far! 4: For sensible reasons I probably should have gone for some kind of super Tenere or similar to cope with the variety of roads around here, but the majority of my riding will be the small but upgraded windy inter-town roads, and I can't imagine many other bikes being more suitable for these..
So, I hunted one down in Malaga and bought it for 1950 euros on Tuesday (down from 2000 due to a slightly bent exhaust bracket on the left side which wasn't mentioned before seeing the bike, apparently due to leaning the bike against something hard in the garage). Imported from the UK at one point, 2000 model, Leo Vince pipes, K&N filter, re-jetted I think.. Not sure of any other mods so far but obviously been repainted at some point too:
I love it already! "How many bags of torque would Sir like??" It's certainly a different experience from my blade and reminds me more of the RGV/DR monster I had, only significantly faster, smoother and better round corners (I think). The engine sounds solid, no problems there, the frame seems straight and solid too, brakes work pretty well so far, but chain and sprockets seem to be dead and tyres (Michelin Pilots?) are a bit old for my liking.
Anyway, so yeah, this is my hello. I have a question about the chain and sprocket set already but I guess I should put that in another category.. I'm looking forward to digesting all the good advice I'm sure I will receive on this forum.
Cheers!
Alek.
Glad I was finally able to register after having my first registration deleted!!
But I'm sure it was because of my dodgy looking email so fair play to the admin, and thanks for letting me join the community in the end. My name is Alek and I was born and raised in London UK where I spent most of my motorcycling years so far, on and off bikes since I was 13, and my last bike was a pristine CBR900RRV which I had for 3 years and sold a year ago.. I just moved to Marbella in Spain last week and decided very quickly that I need to get riding again. Having weighed up all the options and requirements for riding around here, I eventually decided on a VTR. Quite a few reasons really - 1: I haven't owned a V-Twin yet. 2: I wanted something that sounds the bollox but doesn't look like some dodgy road or dirt bike when I cruise around the ports in Marbella. 3: Over the years I have become an appreciator of low and mid-range acceleration (always put larger teeth sprockets on the back of my sportsbikes just to have that edge over people in the city), and I knew the VTR wouldn't disappoint in that area even with stock gearing. Not interested in speeds over about 140-150mph any more at all. I doubt it out-accelerates my old RGV250/DR800engined creature from 0-60 but the 50-100mph kick is incredible so far! 4: For sensible reasons I probably should have gone for some kind of super Tenere or similar to cope with the variety of roads around here, but the majority of my riding will be the small but upgraded windy inter-town roads, and I can't imagine many other bikes being more suitable for these..
So, I hunted one down in Malaga and bought it for 1950 euros on Tuesday (down from 2000 due to a slightly bent exhaust bracket on the left side which wasn't mentioned before seeing the bike, apparently due to leaning the bike against something hard in the garage). Imported from the UK at one point, 2000 model, Leo Vince pipes, K&N filter, re-jetted I think.. Not sure of any other mods so far but obviously been repainted at some point too:
I love it already! "How many bags of torque would Sir like??" It's certainly a different experience from my blade and reminds me more of the RGV/DR monster I had, only significantly faster, smoother and better round corners (I think). The engine sounds solid, no problems there, the frame seems straight and solid too, brakes work pretty well so far, but chain and sprockets seem to be dead and tyres (Michelin Pilots?) are a bit old for my liking.
Anyway, so yeah, this is my hello. I have a question about the chain and sprocket set already but I guess I should put that in another category.. I'm looking forward to digesting all the good advice I'm sure I will receive on this forum.
Cheers!
Alek.
One of the best intro's yet.
