My first bike was a 1995 Honda CBR900RR. My friend Mark had purchased a Kawasaki ZX7R and he needed a riding buddy. It wasn’t hard to convince me to take the plunge. We were college freshmen. There were plenty of fast and loud motorcycles around campus. At the time the sport bikes appealed to me most. They are sexy and sleek. They have performance numbers that are just staggering. With a little bit of encouragement, recklessness, and a fresh line of college student credit, I purchased the used Honda.
Riding around the city and campus was the popular thing to do. I went to school at The University of Akron. Every city has areas where bikers like to congregate. You’ll meet all types of riders here. I think most come there just to shoot the breeze and find other gearheads to ride with. The pack would take little jaunts around town, race around the loop on the freeway, and every once in a while a few people would want to go for a ride in the Cuyahoga Valley. I would do all of these, however the latter option is where I really fell in love with motorcycling. It wasn’t the speed of the bike, or anything that a young man could absorb from reading a motorcycle magazine that I ended up loving. It was the journey that I really loved. The joy of riding with friends and going places just to go there. This was the kind of riding that I looked for and really got into. Road trips. I even made a trip to the Daytona Bike Week rally. The culture is amazing.
Now feels like the right time for me to get back on two wheels. I didn’t keep that Honda for various reasons that I may explain later. It’s been around 7 years since then. I miss riding. Lots of people say that motorcycling gets into your blood. That once you get the feeling for it, you’ll always crave it. And I do. There isn’t anything quite like it. When I see a biker on the road, I ask myself why am I not out there too? I’m sick of asking that. I miss those journeys to places unknown.
So I’ve decided to return to the motorcycle. This blog will describe the journeys that I’m about to take.
