Thanks for the chance to be the first 600 bike of the month.
I had decided to want to learn to ride a bike early in 2008, booked my CBT and i will never forget the sleepness night prior, full of excitement!
I woke up to find it snowing badly, low and behold CBT cancelled, got a rebook the week after and enjoyed the day very much, so i then booked up for direct access, continued to do some training over various days leading into summer, also keeping an eye out for a cheap bike, spotted the rf for sale on the isle of wight, went over on the ferry, met the guy at the ferry port, bought the bike without test riding (not passed test yet). I rode it onto the ferry and off we went, i only paid £450.00.
Got back to Southampton on ferry and rode it to my work (about 1 mile away) had the biggest grin on my face ever, loaded it onto a van to take home.
Over the summer i continued to train and also worked on the bike, luckily i have a brother in law who works in the bodyshop repair trade, He managed to repair the damaged panels and sand them all down and prepped them for painting, i wanted to keep the black theme but wanted a glossy black rather than matt, I paid his workmate a few quid for painting the panels and inserts.
I eventually passed my test (second time around) and now i use the bike regularly to ride to work from Portsmouth to Southampton, not too far but just enough to give me some pleasure.
I sprayed the forks and wheels myself, using smooth hammerite, i like the look but would rather have powder coated for durability, i am finding small chips where i keep using the lock up chain on the rear wheel.
I have posted some pics on an earlier forum what i would like the bike to look like going forward.
I would like to thank everyone in the forum for their help and advise and guidance to a biker virgin!
