Hello Portland

Borrowedbike · 03-18-2011, 12:05 PM

A copy of my Intro form the Intorductiosn section. How many of us are in Portland or near?

My name is Paul and I'm obviously new to the board, I’m in Portland Oregon USA (Sort of Sport bike Nirvana when it’s dry) and in way of an introduction here are the cliff notes on a life story:

I was born a poor bl.. NO! Wait, that's not my story? Let’s try again?

My first bike was a third hand Honda XL250 than my uncle gave me after he "used it up" and I was hooked on riding immediately. By the time I could legally do it I was riding on the street. About the time I got my permit I "Upgraded" to the Honda CB550 Four. Within a couple years I wanted more so I gave the CB to my best friend and picked up an 1980 Suzuki GS850L. Not a crotch rocket by any means, but it had a lot of power for its era. Way too much for an 18 year old punk. I've always has a taste for speed and rather than learn how to ride the bike, I learned how to make it go fast. Long story short, whilst in the process of showing off (Behind a Catholic girls high school, go figure) I did a nice ~70 MPH high side entirely attributable to my own stupidity. Divine intervention took over and a blackberry bramble cushioned my fall to earth and I walked away. The bike did not fare as well, and I knew I'd end up dead if I didn’t stop riding, so I never replaced it. Cut ahead 17 years. I'd done six years in the service (US Navy), gotten married, had two kids, a dog, good job and a little three bedroom ranch in the suburbs. I thought I was happy, but it turns out my soul was just dead. After nine years the mother of my kids and I called it quits and I moved on. Remember that best friend I gave the 550 to? We'll he's still my best friend and his advice? "Start riding again" He'd kept riding when I quit and is one of those crazy Bastards you see commuting 365/year. Rain, Sleet, Snow, didn’t matter to him. Not only did he give me the advice, he backed it up. He crated a Buell Blast with 550 Miles on the clock (Weather or not this was a touch of irony or unintentional he has never admitted) and shipped it to me. Wouldn’t take a penny from me (Which was good because I was paying a LOT of cash to run two households and put "The X" through school so she could upgrade to career 2.0 and a penny pretty much represented my disposable income for about a year) and still won’t let me pay him back, thus the Nom De screen. It took about 6 seconds to fall in love with riding again, a week to want more power, a year before I had figured out a few of the real fundamentals (I'm still by no means a "Good" rider) and about 2 1/2 years to put enough coins in the jar (Literally) to have enough cash to feel like I could spoil myself on a new bike. So I pulled the trigger on an 06 Buell XB12. Why the Buell? It’s visceral to me, the rumble, the torque, the short wheelbase, I love every bit of it. There are a lot of bikes outperform the Buell, that is fact. Any other argument about the Buell as opposed to any other bike boils down to what a rider likes. I guess I'm defending the bike in advance because it's so damm different it tends to draw some flack. Cut to summer 2010, I’m riding a lot, have a few track days under my belt, getting regular coaching from some riders with real skill, and volunteering at a monthly motorcycle safety clinic. I’m hanging with the big boys and need to up my game a bit. So a riding buddy and I book a couple days of CSS at willows. Half the draw was a chance to leg out the S1000rr on a track without having to commit to the price tag first. CSS was brutal going from a 90 HP upright to a 190 HP sport bike, I spent level one trying to sort out the basics of ride position, anchor points, leverage etc. Thank God I had level two the next day or to be honest I’d have been sooo frustrated with CSS. Got a few things sorted out by the afternoon of level two, picked up my entry speeds and was rolling on a bit stronger at the exits. That’s when I fell for the S1Krr. I remember pinning the gas after the apex coming out of 8 at the streets of willows, standing the bike up underneath me having the front get light and stay light as I clicked up another gear, I literally yelled to myself inside my helmet “I have GOT to get one of these!” So I sold the blast off last week (Having taught three other people to ride on it in the last few years, but otherwise using it only to take up garage space and keep the battery tender occupied) and plopped the proceeds down as a deposit on a Thunder grey 10 the dealer had in stock. I picked the bike up yesterday (Only to have it overheat on the way home so it’s back at the dealer. I’m a bit pissed now, but I’m sure I’ll be over it soon) and have ordered up a few farkles to take care of her.

My other interests??? My wife (Yes remarried, I won’t say Second marriage, I’ll say better marriage)a nd I love to travel. I like a good Cigar on rare occasion. I golf when someone else pays. I scuba dive, but am spoiled rotten by my time in the Navy (I hit Australia, Hawaii, and the Red Sea in a three month period while I was in) and have a hard time in the cold muck here in the PNW so I mostly destination dive anymore. I've done a bit of rock climbing, a lot of camping, some upland bird hunting, and was a competitive freestyle snow skier in my youth. (My knees and back are fubar thanks to this) I know my Bourbon well, and love a good glass of wine. Oh and I love to ride, did I mention that yet?

Hope that's not too boring of a read, and hope to see you on a ride soon!