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My long and windy road to the F6B
My long and windy road to the F6B
I bought my first bike out of high school in the mid 80s and rode through college. It was a 1976 Honda 400-4 SuperSport. Took my college GF (now, my wife) riding quite often. Loved riding, but the bike was not great. Even though it was just 400cc it had enough power for me. The problem was that the engine produced very fine vibrations that actually tickled my feet right through my boots. It also make the mirrors vibrate continually. This kept me to rides of an hour or so as that was about all that I could take.
I remember seeing the Gold Wings and lusting over a big bike. It was about the time that the design switched from farings and bags added to an existing bike to one where the farings were integrated into the fuel tank design. I was especially jealous of the lack of vibrations. The mirrors did not move at all!
I gave up that bike near the end of college. I didn’t ride again for a long while and got back into it in 2005 with a 1500cc Valkyrie in black. Gorgeous bike. Finally got my big bike! Rode it for two seasons and sold it. Never liked riding it, didn’t feel confident at all. For years I though that it was too big and heavy of a bike for my 5’4” frame.
I wanted to get back into riding for several years, even stopping at a few bike dealers every once in a while to see what they had in used. Didn’t actually buy until 2015.
Somehow a conversation about bikes came up with me and the wife and she was not against it. SHOCKER! Within days, I started looking seriously. Rode all major manufactures: Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Harley, Victory – they were all V-twins. Skipped the crotch rockets because, hey, crotch rockets.
Until that time I had never ridden a V-twin. After about my 12th bike test, I starting thinking that maybe I didn’t like riding anymore. I just hated the V-twin rumble and bouncing. The only positive outlook was that Harley’s drove better than I expected.
I found a used F6B at a Harley dealership. I rode it and a Victory. The salesman insisted that I try a Harley because he was sure that I would like it better than either the F6B or the Victory. LOL, Nope. The B was a 2013 with 6,000 miles and he wanted $1000 more than what I could buy it for new. No amount of effort would talk any reason into them, so I bought a new, 2013 last May.
With the F6B the love of riding was back. I was more comfortable on the F6B in 10 minutes than I was on my old Valkyrie in two years. With further consideration, I think that the problem with the old Valk was that the weight was too high for me. With the B’s lower center of gravity, I am quite comfortable. Now, I just don’t love riding, I love my bike as well.
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