First blood has been shed...

21-06-2010, 08:58 PM

First blood has recently been shed by a soldering iron and some aerosols of paint, so I suppose it's about time to raise my hand and tread forward from the comfortable shadows of lurking - apologies for the stench of molten plastic - that was me!

Bike-less
About a year and a half ago, I sold my Monster-dised 1989 Honda Hawk GT/BROS (see below) when I moved to London (CR4), intimidated by traffic mostly. It wasn't safe and in this British metropolis, public transport was fantastic anyway, so I wouldn't need it.

Ha. Ha.

Alfred
Having resisted the urge for as long as I did, last April I finally gave in and bought myself a beautiful S2R 800. I've always wanted a Monster and I can't explain in words how good it feels to finally own one. The first week it felt really weird, staring at it in disbelief of the fact I 1. actually owned a bike again and 2. it was a Monster.

The first month I was rather reserved in actually riding it - I took it out for spins and managed to put nearly 2K on the clocks in two months, but I wasn't a hundred percent comfortable on it yet. Even now, confidence is still growing and every time I go out for a ride, I'm amazed by how planted it feels, whilst being enormously agile and quick off the line. Over the last few weeks, I find myself opening up the throttle more and more and attacking corners more ~~aggressively~~ confident every time - it's a relationship between me and the bike that is steadily becoming more solid per mile. It's even got a name - Alfred!

Sorry
I promised myself to keep it short, so I suppose I need to apologise already - nobody likes a wall of text. In any case, I'm happy to join the UKMOC - over the last two months I've been following the threads religiously and I've found it to be a fountain of wisdom and a generally very mellow audience, which can't be said about all fora.

So thank you in advance, for your patience and knowledge!

Here are a couple of photos of Alfred and his predecessor - for more information feel free to check out the mini-blog (http://thingymadoodle.com/monster/) I created to keep all the inevitable changes and mods that will be, documented.

1989 Honda Hawk GT - Fireblade front end, radial brake mc, ABM triple + bars, Acewell clocks, custom paint, Ducati Monster seat and rear light...

Alfred. Yes, I've painted the covers...

...and the headlight. Lot more mods to come...

I've also started a to-do list, to keep things manageable.

Anyhoosle, time for me to shut up - thanks for reading this far. Any questions, remarks, insults or compliments may now be dumped below.

Cheers,
Ferdi.

21-06-2010, 08:58 PM	#1
Gunsoku Guest Posts: n/a	First blood has been shed... First blood has recently been shed by a soldering iron and some aerosols of paint, so I suppose it's about time to raise my hand and tread forward from the comfortable shadows of lurking - apologies for the stench of molten plastic - that was me! Bike-less About a year and a half ago, I sold my Monster-dised 1989 Honda Hawk GT/BROS (see below) when I moved to London (CR4), intimidated by traffic mostly. It wasn't safe and in this British metropolis, public transport was fantastic anyway, so I wouldn't need it. Ha. Ha. Alfred Having resisted the urge for as long as I did, last April I finally gave in and bought myself a beautiful S2R 800. I've always wanted a Monster and I can't explain in words how good it feels to finally own one. The first week it felt really weird, staring at it in disbelief of the fact I 1. actually owned a bike again and 2. it was a Monster. The first month I was rather reserved in actually riding it - I took it out for spins and managed to put nearly 2K on the clocks in two months, but I wasn't a hundred percent comfortable on it yet. Even now, confidence is still growing and every time I go out for a ride, I'm amazed by how planted it feels, whilst being enormously agile and quick off the line. Over the last few weeks, I find myself opening up the throttle more and more and attacking corners more ~~aggressively~~ confident every time - it's a relationship between me and the bike that is steadily becoming more solid per mile. It's even got a name - Alfred! Sorry I promised myself to keep it short, so I suppose I need to apologise already - nobody likes a wall of text. In any case, I'm happy to join the UKMOC - over the last two months I've been following the threads religiously and I've found it to be a fountain of wisdom and a generally very mellow audience, which can't be said about all fora. So thank you in advance, for your patience and knowledge! Here are a couple of photos of Alfred and his predecessor - for more information feel free to check out the mini-blog (http://thingymadoodle.com/monster/) I created to keep all the inevitable changes and mods that will be, documented. 1989 Honda Hawk GT - Fireblade front end, radial brake mc, ABM triple + bars, Acewell clocks, custom paint, Ducati Monster seat and rear light... Alfred. Yes, I've painted the covers... ...and the headlight. Lot more mods to come... I've also started a to-do list, to keep things manageable. Anyhoosle, time for me to shut up - thanks for reading this far. Any questions, remarks, insults or compliments may now be dumped below. Cheers, Ferdi.