That wasn't a misprint. F***ing OLD/NEW GUY here. The RC51 is my latest bike. But I've owned 14 bikes to date. But this one ranks up there with my 96 CBR900RR...another bike I saw and waited for. When the RC51 came out in 2000, I wanted it...especially considering the price was minimal compared to what Honda had been asking for the RC45. But financial situations and a divorce put that dream on a back burner. 
I had bought a 2007 CBR1000RR, but it didn't have the appeal to me that that CBR900RR did, or the lust I had for the RC51. I used to peruse eBay and look at the RC's for sale...drooling like a puppy. Damn I like the way that bike looks.
Flash forward to 2009. Sitting in my office in Iraq, late in the evening, once again cruising the pages of eBay, and I happened across a 2003 SP2...4300 miles...Yosh pipes...no other mods...garage kept...$6000...but negotiable. The gent had his phone number on the ad, so I gave him a call and offered him $5500. He agreed, and I was the proud owner of an RC. It took a week of making arrangements, e-mails, phone calls, and one of my neighbors driving 400 miles to pick the bike up for me to get it into my garage (he said I should have paid way more for it than I did), but there it now sits, quietly on dual stands, under a Geza cover with a battery tender hooked up, waiting for my butt to get back to NC.
Now I spend the evening cruising the net, comparing prices on everything from helmets to sprockets to tires...see, how the lust for this bike can be consuming? Can't wait to get back and crack the throttle and take her for that first ride.
This forum is a great thing you guys have going. I'm looking forward to drawing off of the knowledge base you all represent, as well as being a contributor in the future.
To the RC51....lustful beauty that she is....and all the rides I have yet to enjoy with her.
I had bought a 2007 CBR1000RR, but it didn't have the appeal to me that that CBR900RR did, or the lust I had for the RC51. I used to peruse eBay and look at the RC's for sale...drooling like a puppy. Damn I like the way that bike looks.
Flash forward to 2009. Sitting in my office in Iraq, late in the evening, once again cruising the pages of eBay, and I happened across a 2003 SP2...4300 miles...Yosh pipes...no other mods...garage kept...$6000...but negotiable. The gent had his phone number on the ad, so I gave him a call and offered him $5500. He agreed, and I was the proud owner of an RC. It took a week of making arrangements, e-mails, phone calls, and one of my neighbors driving 400 miles to pick the bike up for me to get it into my garage (he said I should have paid way more for it than I did), but there it now sits, quietly on dual stands, under a Geza cover with a battery tender hooked up, waiting for my butt to get back to NC.
Now I spend the evening cruising the net, comparing prices on everything from helmets to sprockets to tires...see, how the lust for this bike can be consuming? Can't wait to get back and crack the throttle and take her for that first ride.
This forum is a great thing you guys have going. I'm looking forward to drawing off of the knowledge base you all represent, as well as being a contributor in the future.
To the RC51....lustful beauty that she is....and all the rides I have yet to enjoy with her.
