Warning! Long post ahead! Get 
opcorn: ready!
Hey, my name's Tom and this is my first post. I've been lurking around here for awhile reading posts but never got around to introducing myself. So a little about me, I'm 22, from Newark Delaware originally, and currently going to college (and living) in Philadelphia. I always wanted to get into motorcycling, but never had the means to do so.
Over the past spring and summer I was on a co-op (internship) in NJ. I was living with my grandparents who are also in NJ. At the beginning of the summer my car started to give me some trouble and I had to remove the engine and do some internal work. I always work on it at my grandparent's place in NJ since they have a lot of space there. It was convenient since I was already staying there for my internship. It became clear that it was not going to be done before school started again. Since school is in Philadelphia for me there's no way I can work on the car given the distance between Philly and my grandparents. Also I had a job over the summer with a fairly long commute for which I needed transportation. So my car was down for the long count, probably until next summer. I'd been borrowing my grandparent's car to get to work, and they were sorta getting tired of loaning it to me.
I stopped by a motorcycle dealer, Xtreme Machines in Millstone NJ. The salesman was very friendly and knowledgeable. Turns out his son goes to the same university I do (don't know him though). He talked to me for a while about what types of riding I wanted to do with the bike. I told him commuting, some light touring, and something with a fun edge too. Didn't really know anything about bikes beyond going to each manufacturers page and looking at their lineup. But that's all advertising hype, so it's not necessarily true in the real world. He recommended a few bikes that he said were good for starters, I think a Ninja 500 and the Suzuki GS500. He was mostly talking about bikes in the Kawi and Suzuki range. I asked him what Yamaha had available and he pointed me at the FZ6. He did caution me that it had more power and was not as beginner friendly as the others he was directing me towards, but it was love at first sight for me. I was kinda set on the FZ6 as soon as he let me sit on it. So we talked a bit about how best to get started. And he said that you a safety course is a necessity in his opinion. He told me a lot of people in NJ (which was all he was familiar with) take the course on a 50cc scooter (there are people sitting outside the DMVs most days ready to rent them to people to take the test!). He strongly recommended that I not do that I don't cheat the system. Also recommended full gear. I really liked how concerned about safety he was. A few days later I went to a dealership in Delaware, Powersports East in Bear. I told the salesman that I wasn't interested in buying that day, and that I didn't even have my license yet. He just keep pushing towards buying one that day and how this super duper sale was ending (which was the same deal that Xtreme was offering, and the salesman said they have almost year round). I said ok, so I buy one and I can't ride, what then? He said well, you know, it's not hard just hop on and you can figure it out. Not so blatently, but he was recommending I ride it out of the dealership with no experience. So i said c'ya and left. :Flip:
About a month later I went back to Xtreme and they had one 2007 left (they had a few 07s and even an 06 when I went the first time). The salesguy said that they couldn't get any more new 07s at that point, so the one was the last one besides 08. I knew I could get a better deal on the 07 than an 08, so I signed the papers that day. And since I didn't have my license yet, he even gave me free delivery.
I signed up for a motorcycle safety class that was 3 weeks after I bought the bike. I also had read through all of Practical Motorcycling and got full gear right before I got the bike. So I kept using my grandparent's car to get to work, but after I got home, and on the weekends I would play with the bike. For the first week I just practiced clutch release, and then clutch release with a touch of throttle roll. After that some figure eights around their spacious driveway. For the second and third weeks I practiced going down their driveway to the main road (their driveway is a good 2/10s of a mile long). So I got to practice shifting and braking from a moderate speed, like 25-35 mphs.
I passed the class with flying colors, and got my endorsement. I got a temp tag from the DE DMV (as I'm a permanent resident of DE) and drove the bike down to DE to get titled and registered. I then took the bike around my grandparent's house, country roads with 45-55 mph speed limits. After putting 300 miles just cruising around I decided to take to the highway and use it to commute to my job. I had to go to Delaware ever Monday, and visit my girlfriend some weekends back in Philadelphia. So I put a lot of miles on it.
I bought the bike 7/15, and school started again 9/22. When school started in September I had already put 3000 miles on the bike. I currently have 3500 miles on it. I'm proud to say that I haven't dropped it yet, and have mostly avoided doing stupid things on it. I have a cortech tribag tankbag, and will eventually get givi hard luggage once money permits. So far the only mod I've done is to get a optimate 3 and put the leads on the battery for the quick connect. I also picked up an Autocom Active-Duo intercom. I have it installed under my seat, but I still haven't wired the power from the bike yet. It EATS 9 Volts.
I keep the bike in Philadelphia with an on guard disc lock and a OEM Yamaha FZ6 cover on it. I want to get an on guard chain lock with the 14mm hex links, just haven't gotten around to it yet. We have a nice little patio sorta deal off the sidewalk where I can keep the bike as you'll see in the pictures.
So I guess that's the end of my story. It's long I know! I guess that's what happens when you have 3 months for a starting rider to post. I'll post the pictures in a separate post. So uh, thanks for reading this and from while I've been lurking :sinister: FZ6-forum seems like a great place!
opcorn: ready!Hey, my name's Tom and this is my first post. I've been lurking around here for awhile reading posts but never got around to introducing myself. So a little about me, I'm 22, from Newark Delaware originally, and currently going to college (and living) in Philadelphia. I always wanted to get into motorcycling, but never had the means to do so.
Over the past spring and summer I was on a co-op (internship) in NJ. I was living with my grandparents who are also in NJ. At the beginning of the summer my car started to give me some trouble and I had to remove the engine and do some internal work. I always work on it at my grandparent's place in NJ since they have a lot of space there. It was convenient since I was already staying there for my internship. It became clear that it was not going to be done before school started again. Since school is in Philadelphia for me there's no way I can work on the car given the distance between Philly and my grandparents. Also I had a job over the summer with a fairly long commute for which I needed transportation. So my car was down for the long count, probably until next summer. I'd been borrowing my grandparent's car to get to work, and they were sorta getting tired of loaning it to me.
I stopped by a motorcycle dealer, Xtreme Machines in Millstone NJ. The salesman was very friendly and knowledgeable. Turns out his son goes to the same university I do (don't know him though). He talked to me for a while about what types of riding I wanted to do with the bike. I told him commuting, some light touring, and something with a fun edge too. Didn't really know anything about bikes beyond going to each manufacturers page and looking at their lineup. But that's all advertising hype, so it's not necessarily true in the real world. He recommended a few bikes that he said were good for starters, I think a Ninja 500 and the Suzuki GS500. He was mostly talking about bikes in the Kawi and Suzuki range. I asked him what Yamaha had available and he pointed me at the FZ6. He did caution me that it had more power and was not as beginner friendly as the others he was directing me towards, but it was love at first sight for me. I was kinda set on the FZ6 as soon as he let me sit on it. So we talked a bit about how best to get started. And he said that you a safety course is a necessity in his opinion. He told me a lot of people in NJ (which was all he was familiar with) take the course on a 50cc scooter (there are people sitting outside the DMVs most days ready to rent them to people to take the test!). He strongly recommended that I not do that I don't cheat the system. Also recommended full gear. I really liked how concerned about safety he was. A few days later I went to a dealership in Delaware, Powersports East in Bear. I told the salesman that I wasn't interested in buying that day, and that I didn't even have my license yet. He just keep pushing towards buying one that day and how this super duper sale was ending (which was the same deal that Xtreme was offering, and the salesman said they have almost year round). I said ok, so I buy one and I can't ride, what then? He said well, you know, it's not hard just hop on and you can figure it out. Not so blatently, but he was recommending I ride it out of the dealership with no experience. So i said c'ya and left. :Flip:
About a month later I went back to Xtreme and they had one 2007 left (they had a few 07s and even an 06 when I went the first time). The salesguy said that they couldn't get any more new 07s at that point, so the one was the last one besides 08. I knew I could get a better deal on the 07 than an 08, so I signed the papers that day. And since I didn't have my license yet, he even gave me free delivery.
I signed up for a motorcycle safety class that was 3 weeks after I bought the bike. I also had read through all of Practical Motorcycling and got full gear right before I got the bike. So I kept using my grandparent's car to get to work, but after I got home, and on the weekends I would play with the bike. For the first week I just practiced clutch release, and then clutch release with a touch of throttle roll. After that some figure eights around their spacious driveway. For the second and third weeks I practiced going down their driveway to the main road (their driveway is a good 2/10s of a mile long). So I got to practice shifting and braking from a moderate speed, like 25-35 mphs.
I passed the class with flying colors, and got my endorsement. I got a temp tag from the DE DMV (as I'm a permanent resident of DE) and drove the bike down to DE to get titled and registered. I then took the bike around my grandparent's house, country roads with 45-55 mph speed limits. After putting 300 miles just cruising around I decided to take to the highway and use it to commute to my job. I had to go to Delaware ever Monday, and visit my girlfriend some weekends back in Philadelphia. So I put a lot of miles on it.
I bought the bike 7/15, and school started again 9/22. When school started in September I had already put 3000 miles on the bike. I currently have 3500 miles on it. I'm proud to say that I haven't dropped it yet, and have mostly avoided doing stupid things on it. I have a cortech tribag tankbag, and will eventually get givi hard luggage once money permits. So far the only mod I've done is to get a optimate 3 and put the leads on the battery for the quick connect. I also picked up an Autocom Active-Duo intercom. I have it installed under my seat, but I still haven't wired the power from the bike yet. It EATS 9 Volts.
I keep the bike in Philadelphia with an on guard disc lock and a OEM Yamaha FZ6 cover on it. I want to get an on guard chain lock with the 14mm hex links, just haven't gotten around to it yet. We have a nice little patio sorta deal off the sidewalk where I can keep the bike as you'll see in the pictures.
So I guess that's the end of my story. It's long I know! I guess that's what happens when you have 3 months for a starting rider to post. I'll post the pictures in a separate post. So uh, thanks for reading this and from while I've been lurking :sinister: FZ6-forum seems like a great place!
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