My first sport bike was my '99 Hawk that I purchased with cash at the age of 19. Not too expensive at $3600, but at 19, yeah, you guys know! I took good care of her mechanically and cosmetically, but I wasn't afraid to run it close to redline every now and then. I put 15k miles on it, and it most definitely wasn't a fair weather bike. If the day didn't start out in a down pour, or it was above 50 degrees, I was out on the bike. Period.

I recently purchased my '05 ZX-10r with 4k miles on it. The PO babied this thing like you wouldn't believe. It's never seen rain. For some reason, I cannot bring myself to take my bike down here to Camp Lejeune, as I don't have a place to keep it indoors (Both at back home in WV). Reading the high mileage thread got me wondering. Why don't I have my bike down here yet? The ZX is a fantastic bike, but it's no $70k Ducati Desmo. What am I worrying about? One part of me wants to bring it down and ride the ever living **** out of it (See if I can hit 80 or 100k on it!) and the other part of me wants me to keep it the way it is - A mint, low milege bike ridden on good days. I would bring the Hawk down here and use it as the beater (Hate to use that term, but can't think of anything else), but I passed it onto my Dad so we could do some father/son riding.

What say ye? Quit being a bitch and bring it down, or figure out a way to keep it down here but in the cleanest and nicest way possible? I'm going absoluty nuts not logging on bike miles. I've never done drugs in my life, but I can seriously understand how those guys go crazy over withdrawls. I miss the stupidest things, like riding to the gas station, or riding around all day going nowhere, accomplishing nothing at the end of the day other than having a stupid big grin on my face. Thoughts?

 

The ZX10-R is a great bike and I'd love to have one, but in the final analysis, it's just another Jap sport bike that depreciates every day you own it whether you ride it or not.

A little rain now and then won't hurt it either. Are you afraid it's gonna shrink or somethin'?

Seriously, get a $15 tarp from Home Depot to keep the sun and rain off of it. It will hold up as well as would in a garage.

Better yet, I'll let you store it in my garage. I'll only take it out on sunny California Sunday mornings for 50 or 60 miles so the battery doesn't go dead, the injectors don't clog up etc.

 

Get it down there and ride the dame thing,, And the sissy part was easy as soon as I saw where you were stationed….LOL… At ease Marine.. I’m just screwing with ya…
Buy a good cover, know it’s going to take some additional wear and tear, clean, wash it often, but nicks and dents, wear marks from use and the cover will show up,, SO WHAT,,it’s all part of the cost of riding The enjoyment you get divided by daily riding cost and some additional deprecation do to a little extra wear = fun Well worth it in my book. I've had bikes a every duty station for the pat 23 years,, even back when I was single and lived in the barracks.