I have quite a vivid memory of sitting in the back of my ol man's car when I was a wee lad, and seeing a Katana come past. On that day my fate was sealed, I would be a biker. The first bike I went to test ride as soon as I turned 18 was a 1000cc Katana Striker, but my ol man was helping to pay and said no (he wanted me to pay back my studies before I killed myself). Two years later a friend of a friend was selling one and this time I had the dosh
To me it was the most beautiful bike in the world, looking like it wanted to pick a fight even when it stood still.
Several bikes followed.
Then one day I was watching a Performance Bikes vid and suddenly Shaky comes flying past a Duc on a TL1000R. I think it was the twin upswept cans that initially did it for me. It was my first proper modern sportsbike, and taught me more about riding than all my other bikes put together. As much as I loved my TLR though, I was always trying to make it better. Trying to get it to turn quicker, hold a line better, make more power... I suppose that meant spending a lot of time understanding the bike... with trying to understand the suspension being a lot like trying to understand a woman.
I don't think I would have appreciated what an awesome bike the K5 was if I hadn't spent as much time trying to turn the TLR's into... well K5's as it turns out. I blagged a test ride on one when they had just came out, and bought mine the same day - the missus went with and only took one look at my face after the ride to realise I was going to buy it anyway. It handled better than anything that I had ridden upto then, and was by far the fastest thing in a straight line that I have ever ridden. When that stupid bint knocked me off
I jumped up and had checked out the damage before she had even got out of her car
That accident turned out to be Fates way of getting me to let go of the K5, which I needed to do before I could get the 750K6. The K6 is the 1 step back that I needed to take to be able to go 2 steps forward. I wish everyone could flick a 750 through the tight chicane coming onto the start/finish straight at Silverstone, then experience pure bliss as the Racefit howls down the straight.