1989 Honda CBR 600 F1

1989 Honda CBR 600 F1

I bought my 1989 CBR F1 new as a held-over model in 1990. This was the first year Honda's name change took effect. In 1988, this same model was called the Hurricane, but insurance companies cringed at the name so Honda decided to change it to the (now infamous) CBR model in 1989. It wasn't until 1991 that Honda changed the plastics from the orignal Hurricane body style and designated the new generation as "F2." The photos above show my only modifications - a Second Look seat skin and a Cobra F1s aluminum exhaust pipe.

I don't ride it as much as I'd like (21,000 miles on it), but I've taken several long trips including Americade (Lake George, NY), the AMA Superbike races (Loudon, NH) and the Stunt Riding World Championships on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, QC. I've also gotten involved in some local events, and joined a riding club in the area, Northeast Moto.

June 18th, 2000

Chevy Blazer 1 Honda CBR 0

Here are some pics of the result of some jerk in a Blazer hitting me on my way back from the Superbike races in Loudon.

I was passing him on the right and he decided to make a right turn from the left lane without using his signal. The road rash burned through my leather glove and gave me some scratches on my palm. My leather jacket also got some good rash on the shoulder and arm. Other than that, the bike got the rest of the damage. And the Blazer? A nearly imperceptable dent in the passenger side door.

The accident happened on June 18th, but the bike was not repaired until July 28th. That's right, I lost 40 days of our already-short riding season in Upstate NY! I credit the exorbitant delay to Honda of America's "crack crew" (or is that "crew on crack"??) at their central warehouse, who twice sent me defective and/or incorrect parts. I guess a quality control program would bite into their already narrow profit margins (yep, that's sarcasm, alright). I needn't tell you how much I paid for the plastic. It would make Honda appear even more greedy for fleecing their loyal customers.

If you'd like to learn to ride your sport bike on the "edge", check out Phuzzy's Guides for a crash-course (no pun intended) on hooliganism, or you can visit Stuntlife.com for all of the things you ever wanted to know about stunting, but were afraid to ask. And when riding, always remember to keep the shiny side up.

Spider-Man 3

SQUIDS have hit the pavement
on this page since January 21, 2000

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