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2014 is Here!

While the race season for me is still a little ways off, the preparations have seriously began. I ended 2013 with a very strong desire for a newer bike - still far from needing a fancy bike, but something a little newer that worked a little better with my riding was becoming more of a need if I wanted even a remote chance of being competitive.

This had me perusing the classifieds in search of "the" bike that fit what I wanted. Of course, my heart was kind of set on the Triumph 675 after riding my pit neighbor's last November, but I was open to looking at others, but either way I was not in a rush as I saved up my pennies. While looking through BARF's sale section, I happened across an ad for basically the exact bike I was dreaming of, in the price range I was hoping for. A 2007 Triumph Daytona 675. Oooooh. On a "hey, what's the worst that could happen" whim, I PMed the seller and explained my situation. As it turned out, he was more than happy to work with me!

Long story short, look what came home with me :)

My biggest concern was that this bike was set up as a standard shift - I've been riding GP shift for years, and have a VERY strong preference for it on track especially. Asking around initially everything said it couldn't be done, but a little digging after a few juicy tidbits where people had supposedly managed it, and I found a thread describing how to convert it with the OEM rearsets. Took me a few minutes to find the happy spot for everything, but I made it work and took her out for a test spin down the street to see if it worked in action, and it's awesome! Woohoo!! $400+ saved there for the time being!

Of course in order to test this I had to pop it up through at least a couple gears - and OMG, I'm SO in love with the power on this bike! Bwahahahaha! It pulls hard, but smooth, powerful but manageable. *giggle giggle*

I'm in lurv!!
 

This will definitely make the 2014 season far more exciting! My plan is to hit up a couple trackdays before Round 2 and get used to the bike, get it dialed in and make sure I know what it likes and the nuances of riding it. I'm SO friggin' excited right now!

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