Are Gen 1's Still Alive?

>> 1st Gen: '04 / 33k miles <<

don sholand said:

I am curious how many other Gen 1’s are still out there being ridden actively? Would love to hear how many Gen 1 owners are still out there and riding it.

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I'm one more of the "others".:wink2: For $2800, I bought this single-owner '04 with 32,000 miles about a year ago, and I've put a little over a thousand miles on her. That number would be exponentially higher, but it's such an unenjoyable ride, as is, due to clutch & front brake issues. It was a track bike that I'm slowly piecing back together to street shape (i.e., broken fairings, blinkers, muffler, clutch, front brakes, etc.). She's old, she's been around the block, she's not incredibly pretty, but if I don't push any limits & I tolerate the lack of feedback, she's an exciting little ride. I'm on the under-employed side of the spectrum so everything with this ride is budgeted tightly, but I can't wait to replace the front pads & bleed the cylinder with a full rotation of new fluid as they feel tired, soft, & inconsistent at the lever. I'm twice as excited to put a new clutch in her as I hope that eliminates the absolutely horrifically heavy pull & disgustingly late engagement point at the lever. Overall [bike condition], she's not so bad, but w/o feeling, at all, connected to the bike through both my levers functions, I've had the handicap I've needed to keep me from pushing any limits. Very excited for the day when I feel like she's 100%.

I just facilitated the sale of a TRICKED OUT, MINTY, KWS-tuned 2012 that I was drooling over in the Local Facebook Classifieds. I recommended it to one of my buddies that was shopping literbikes last week, and after my first 3 seconds on it, I truly realized how clunky my old girl is. Holy sh$t! The clutch lever is like butter w/the drive engaging immediately off the knuckle, and the front brake is stiff, strong, & solid... admittedly, it's a Brembo/SS/Galfer upgrade, but it feels the way it should be. First impression, the '12 feels much larger than my 1st Gen, but damn, everything about it just felt so damn smooth.

Irrespective of his new badass ride, here's my old girl...