Greetings. I’m Eric.
In August, 2007, one week before my household goods were to be packed up for a Navy transfer to Naples, Italy, I saw a barely used 2005 R3 for sale and couldn’t resist. I rode the hell out of it for that week, putting a few hundred miles on it before packing it up for its two month trip to Italy.
I did some great riding over there, including routine trips along the Amalfi Coast. My best ride ever was an overnight to Tuscany and back. I took the “interstate” up, which was about a five hour ride. The next day I rode the twisty backroads all the way home to Naples, taking over ten hours. It was a Monday and traffic was so light, I would go twenty to thirty minutes without seeing another car. It was absolutely incredible.
I mounted the Goodyear Eagle F1 on the rear myself in the auto hobby shop on base. The shop was run by locals and the entire project was filled with their commentary, mostly consisting of “is not safe!” Well, it did just fine on the winding coast roads and their slippery local pavement that has marble dust mixed in.
Halfway through my time there I got married, got a car, the bike was ridden less, got out of the Navy, moved to Montana, had a kid, the bike was ridden even less… went full-time RVing for over a year…
Long story short, my Rocket has been severely, severely neglected. It’s a bit painful to admit, but as it sits, it hasn’t been started in probably three years. I’ve gone back and forth on selling it again and again, but it’s not really worth a lot, so it wasn’t any big loss to let it sit. Recently I was ready to prepare it for sale, rolled it out of the garage to start getting it cleaned up…
…and that stupid smile came back!
I cannot, will not get rid of this thing. The only reason it will go is when I trade it in on a new one in a few more years.
So I’ve been working on it. The chrome was all a matte grey/green. The paint was… dirt. It’s been leaking oil for at least three years, probably longer. I had broken off the front right turn signal while climbing around the bike in storage. It’s a work in progress, but it’s coming along. I’m hoping to have it started this week!
Since this is all about introducing myself, I wanted to say a bit about my riding style. I don’t know why, but I absolutely love Jerry Paladino-style slow speed maneuvering practice. I have spent countless hours practicing, and that stuff definitely saved my butt several times in Italy. Here’s a video I put together (nine years ago!) doing some practicing. Even got a tip from the Motorman himself in the comments!
I study safe riding like crazy. I’ve read Proficient Motorcycling (and several other books) countless times and really work constantly to apply it while I’m riding. Again… saved me too many times to count. The traffic in Naples was… sporting, to say the least.
I’m an ATGATT rider and spent a pretty penny on a full body kevlar mesh suit from Motoport, one of my absolute favorite pieces of gear. I ride in all weather. I rode through some torrential rains in Naples, where their city drainage plan consists of… the streets. It wasn’t uncommon to be riding through sections of standing water three inches deep.
I consider myself a fairly conservative rider compared to extreme sport bike riding or some of the guys I’ve read here on the forum, but honestly I’m not sure if I’m actually that conservative. I bought some racing technique books to try to further improve my control. I sometimes hang pretty far off the side when I want to push it in the curves. I scrape pegs frequently. I was getting pretty good at powershifting. I just mostly ride solo, so I never had anyone to tell me if I’m any good or not. All I know is I work very hard to stay safe, and also have a lot of fun when I feel like pushing it. I don’t really care how fast I’m actually going or how others would label my riding. It works for me.
Other than that, yes, I’m a dark side rider. I read every post written on it before originally going over 9+ years ago. I’m in need of new tires and was deciding if I wanted to go back or not, and recently again read every single post here in the dark side forum… took about five days. I’m sure I’ll do a post about my final choice in the next few weeks.
If it’s not clear yet, I’m not always succinct.
FINALLY… THANK YOU!!!
I’ve gotten so much out of this forum over the years. I feel like I really know a lot of the longterm members. For just one example, I imagine to most new members Hellfire will be just another username they see now and then in old posts. After reading dozens and dozens of his posts chronologically in the dark side forum, it hit me pretty hard when I found out he is gone. The people here, your contributions to the forum, as well as what I’ve heard of your personal lives, have really come to matter to me. I wish I’d have joined far sooner and shared all of my experiences (and shared in yours) while they were happening. But, I’m here now, and really looking forward to contributing.