Hi All Steve Atkinson here in a lovely sunny Clevedon this evening. In the words of Max Bygraves 'I wanna tell you a story'! It's a romantic, highly unlikely tale that started in 1996 when, having waited till my 36th year (marriage - need I say more!), I finally got a bike licence. Having replaced my CG125 with an FZR600 for a couple of years, in 1998 I walked into Motorcycle City in Aldershot to see the most beautiful inanimate object I'd ever seen. On the plinth in the centre of the showroom was a bright orange and grey Fireblade!! I had to have it and 0% interest meant I could. I loved my Blade. We spent many happy miles together and, despite commuting between Somerset, Reading and Staines every week for 6 horrible months in 2000 I always kept her spotless. Well, life changes. I moved permanently to Somerset where I had a garage with no power in it and where my job consisted of 55,000 van miles each year. The Blade seldom saw sunlight! My beautiful bike was being neglected and, in 2005, I eventually decided that she was wasted sat in my garage doing nothing! With a heavy heart and, I'm not ashamed to say, a few tears, we parted at Riders in Bridgwater. I think deep down I regretted selling her almost immediately but I kept telling myself it was the right thing to do. More stuff happened. A few women came and went over the following 7 years and then, in 2012, circumstances were right for me to return to 2 wheels. I got myself a BMW R1150R but really didn't get on with that so I replaced it in short order with a BMW K1300S. That was lush but I preferred looking at it to riding it in all honesty. Then, at the end 0f 2013 and being self-employed, I had a sustained period without work and had to sell the 'K'. But, it wasn't long after that that my work picked up again and so, in March of this year I took the plunge and got another bike. I was after something a bit different - something upright and comfortable that I could do some serious touring on over the coming years. So I treated myself to a Honda Crosstourer. It is fantastic and I love riding it, but, almost from the moment I got it, I started yearning for a bike like my old Fireblade. Not to replace the Crosstourer but to tuck away and pamper and bring out for a blast on beautiful early summer mornings and special ocassions. So for 3 months I've been trawling MCN and AutoTrader. I've seen some lovely examples of my old orange Blade come and go but I've not been sure enough about owning a second bike to pursue any of them. Then, for some unknown reason I decided to google CBR 900RRW and it led me to Ebay. There I found an OK orange Blade with relatively low mileage and a reasonable price tag so I added it to my 'Watch List'. Nothing happened. No bids were placed and the listing ended. Unfortunately (or fortunately as it turns out) the bike was in Ellesmere Port so I couldn't just pop up and see it! Anyway, I got an email from Ebay to advise me that this bike had been re-listed at a reduced cost so I assigned it to my 'Watch List' once again …. and then forgot about it ….. until the following Monday which happened to be the last day of a 10 day break I'd taken from work. At 3pm on Monday of last week I sat down at my computer to complete some admin before returning to work the next day. I logged in, as you do, and suddenly thought 'I wonder what's happening with that Blade'!?! So I looked. As it happened there still hadn't been a single bid placed. While I was taking this in I noticed a thumbnail of another orange Blade at the bottom of the screen. I clicked on it and started scrolling through some pretty naff images ….. until I reached the last one …. which was taken from the rear of the bike … an image in which the vendor hadn't covered the number plate ….. an image which showed me that I was looking at the very bike that I purchased new some 17 years ago!!!!! I phoned them and asked where they were located … They said Redditch which is about 80 miles away and it's 3.15 and they close at 5 …. I said I'm on my way … I made it …. I walked into the garage and wrapped my arms around my old bike …. I took her for a spin …. I smiled - a lot …. I bought her there and then!! On Saturday just gone I got a lift back to Redditch where I was properly re-united with the best bike I've ever owned and smiled all the way from Redditch to Clevedon - via Stow-on-the-Wold where we stopped for lunch. My Baby has come home and I will never abandon her again. The Images below are from the day we parted in 2005!
Welcome buddy. What a great story. I often wonder what happened to my other bikes. We get so attached to them, it's hard to see them go...
Thanks very much madmac. You're absolutely right, it makes no sense really but we do get attached. I had a very near miss in 2000 actually and I swear to this day that if I'd been on a lesser bike I wouldn't be writing anything now!! So I guess I feel a certain sense of gratitude to this particular bike for keeping me alive!!
Nice story and Nice bike. Well done! Does it need any work or is it still in reasonable nick? I had an RRX in the shell suit Turquoise, orange and black colours and it was a sorted bike if a little under rated (they had gone from sports to sports-ish back then when the 99 R1 came out but I always liked the orange ones, in my eyes it was the then modern successor to the Urban Tiger in looks), I sold mine to buy an 01 R1 followed by an April Mille R in yellow then a few years later I got myself a nice 24k RRV, so I absolutely love the 16 inch wheeled Blade's. Get some pics up and lets see her.
Nice one Steve, that's a result! I've always hoped to track down my first blade, an RRT in Black/Yellow... was LOVELY! And, small world... I'm in Clevedon too! Let me know if you fancy a ride out some time.
Thanks very much exuptoy. She's not bad at all actually. I'd say she's been looked after pretty well over the past 10 years and 30,000 miles. A bit of TLC, a few replacement parts and a bit of cosmetic repair and she'll look like new. I got the double bubble taken off before I collected her - not a fan of those! She runs superbly and within 5 minutes of riding her it was as if we'd never been apart! I think the RRW, probably along with the ZX9R, was one of the last physically large sports bikes. Not that it felt that big to me - I am 6ft 1in - but the R1 and all subsequent sports bikes feel very small. I rode from Basingstoke to Geneva in a day on the Blade and, despite feeling like I'd had Frank Bruno sat on the front pounding me for the last few hours, I was more than happy to jump back on and do it all again the next day. Actually, my Brother bought a CBR600 at the same time as I got the Blade. We went to Geneva a month later so we wanted to get the bikes run in and serviced. During a run down to Bournemouth I stopped and let him have a go on the Blade. She was so well behaved and easy to ride that my very inexperienced Brother traded his 2 week old 600 in. He has subsequently confessed to being less than comfortable with the power but I'm sure he enjoyed Geneva and Chamonix a lot more than he would have on a vibrating CBR600! That's a fantastic array of bikes you've had! I was actually contemplating getting an old Aprillia RSV instead of a Blade but finding my old bike made the decision for me! Pictures will follow.
Hey Gappysmeg … you do realise I'm going to chuckle every time I write that!! Thanks Buddy. The guy that I bought mine from also has his eye open for his old RRW, though he did mention that he struggled to stay on the thing so when he sold it there were very few 'original' bits left!! Still, he's not interested in riding it, he just wants to love it and keep it safe and warm in his workshop!! Small world indeed. A ride out would be great ... Gary? Love the look of your bike, she's a real beauty.
Feck me fella, thats REAL clean. You must be made up! I'd love another. Yeah, I've had a few litre bikes over the last 15 years or so. Exup1000ru, Daytona T595 955i, Speed Triple, Mille R, RRV & RRX Blades, Gixer 1000 K3, Gixer 1000 K5 and now the 09 Blade which I love to bits. I've had a few 600s too but I'm a litre bike fan. Sure I've forgotten a few
I had the very same in same colour bike brand new in 98........parallel import from LS motorcycles in Portsmouth........ would love to know where she is now !!
Steve has she been well looked after.....or completely rebuilt ? Edit......forget that just read first line !! lol.......sorry was dribbling over pics and reminding myself of days gone past !!
Hi Rob, I remember the parallel imports well! ... I paid about 10k for the Blade and within a few months I'd have been lucky to get 6k for her! I'm pretty sure she's all original but I guess it's possible that she's been through a rebuild at some point. I'll pay for a check on her her shortly. I probably should have done that before parting with my cash but she rides as new so I'm sure I would still have bought her.
I am absolutely made up Buddy. That is a great list of bikes. I appear to have gravitated towards Honda over the years for some reason. Not for any dislike of other makes. Maybe the 0% interest rate has had something to do with it because the only bikes I've bought from new have all come with that and all been Honda!!
Hi and welcome to the forum. Great story and I dare say I would buy one or two of my old bikes if they came up for grabs.
Bravo Steve. Great intro, great story. Can I suggest people play this when they're reading it. It really does help...
Great story - I got excited when I saw an old VW Golf of mine on the road, never mind a previous bike.
Awesome bike, and great story!! only bike I've ever sold was the r6 and I miss it loads.... but not sure I'd want it back My first bike got nicked and the rest I've just kept as I cant seem to let go lol
I'm a bit like you Jimbo. My first bike got converted into a go kart for my best mate's son (five years before he was born...), my second bike got nicked, my third is in my garage now waiting for me to retire and rebuild. My fourth is in various breaker's yards and I've got a sneaking suspicion Jeanette will be selling on the blade after I've croaked.
I always used to say to my dad as a kid I'd have a collection of all my fav bikes whilst growing up. Prob is they are now getting bloody expensive........ Still to purchase : NSR 250 smart card 92 blade 98 R1 K5 thousand (this is a recent want though I must admit) Prob is, Lisa just keeps finding things in the real world to spend my money on, oh and racing literally stops all luxury purchases like food and water. ha ha I'll NEVER sell the Vfr400 though, the triumph is looking like a keeper (I love that thing and is something different) and the blade, well if that survives another season I might just retire her and use for the odd track day... but suspect 'needs must' might come into it when it's time to upgrade but would be with heavy heart, as we've been through some good and bad times together I tell ya ha ha... not sure which one has been patched back together more out of the two of us.
