The Brass Knuckle

In 2008, I bought my dream bike - a 2000 Aprilia RSV Mille. I had never seen a bike look the way it does, and to my surprise, it rode and sounded every bit like the dream that I thought it would.

When I lost the bike in late-2008 following an on-track collision with another rider, I ended up replacing it with my 2002 Yamaha R1, a bike that I myself wrote I would NOT be in love with.

"I'm not saying I don't like the R1 nor think it's a fantastic machine, all I'm saying is that I don't think I'll be running to the garage at random times of the day just to ogle at it anymore…it will be liberating to just ride the machine and enjoy it." - Me, September 2008 

 

So much for that; I ended up building the R1 into my rolling homage to today's Superbikes. It's become the bike that I am eyeing to retire in my living room. 

 

So I've owned my dream bike, and I've built the bike of my dreams.
So what about this late-90's British street fighter?

My first chance at owning one came by finding a Craigslist ad for it that was well-below what its private party value should've been. It turned out to have substantial DMV back fees to go along with it. I ate the costs, as I was able to recoup a lot of it back from selling the ton of spare parts that came with the sale anyway, so it ended up being one of those steal-of-a-deals for me in the end!

But the bike, oh, let me tell you. It quickly became a favorite of mine to ride. I even wrote a mini-review about it; I had never done that for ANY of my bikes!

"I'm thoroughly convinced that there is no more perfect real-world engine than a triple. (It) is a real gem. The whole gearbox feels like ONE gear in how consistent each gear's characteristic and torque output is…and because of its flat torque curve, the bike thinks it's in a drag race in any gear every time you shift - you feel all that torque, no matter where you are in the powerband. It's omnipresent." - Me, May 2011

The core of any good brass knuckle.

If my RSV Mille and R1 are my diamonds in all the bikes I've owned, then the Speed Triple is the brass knuckle;  just as nice to get your hands on, but ultimately more useful in urban assaults.

 

I ended up trading in the Speed Triple for premium parts for my R1 that I NEVER thought I'd be able to get my hands on. I have no regrets about having done that, but I'm not going to lie - I really liked that Speed Triple and enjoyed the heck out of riding it.

Well, wouldn't you know it; lightning struck twice.

Last week, I picked up another one for $500, after the owner said that on his way to work that morning, the transmission just gave out. After racking up over 40,000 miles in his ownership, he didn’t want to bother having to sort it out, hence his price. I just happened to be the lucky one to respond to his ad first, so that very night, I picked it up.

I’m even luckier to have a friend who is a master motorcycle mechanic at his own shop (Evolution Motorcycles), where the bike now sits so that I can get myself back to urban assaulting with it.

I can't wait to rock the brass knuckle again.