I'm Only Looking...(at least for now)

[PTarman1]

Hi! I'm Phil Tarman, a 71-year-old retired United Methodist Minister, living in Greeley, CO. I've been riding since 1997. I learned on a friend's Honda Sabre 600, and bought my first bike, a GL650i Silverwing Interstate, a couple of days after my first wife moved out. A year later, about four months before my 2nd wife and I got married, I said, "Honey, we ought to buy a new bike before our wedding." She said, "OK!" and a couple of days later I bought a '99 Kawasaki Concours. I rode that for 115,000 miles before totaling it one night.

About three months later, I bought '99 Kawasaki Concours # 2, and rode it for 50,000 miles. By 2007, I'd had five knee replacements, and in 2008, when I went to the European version of the Concours Owners Group National Rally, I almost rented a Honda Deauville. I didn't because a friend loaned me his GTR, the Euro-version of the Connie. But I saw and sat on a Deauville in Mannheim and when Honda decided to import it the 2010 model, I decided that maybe it was time to move to lighter bike and bought my 2010 NT700VA (the "A" indicates ABS).

That was 95,000+ miles ago and the NT700 has worked great for me. Unfortunately, not too many people learned about the bike (including Honda salesmen!) and the 2011 model was the last one imported.

I've farkeled the NT to make it fit me. The two best farkles have been my Russell Daylong saddle and the Rofstra electronic cruise control. The faithful NT took me on my "Epic Post-Retirement Ride to Alaska, the Four Corners of the US, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador," a 21,000-mile 80-day ride in the summer of '13 and on the Three Flags Classic Ride this past summer. I've done three SS1Ks on it and just barely missed finishing a BunBurner Gold.

Mine is still running just like it did when it was new, but I'm making the assumption that I'll outlast it. So, my options when that happens seem to be: 1) finding a low-mileage NT and transferring my many farkles to it or 2) finding another bike. I've looked at the BMW F800GT, but it doesn't fit, doesn't have the weather protection, doesn't particularly appeal to me, and it's a BMW. The upcoming FJ-09 has a chain; all the adventure bikes are just a little too tall, and that doesn't leave many other choices.

Several folks from the NT-Owners Forum have jumped ship lately and most of them have ended up on FJRs. I got real tempted a couple of weeks ago when I saw a '13 in immaculate condition for a bit under $12K. But, for now, I've decided to just lurk on the fringes and keep on riding my NT.

In the interim, I appreciate you letting me hang around here and learn more about the FJR.

[extrememarine]

Welcome...careful...lurking leads to ....



A FJR in your garage...

[ts3doug]

I don't care what you end up with, you seem like a cool old dude that needs to stick around here. Sounds like you've had some great trips.

[Old Guy]

Well, I've discovered that I'm most likely to buy when I'm "just lookin'."

Welcome aboard. I've spent quite a bit of time in your part of the country. Until he passed away a couple of years back, one of my best riding buddies lived in Parker. I tried to get out there annually at least. I've move to Colorado in a heartbeat if my wife would come with me.