I'm Hugo, i'm 28 and posting from Portugal.
A little short story about myself, since my 7 years until i was 18, i was a backseat rider in my fathers 91 FJ1200 so i got that bike thing, i loved to ride with him, but then a person grows, starts to work, the normal thing in life, at 18 i took only the car license, since the bike one was another extra that i didn't want to afford at the time, since i was going to be "stuck" for 2 years in the 250cc category, so i though of waiting until i was 21 to take the exam in a "big" bike and be category free.
But the 21s came, like the next ones, and life did not provide with the time and chance, until last November, a week before making 28, my girlfriend decided to give me my birthday present, the enrollment in the driving school
that brought me a "problem", Christmas was a month away, and i wanted a present for myself, witch mean i wanted to buy a bike lol lolOf course that wasn't a priority, i wouldn't had the license until late January, early February, so i didn't need to rush things.
To be honest my first option was a YZF thundercat, but even with 15 plus years, they still go for a lot more money than the XJ, and even though it's a more powerful bike, it also has a more expensive maintenance and it's more gas station friendly.
So i turned to my second option, maybe influenced by the looks of the FJ, i really liked the XJ looks
started searching for information, on the web, asked around, and the general input was that, it is a rookie friendly bike, less maintenance expensive, and with a good fuel consumption, also found about the changes along the years, until 97/98 when they had the twin front brakes disks, the 41 forks, the new seat and so on. I'm no mechanic, in truth i don't know a thing about it, but if they were equipped with some improvements, it means they are relevant, and i tried to find one of those So in December i found a stock 2000 XJ600s Diversion, 300 km away, got my father to go with me, since it would be him to bring it, in case i bought it obviously, i still hadn't had a single driving lesson.
It has been since late May (when the rain stopped), my daily transport to and from work, and i must say, its a great first bike, its newbie tolerant although i only had problems to get used to the clutch in the first days, its transmits safety to me, the fears i had, were in myself and not the bike (inclining in the curves
), it teaches me everyday, getting comfortable with her, and i'm really enjoying it, if nothing happens to either of us, i expect to keep it for long years.I'll start a project in the correct section, but here's a pair of pictures from the day i bought it, to compensate you guys for the (not so) short introduction.
