Greetings from the frozen tundra of Michigan! I've been riding anything and everything off-road since I was 4 years old. I started riding on the street about 10 years ago on a '93 Suzuki DR350 borrowed from my brother when I couldn't afford to buy a second car. I only got to ride it for a few months though, because one of his friends blew the motor when they took it trail riding one weekend. A few years later I got myself a beautiful '86 Yamaha Virago XV1100S, but only had one season with it before I was forced to let it go. In 2010, I decided I wanted to try a sport bike, so I bought a '94 Yamaha XJ600S Seca II from a friend. It was ugly and pretty beat up, but I loved it; lots of fun, comfortable, and not kill-myself fast (I like speed too much to trust myself with a big bike). I rode that for a season and a half before I tore it down to start rebuilding it. The project got curbed, though, when we had to move and I lost my garage. Then, March of last year, I found a great deal on a very sharp 5,300 mile '93 XJ while looking for parts on ebay. I scooped it up, and "Ruby" has been my mistress ever since! I got her on the road in April, and have put about 6,000 miles on her since then. With a thousand things going on in life (I'm a family man), I don't get to go "real riding" as often as I'd like, but I ride her to work every day (as long as it's not raining in the morning when I leave). I've tried to find some active local riding groups (I'm in the "thumb" of Michigan), but haven't had much luck so far; plenty of groups, but not much activity. I hope to meet a few active locals here.
