I had buried the bug to ride a long time ago. It was something I had wanted to do but as my life took off, it never seemed possible. Well, in 2003, my neighbor sold his jet-ski and bought himself a bike. Nothing fancy. It was a Honday CBR600F3. I would see him coming and going and just sorta think about what it would be like.

Different days he would have different bikes showing up at his house. Mostly sportbikes of all makes and models. GSX-R, CBR, YZF, Ninja's. 600, 750, 900, 1000's. All common sights in his driveway throughout the summer. The breaker came one weekend when about ten sportbikes showed up in his driveway. They weren't there long and they all left together. I knew that day that I would own a motorcycle one day.

I was never sure what type of bike I wanted, what style of rider I'd be. I was very naive to the world of motorcycles and what it offered. I knew Harleys looked and sounded pretty cool. Not to mention, Jennifer, my wife, really preferred I ride a Harley. I knew a sportbikes reputation for speed. I had recently been introduced to the world of stunting. That was about the limit to my knowledge of the capabilities of today's sportbikes. That was until I delved further into the online motorcycle forums and message boards. These really opened my eyes to many things.

The two most important of those things were the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) and the world of Motorcycle racing and twisty roads. Seeing how fun it looked carving up corners on a capable bike, I knew the road I was going to take. While most Harley's and cruisers are just that, cruisers, I wanted to lean through corners and power out hard. A sportbike was definitely in my future.

I managed to acquire a non-running 1992 Yamaha XJ600 Seca II late winter/early spring of 2004. I took the MSF beginning rider's course shortly after that and got my motorcycle endorsement. The class was very informative and a fun way to get introduced to motorcycles. If you want to ride, it is definitely worth it. After putting nealy $1000.00 into the Seca, she was legal, running good and ready for the road. If it wasn't for me, I would probably still be riding it today. Unfortunately for the Seca, after only putting 100 miles on her, I managed to lock up the front brake and drop her down hard enough to end my riding for that season.

While not proud of my accomplishments up to that point, I can't say I'm sorry it happened. If I did not go down that day, I might never have discovered the Honda Hawk GT. The one problem with sportbikes today are the fact that they all seem the same. There is really not alot different from one to the other. The Hawk fixes all of that. They have their own distinct look, their own style. Knowing they are not very inimidating bikes for a beginner, I knew I wanted one. Unfortunately, when a bike is as uncommon as the Hawk, they aren't available at every used bike dealer.

A little bit of looking netted me a completely stock 1998 Hawk, in gray. It was in Indianapolis. Well, one rented F-150, a nicely packed cooler, a brother to help and cash in hand, a family road trip was in order. Another benefit was that my sister and her kids who lived near St. Louis were able to drive over to meet us. See, motorcycles were already bringing my family together and leading to great experiences. After lunch, a day at the park and letting all the kids play while we spent some time catching up a little bit, it was time to pick up my new baby.

We found the address, everything checked out and we were loading her up. If you ever have to haul a motorcycle, I recommend using a Canyondancer bar harness. It was very nice to have. After getting the Hawk into the truck, it was time to head home. We said our good-byes and hit the road. Indianapolis was a joy to visit, but it was time to go. Everything was as uneventful as we had hoped, and we were home that evening.

That was in April of this year. Since then, I have been extremely happy with my decision. The Hawk is such a wonderful motorcycle and hasn't let me down yet. I do have plans for her. She will recieve mods, performance and visual. But that being said, she will always be a Hawk and on almost all occasions, I will be the only one in the group on one.

--Ride safe, but have fun doin' it!