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By now we were living in South Carolina and I was commuting about seven miles a day. The xB was a fish out of water in SC. Where I was living the roads were dominated by pick-up trucks and SUV’s, but the weather was warm ten months out of the year and it was the perfect environment for a motorcycle.
I have always wanted a motorcycle, but never really sure what I wanted. Unlike cars, I really love all bikes. Cruisers, choppers, crotch rockets, tourers, dirt bikes, adventure bikes, cafe racers…you name it!! Having never ridden a motorcycle or owned one, I was all over the place on what to buy. The Kawasaki Ninja 250 had just been redesigned and was really cool, but I was afraid it would be too small for me. I wasn’t looking for a GSXR 1000 or anything, but I wanted something that I wouldn’t be intimidated by and also something I wouldn’t be afraid of breaking.
I fell in love with the Suzuki SV650, but none were for sale near me. The local bike shop had a Suzuki Katana, which I also liked a lot and a Honda 599 or the Honda Hornet if you are European. The Katana was cool, but the 599 was $3k out the door and I saw a lot of potential.
I bought the 599. It was a 2006 with 10k and was in excellent condition. Like a SV650, the Honda 599 is a naked street bike. A “naked” sport bike, is a sport bike (the 599 is basically a CBR 600) without the fairings and usually has a little more upright riding position. The 599 was stock, ran perfectly and sounded awesome from the factory. However, I never let that stop me!!
I quickly joined the forums over at www.honda599.com and learned everything I could about this unique motorcycle. There were lots of aftermarket parts available, however many of them needed to be imported from other countries. See, the 599 wasn’t a huge hit here in America, but in Europe, The Hornet was a home run. So all the good aftermarket Italian stuff was over there.
While I was learning about my bike, I was learning how to ride it! I was going to do the two-day Harley Davidson class at the local dealer, but they canceled the class due to lack of participation. So I decided to teach myself. It wasn’t too hard, and before long I was riding around the neighborhood. I got a learner’s permit and was riding to work in a matter of days.
As time went I on, I was spending more time wrenching on the 599 than I was riding it. Here is a list of mods I did to the bike:
Aprilia Shiver mirrors
Ducati Monster front turn signals
CA smoked integrated tail light
Renthal ultra lows
Rhino weighted bar ends
Artfibras undertail
Pro grips
Tapeworks reflective rim stripes
Two Brother titianium can
I was the first one to do the Ducati Monster front turn signals. I was really proud of that. I figured if the Aprilia mirrors worked (someone else came up with that mod) why can’t I find turn signals I like (of course from another Italian motorcycle) and make them work? It turned out perfect! They looked stock.
I was really happy with all of my mods……..except for one.
Don’t ever buy a Two Brother’s exhaust pipe. I think it was $400? It didn’t fit right. I had to take it to a muffler shop to have them widen the pipe so it would slip on. It was loud. I chose the Two Brother’s pipe because the slash tip at the end of the can matched the point of the tail on the bike. It looked good, but not worth the hassle and money.
After owning the bike for a year, and only putting on about 1000 miles, I was riding home from work when a car pulled out in front of me causing me to lay the 599 down at about 40mph. As always, I had on all of my gear and walked away with just scraped knees. The bike was totaled, my confidence was shattered. Maybe I should just stick with cars.
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