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The 919 was my very first motorcycle, which I started riding at the age of 17. My father gifted me his absolutely mint 2006 red 919, in the year 2013. I went on to absolutely destroy that machine over the course of the next 60k miles or so that I put on it. Things I managed to achieve on that machine include:
Rear ending a car and doing a front flip over it
Low siding, more times than I can count
Hitting a jump so big I smashed in my headers
Riding to a track day 500 miles away, crashing, and then riding home
Blowing up a chain at the TOTD and having to ride all the way back home with a shoelace holding my waterpump on
Riding down and back a jeep 4x4 trail to get food/water back to a friend so we could camp overnight as we had to do trailside repairs on a hole in an oil pan during a mountain storm
Survived a track day with a missing spacer for the rear axle and rode back home with rear wheel bearings that either had no balls left or were totally seized.
The list goes on and on, but in the end, I managed to get myself comfortably into the expert group at my local track, on this very bike, with over 60,000 miles on it.
Despite all this, the only things I ever had to replace were brake pads, gas, oil, chains and tires. I never looked at the valves. It was the most reliable bike I ever had and probably ever will own.
I finally sold the bike for a whopping 2,000 dollars in february 2022. I had to practically give it away. I was competing with used electric scooters.
I had to get rid of it as I didn't really had any reason to ride it anymore, and I had 6 bikes in the garage at the time.
Now, I race supermoto, and took my first championship last year.
Just wanted to say thanks to all in this forum that helped me along as a kid with this bike who didn't know any better. The 919 was the perfect bike for me to experience motorcycle ownership.
Pictures:
1 - Tail of the dragon for the first time
2/3 - The day it was sold
4 - First time in Expert
Great write up Nate! Congrats on your supermoto career. It was awesome riding with you and the crew those few times before the pandemic. You definately rode the wheels out of your hornet!The 919 was my very first motorcycle, which I started riding at the age of 17. My father gifted me his absolutely mint 2006 red 919, in the year 2013. I went on to absolutely destroy that machine over the course of the next 60k miles or so that I put on it. Things I managed to achieve on that machine include:
Rear ending a car and doing a front flip over it
Low siding, more times than I can count
Hitting a jump so big I smashed in my headers
Riding to a track day 500 miles away, crashing, and then riding home
Blowing up a chain at the TOTD and having to ride all the way back home with a shoelace holding my waterpump on
Riding down and back a jeep 4x4 trail to get food/water back to a friend so we could camp overnight as we had to do trailside repairs on a hole in an oil pan during a mountain storm
Survived a track day with a missing spacer for the rear axle and rode back home with rear wheel bearings that either had no balls left or were totally seized.
The list goes on and on, but in the end, I managed to get myself comfortably into the expert group at my local track, on this very bike, with over 60,000 miles on it.
Despite all this, the only things I ever had to replace were brake pads, gas, oil, chains and tires. I never looked at the valves. It was the most reliable bike I ever had and probably ever will own.
I finally sold the bike for a whopping 2,000 dollars in february 2022. I had to practically give it away. I was competing with used electric scooters.
I had to get rid of it as I didn't really had any reason to ride it anymore, and I had 6 bikes in the garage at the time.
Now, I race supermoto, and took my first championship last year.
Just wanted to say thanks to all in this forum that helped me along as a kid with this bike who didn't know any better. The 919 was the perfect bike for me to experience motorcycle ownership.
Pictures:
1 - Tail of the dragon for the first time
2/3 - The day it was sold
4 - First time in Expert
