Buying the 675
Frustrated by my lack of ability to power the VFR400 round tracks, I decided late last year to upgrade from the 1980s pocket rocket to a modern, capable 600.
Having really only sat on a few other people's bikes (a CBR, an R6 and the Daytona), I edged towards the Triumph, knowing that I already like the triple engine and the 675 should be able to power me out of my mistakes nicely.
After a few weeks on eBay, we were becoming quite expert on the value of 2009-2013 bikes, when up popped a very clean example from a small motorcycle dealer in North Essex. The bike was as advertised and exactly what I was looking for. Added to that, it was well priced as the dealer trades mainly in dirt bikes and was wanting to realise cash from the bike quickly.
As a 675R, the bike is really more than I was looking for, but with Ohlins front and rear suspension, Brembo brakes and a quickshifter as standard, I wasn't complaining.
I had decided on a road bike to convert, as the dedicated track bikes I was seeing were quite tatty, and slightly more than I wanted to spend.
This was the beginning of the journey to negating those saving and turning a very clean example of the road bike above into a very pretty track bike.