BDazzler
Wizard
Hi everyone my name is Daz Morland, I am 38 years old and have had a 17 hiatus from motorcycling. You could say I am classed as a born again biker, however although the machinery may have left me, the passion never did.
I have always owned Yamaha's, my first being a DTR125R trails bike. Derestricted it hit 90mph and was loads of fun.
In 1994 I had an argument with a flat back van which landed me in Whiston hospital for a while. Undeterred I left hospital and bought my dream bike which was a TDR250R supermotard. Super quick 2 stroke with a TZR250 engine.
I called it the "Cosworth beater" at the time, and I actually had a letter printed in "Fast Bikes" magazines about how much I loved the bike.
Then hard times hit and then I was forced to sell my beloved bike. Mum seen this as an opportunity to ban bikes from the house completely and I wasnt allowed to buy a new one later one!years passed and I followed my Idol Carl Fogarty in WSB until he retired through injury in 2000. Sadly I lost touch with motor racing because of Carl's exit and ended up spending the next 12 years yearning after a motorbike. THEN, mum and dad emigrated to Spain and along went the no-bike ruling too. I saw this as a window of opportunity to buy a bike however the accommodation I lived in never had a locked garage or anywhere I could store my potential bike. Damn, thwarted again.......then lady lucky sprinkled her dust over me last September and one of my mates mum and dad said that if I bought a motorbike then I could store it in their garage! Thrilled? You wouldn't believe! I have to admit the R1 was the first bike of choice, until the insurance quotes came through that is! However simmering and bubbling away in the back of my mind was the Yamaha Fazer! I liked the idea of a capable 1 litre motor with a upright riding position (like the TDR250 of old) that could travel good distances whilst still being good enough to have a bit of fun with.
In a strange twist of fate my mum and dad moved back from Spain last September and moved to Abergele, Wales.....just over the road from "Woods Motorcycles", where I had originally bought my used TDR250 in 1992! I wandered over one day last September to its new building in Peel Street to see if it could stir the dormant passion I once had. As you can imagine all the old mechanics and sales staff had since moved on but the owner Andy Wood of course was still there. This dealership is mainly Ducati and Triumph but still has a used section of quality bikes so straight away asked if they had a used Fazer in stock that I could look at? Fortunately they had
Fisrt off, great name
Reading your story, I was almost scared how similar my story is to yours in some respects. I started riding Yamaha 2 stroke 100cc on/off road. Bought an XT350 new in '86 at 16. Road it through most of college when a bimbo turned in front of me killing my bike (luckily, I ended up much better). Insurance money wasn't nearly enough to replace the bike, but it did by an engagement ring for my now wife. (not everything is the same).I was out of riding for 15 or so years, althogh I did borrow some bikes from my brother and father-in-law at times. My wife went out and bought a new '09 Ninja 250R for herself in April 2010. Well, I couldn't go without a bike any longer, so I started my search. I had always had my eye on the FZ1 (we don't have the naked in the states, so the FZ1 is your Fazer). A little research convinced me that was the bike I wanted. I looked at a red '06, but that deal didn't work out. I was just browsing at another dealership, and :wow: they had this '07 with 1600 miles on it. I fell in love on the test ride (well, really long before the test ride) and as you talked about, felt very comfortable with the bike. The seating position reminded me of the dirt bikes I'd ridden in my youth. October 1, 2010, I owned it. I just turned over 14,000 miles yesterday.
:welcome: I think you will enjoy this forum and there are many friendly, helpful members with much more knowledge than me. Congrats on your new bike. I'm sure you will love it. Thanks for sharing your story and pictures! I look forward to more!
