Dreams powered by horsepower

Exactly a year ago, I came this 🤏🏽 close to my dream bike—a 2010 Yamaha R1. Rewinding to about a month before that day, I was waiting for my riding buddies at our regular meet-up spot when I suddenly heard a deep, rumbling sound, something closely resembling an American V8. As I turned my head, there it was—the dream right in front of me, a mint crossplane Yamaha R1. I quickly took out my phone and recorded a video as it passed by our meet-up spot. Later, when I uploaded the video on Instagram, a friend of the bike’s owner tagged him in the comments and told me I was welcome to meet them and see the bike someday. Fast forward to this day—a decided date and time—the kind owner (who I now call a friend) brought the bike to the very spot where I had first seen it and graciously agreed to let me take some photos. We had an insightful discussion, as I was seriously interested in buying this generation of the R1, and later, he even let me take it out for a quick spin. The moment I pressed the ignition and the motor roared to life, my heart fluttered. My word, does the crossplane inline-4 sound like an absolute beast! Carefully twisting the throttle to avoid any sudden jerks, I took off and returned with the biggest smile on my face! What’s your dream bike?