I was fortunate to grow up in the golden age of dirt bikes, the late 70's and 80's where every single year there were massive increases in hp, suspension, and everything else. I was a teenager, and I thought those were rockets. Then around mid 80's I had my first foray into street bikes, I rode my friends GS1100 Katana. I was forever changed............I vividly remember the mind blowing, arm wrenching, relentless acceleration. Gear after gear it just never stopped. I was like 18, mind blown.
Fast forward to mid-adulthood and various mid caliber bikes, all progressively better. But I wanted another taste of current technology hyper-speed. So I bought a brand new 1999 R1, truly a ground breaking bike. That thing would've left that Katana in the dust (if you could keep the front wheel down). Violent, gut wrenching acceleration, sweet handling manners to boot, and about the sexiest thing I'd seen on 2 wheels. I raced it for a few years even. But man................I'll never forget that mindf*** from that first ride on that 1100 Katana.
Good times.