Raider Nation
About four years ago I got a phone call from Tyson, a good freind of mine, he wanted me to buy his practice bike, mortgage was due or something. I reluctantly agreed knowing it was worn out but at the same time thinking the bike works really well.
Tyson purchased it brand new and raced it for a year. He purchased a second one for the next season and demoted the old one to his practice bike. The problem with practice bikes are they don't get taken care like they should, it needed some major work by the time I got it. The frame was bent and cracked, axle bent, exhaust broken and loud, the chain had come off once or twice and put a hole in the engine case so he threw a little J.B weld on the hole to keep it from leaking.
I rode the bike several times but knew it wouldn't hold together for long. I thought about parting it out but there wasn't much to salvage. I decided to buy a new frame and build it from the ground up. I had a hard time deciding what color to make it because I didn't want the same old thing, I had never seen a silver YFZ so I powdercoated the frame flat black and put silver Polisport plastic on it. I'm not a Oakland Raider fan but the colors fit and Raider Nation was born.
It became everyones favorite bike. There was one person in paticular that took a fancy to it, Christina, Steve Abbott's girl friend. Steve had just purchased his Road Star back from a buddy of his and I wanted it, so Christina and I worked out a deal to trade, Steve was a bit confused about how his Road Star was part of a trade between Christina and I. He was allways bitter about it. I think thats why when Christina stopped riding as much Steve and everyone else rode it into the ground.
A year and a half ago I built a new YFZ to replace Raider Nation, I spared no expense. Rode the bike twice and didn't like it, for the next year it sat on the showroom floor. During this time Steve,Otto,Sergio and every other squirel in town road the piss out of Raider Nation, in fact. It got so bad that Christina told Steve you better get me a new bike! " I'm not riding that piece of shit anymore." Thats when her and I decided to trade the new bike for Raider Nation. I know what your thinking. Why would you trade a new bike for a old worn out one? If you've ever rode a bike that works so good you can't do anything wrong, you know. I'm happy to get Raider Nation back and I'm making it new again. Here are some before pics. 
