Yea, its an older bike. It may be a starter bike. It is not the fastest or prettiest bike ever made, but it will get you where you want to go whether it is to the local pub or accross the the country and back. I have tweeked mine a bit and will continue to do so. At a minimum you need to upgrade the suspension and the seat. After that it is all about personality and you can go in just about any direction with this blank slate. I have put almost 30K mi. in the 4 years I have owned mine. I did an Iron Butt 1K/24, ridden to Sturgis and have other grand plans. You won´t see alot of older Sporties, but if you ride one you will be hard pressed to ever ride a better one. It is a great bike to learn how to turn a wrench on. I am no mechanic, but I have learned alot in 4 yrs. You can get them cheap and usually with low miles, then ride it like you stole it and the smile will never leave your face.