Who rides cycles around here?

[Jim Nielsen]

A 79 CBX was my first new motorcycle. I bought new in 81 when they had an overstock sale. There was a guy used to drag a modified one at Ohio valley in Kentucky. It sounded like a demon screming.
Had a lot of other bikes. A GS1000 Wes Cooley replica with a turbo, a 1986 GSXR750R Limited with 2 other motors one 1109cc and 1452cc. Had lots of dirt bikes. Currently have a Trac Dynamics 1500cc pro stock chassie Suzuki and 3 Yamaha Vmax's.

Jim

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Being as we're talking bikes now, I've only ever owned 2.

A 1977 Yamaha RD250DX 2-stroke :heart: that I purchased when I was an electronics apprentice at 17.

And now - A 2007 GSX1400 that I got new last May (07) at the age of 42 after a 26year absence from riding. As the last of the big air-cooled Suzuki it has a bucket load of torque but not the screaming back aching banshee that things like R1s and GSXR1000s are... Still finding it a blast having put some 10500+ miles on it in the last 18 mths and now looking at 1550 big bore conversions...

Oh and for anyone that has seen them, I've got a Motty AFR Tuner that is going on shortly for a bit of targeted AFR tuning - should be fun!

I also had a blast on Ron Earp's rather nice Buell 1200s when I came over in November and very nice it was too - Thanks again Ron

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

I bought a BMW 1150GS this year for some long distance exploring....great bike ..crap seat.

Also have an MV Brutale, tricked out S4R Duc. Royal Star with Vax engine, Bultaco Sherco and vintage Honda Racer....oh and a Norton.

Crap ...no wonder the Missus gives me grief because she cant park in the garage....

 

[Randy V]

I know I must've posted these pics before but here he goes again;

Pic-1
Me astride my trusty steed "Big-Foot" 1999 Polaris Victory V92C - Bike number 106

Pic-2 & 3
The 82 Honda CBX 1 liter 6 cylinder I picked up this fall

 

[Randy V]

Fran - You let her park in the garage????
My drivers (including the wifes) have sat outside for all our 32 years together - and counting...

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

No I dont .........and thats "the" issue...:thumbsup:

The bikes and one of the toy cars lives at home in the garage...

 

[John W]

Fran, tell your wife to get her own garage

I'm a bike guy too.
My collection consists of:
2008 Yamaha R1 - used for commuting, makes the journey interesting
2004 Ducati ST4S - used for touring, often 2 up
2004 KTM 200 EXC - enduro bike
1989 Beta 240 - trials bike
1961 Triumph T20T - Tiger cub in trials trim
1948 Triumph 3T 350 twin, in bits
Gilera runner 180 (I think) - to go shopping on

And then theres the dozen or so bikes that my dad has, but coimng to my garage eventually.
These range from a 1911 rudge, through a number of other veteran bikes, and on to vintage stuff like Douglas, Martynside, OK supreme, BSA, Triumph...

Its in the blood - my first bike was a BSA Bantam trials bike at about 10. I've never been without one since. That'll be why I'm skint most of the time :lol:

 

[Price Walton]

Yes, I ride daily, but I am the motor....

 

[Mike Drew]

I rode about 120,000 miles between 1986 and 1998, on:

1986 Kawasaki 600 Ninja (first bike--never dropped it!)
1982 Kawasaki GPz1100 (daily rider, and cross-country sport tourer, it's got about 90K miles on it)
1983 Kawasaki KZ1000R Eddie Lawson Replica (dismantled for full restoration in 1995, my, where did the time go? It's stuck in the corner of the garage, awaiting attention still).

A few months ago I decided to get into dirt riding, and to that end purchased a brand new 2001 Honda XR250R. The first owner was an older man, who bought it, rode it once or twice, certainly less than 100 miles, and then health issues caused him to park it; his widow finally sold it back to the dealer. I ride it about one day a week at various OHV sites in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Medicino National Forest in northern California.

The Ninja suffered from neglect when it was in storage for a year in 1995-96; it ran poorly when I got back, and finally fouled a plug or something. I haven't ridden it since; just no time/energy to devote to finding out what's wrong with it. I think in the spring I'll devote a day to getting it back on the road again.

I literally wore out the engine on my GPz, took it out to have it rebuilt, and it took eight years (!) to get it back. I'm slowly moving towards screwing it back together; all the bodywork is getting painted right now, and within the next few weeks I'll be heaving the engine back into the frame, then buttoning it all back together. Once I do, the daily driver cars will be parked, and I will ride almost exclusively unless I have to carry cargo. :thumbsup:

Who knows when I'll get around to finishing the restoration on the Eddie Lawson Replica. Too many cars, too much travel, and too much work getting in the way....

 

[Al Jones]

Looks like you folks have quite the eclectic selection! I learned to ride on a Norton Atlas and soon moved to dirt riding.Had a Triumph with the 'scrambler'(high)exhaust which was way too heavy for the woods but was a great slider on dirt roads.Also had a Bultaco Matador(enduro), an Ossa Pioneer,an Ossa Stileto set up by a friend for side hack ice racing,and a Can Am(MX). For pavement,a Kaw H-1 highly modified for drag racing(since it wouldn't go round a corner) and an original Kaw 903 Z-1.Still have the 2 Ossa's,the Can Am and, of course, the Z-1. Told my wife I had it before she arrived and I'd still have it after she was gone;how true.Now my primary bike is a 100th anniversary Harley Superglide(Pic below is only digital format I have of it- from phone camera so quality is not the best).It keeps me from reverting to my earlier riding style so I don't spend so much time in casts and splints.I've come to realize,after so many miles on my bikes and many different ones of friends/racers,that this is not a hobby;it's a lifestyle.. A.J.

 

[John W]

I've come to realize,after so many miles on my bikes and many different ones of friends/racers,that this is not a hobby;it's a lifestyle.. A.J.

I'd never thought of it like that, but now you mention it I have to agree. Motorcycling has featured in pretty much every day of my life - either riding, arranging to ride, organising trips/events, or just plain talking about them.
I have a picture of my R1 on one side of my desk, and a calendar from my bike club on the other side B)

Our trip to California a few months back included 5 days on bike, and our previous trip to Myrtle Beach 'accidentally' coincided with bike week

 

[Ron Earp]

Dang, this IS an old thread!!!!

Paul, you're welcome, come ride anytime you like.

I do like motorcycles and it seems I can't be without one, even if I don't use them as much as I'd like. Like many here I'm always in search of the "perfect" bike. Right now I think that would be a bike much like Paul's - air cooled, large displacement (1100-1200cc or greater), but fuel injected.

Air cooled bikes might not ever make the power their liquid cooled counterparts but they are "right" (to me). Think the engines are lighter being air cooled? Think again. Kevin Cameron did a nice piece on air cooling, liquid cooling, and the requirements of each motor. All those fins, specific concerns with heat transfer out of the head, wall thicknesses, and so on compared to a thin water jacket gives the liquid cooled engine a surprisingly similar weight - including the water pumps and ally radiator.

Still, I'll take a nicely designed air cooled motor (or even a old clunky pushrod POS dinosaur dressed up a bit like my HD Buell motor) over the water cooled engine. They just look and seem "right".

 

[AdrianBurton]

I started out on a YZ125 dirt bike, graduated to a 74 CB 750, then a 78 GS 1000 that eventually became a high 8 sec drag bike, had to add a street bike to the mix so I got a 83 CB1100F. After blowing up the drag bike and having the honda stolen I swore off bikes... or so I thought.

I was thrown the key to a 99 Busa and I had to have one a blue 00 Busa, the last of the unrestricted bikes. I a mlooking to bore and stroke it as well, that means that I have to get another. I am looking at the MV Agusta liter bike.... we will have to see what the holidays bring

 

[cal]

my rides

 

[Charlie M]

I have a 72 Harley Sportster that I picked up about 20 years ago. I've had two other Sportsters and a Super Glide before that.

I rarely ride anymore. Self preservation has taken over. The car drivers are nuts around here, cell phones and texting while driving, etc, etc.

I've rented bikes on vacation before. I rented an Electra Glide in Vegas a few years ago for the Laughlin River Run. Last year I rented a Road King in Sedona AZ. Lots of fun both times.

Charlie

 

[J. Salmon]

I have an '05 Enduro with custom valved Ohlins dampers. The motor made a bit over 250 watts when on the dyno this weekend...

Wait, WTF? ...fooled again!

I do have a nice bike collection, but they all share the same motor that is slowly slipping out of tune. Any of you endurance racers who want a cheap training tool, I will swear that mountain biking is about the best out-of-the-car training you can get. But I digress, and detract from the thread!

This thread needs more pictures.


I will not allow myself to get on a motorcycle. I think it would be like smoking crack, and my world would never be the same. Simply not going to go there.

 

[Mesa]

Chicken

 

[Mesa]

Lets see....

87 Ex Factory Yamaha Superbike
91 OWO1 Yamaha Superbike
00 R1/R7 Yamaha Superbike
01 GSXR 1000
05 GSXR 1000

All race bikes but,the R1/R7 has been converted back into a street bike (at least that what I told the DMV). Neat feature of the Suzukis are that they both have quick change Spondon swing arms to go along with the usual Ohlins suspension and Marchesini wheels.

93 Honda CR500 (if you want a full body workout then this IS the tool)

And for the pedal power people .....
2008 Fuji with all the carbon bling (the girlfriend is a carbon addict)

 

[cal]

OWO1!
holy crap mesa, now we are talking. i guess my yosh 550EF superbike (discretly riden on the street) dont count for much.
but then again, we got helicopters

 

[Mesa]

Jay - Just like the crack dealer says....."wanna try a hit you little speed freak?"......the first ride is free!....

Cal.....Hella-chopters.....that will surely do just fine buddy, just fine.

A friend has a very rare mid-seventies Yoshimura Honda based factory superbike (with sand cast cases). He is sure its worth a mint but it sits in the corner awaiting love.