On a different forum many years ago a very fun thread was posted asking for people’s biking history, I always enjoy hearing other people biking history so thought it would be fun to start it on here. I am very very fickle so mine is reasonably long….. first bike to last…, Yamaha RD 50 M - so slow compared to a fizzy, Yamaha rd 125 lc- I thought I was so cool, but not as cool as a gamma. Kawasaki zzr 600- sold within two months, rotten exhaust. Kawasaki zx6 j1- loved it but it wasn’t cool enough. Ducati 748 - definitely cool enough,really loved it when it wanted to start, hated it when it didn’t. GSXR 750 K2- awesome bike. GSXR 750 K5 (corona) sold it to my brother. GSXR 750 K5 ( relentless) purchased it back from my brother after he came off, repaired and repainted. Yamaha R1 5pw - highsided it and broke my pelvis. ZX10 2005 - insane, and I hadn’t learned my lesson after the accident. Bandit 600 - boring. GSXR 750 K5 - yes I bought another one! FZ8 - boring Zx7r- track bike Yamaha R1 5jj - loved it wish I had kept it. 2013 street triple 675 r- sweet as. 2018 765 rs- loved it but saw a Speed twin 1200! Speed twin 1200 - still own and love it. Royal Enfield Scram ( winter bike,)- what was I thinking ? Sold it within two months. KTM 790 adventure (winter bike, still own it) - Adventure/touring bike but as mad as a box of frogs! I have never owned a Honda or aprillia, Probably forgotten a couple but hoping that someone else will have a go, I am considering swapping out my beautiful Speed twin for another 765 rs, as I said I am fickle!!!
Oops…… Between the 765 r/s and the Speed twin I bought a brand new tracer gt, sold it after two months in favour of the Speed Twin!
Absolute contrast to yours @Funnelli as a late starter..... Yamaha YBR 125 Herald Classic 125 Triumph Street Triple 765R (2021) Honda Fireblade (2004) I still own both the Triumph and Honda and no immediate thoughts of swapping either (the 'blade was only acquired in January and has only been ridden a few hundred miles by me due to the less that perfect road conditions lately).
Suzuki GT 250 ram air Montesa 348 cota Honda XL125 A few years without Yamaha Fazer 600 Honda Blackbird BMW R1200GS Yamaha Super Tenere 1200 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Honda MT5 Kawasaki Z200 Honda VT250 Suzuki GSX400F RD350LC YPVS Kawasaki ZZR400 Triumph Thunderbird 900 Honda CBR600 Honda Hornet 600 Honda VFR800 VTEC Suzuki Bandit 1250 BMW F800GS BMW R1200GS Triumph Tiger Sport 1050 Kawasaki Z900RS Triumph Scrambler 1200 my current bike 16 bikes in 40 years of riding, a couple of gaps but only for a few years.
Ha, All but two of those were in the last 19 years, I wouldn’t like to think how much money I have wasted over the years! I would love a Fireblade, maybe that’s one to think about.
A friend of mine had My dad loved his Blackbird, he was like I was with the GSXR 750 K5, always went to another one.
Hmmm… starting in 1977: Honda CG125 Honda CB250 Dream 30+ year break… Triumph Street Twin Triumph Street Triple BMW R9T Triumph Thruxton R Triumph Tiger 900GT Pro Harley Davidson Sport Glide
I remember 16 year old me hankering after a cb 250 super dream, That’s what I enjoy about posts like this, it brings back old memories about bikes you had forgotten about.
I always preferred the original dream… I think it was the curvaceous lines! Oh, and agreed re the whole nostalgia thing.
Had it not been for “Tuckers Luck” and “Boon” on UK television my life probably would have been bike free!
September 1978 Suzuki GT250X7 (first ton up 250) on L plates; it was a different world. First accident 4 weeks after purchase. 2 more shortly afterwards, learnt it’s better to enjoy what you can do on a bike rather than prove what you can’t. Passed RAC ACU training and DoT tests within 6 months of riding. Accident one month later; egged on by my pillion I forgot the above lesson. PX (with 24,000 miles) for below. September 1980 Honda 400 Superdream. Superb bike, under appreciated because of it’s underpowered 250 sister bike. 3 years and 36,000 faultless miles later, sold to buy a car so I could carry stuff to and from University. Very long break until. September 2019 Triumph Street Cup. Finally got a Bonny that the teenage me always drooled over (Except of course the modern ones don’t leak oil and start on the button). Only 4000 miles so far and the skills are slowly coming back. I love this bike and will probably only get rid of it when my frail body can no longer cope.
Jeez, this thread has made me realise that I’ve been biking for 40 years! Honda SS50 - My first bike and a complete POS Suzuki ZR50 (a derestricted Belgium import) Yamaha RD125 air cooled Kawasaki KH 250 Yamaha RD400 air cooled (crashed it and broke my leg) Suzuki GS550 3 x Yamaha RD350LC (the best bikes I have EVER owned by far) Honda CB900F (crashed it and broke my arm) Honda XL500 Yamaha WR426 (my Enduro and Green Laning phase) Kawasaki GPZ900R Triumph Trophy 900 Triumph Street Cup 900 (I really miss this bike) BMW F900XR (hated it!) …and of course my current bikes: Triumph Daytona T595 (1998 owned since new) Triumph Sprint GT 1050 SE (2016 but new to me last year) Yamaha XSR700 (2022 with a YPVS bodywork conversion) Yamaha RD350LC 4L0 (1981 Mars Bar and fully restored) Wish list: Yamaha RD350 YPVS 31K in Kenny Roberts yellow BSA Scrambler when launched Triumph Tiger 660 or 900 GT Pro
Someone else's biking history always has a memory of some kind for me. My friend owned a custom painted skoal bandit x7, it was awesome. He once gave me a lift on the back and wheeled it up hill on Sandhurst Road in Tunbridge Wells, scared the living crappie out of me!!
You have two of my favourites, the 350lc and of course Top Gun himself GPZ 900, although I did prefer the look of the 600, intrigued by the xsr 700 but why not the 900? Had to be the easier ypvs option?
Started in 1979 with a FS1M KH250 smoked like a chimney! Z400J bit dull GPz750 massive disappointment GPz1100 original model,much more like it! SR500 loved it! Put the 1100 engine in Harris Magnum frame, tuned it. Fast as f... But not very reliable GSXR 1100 slab side brilliant bike! GSXR100L first of the upside down forks. Not as good as the old one YZF750 we were knocked off this going to WSBK at Donnington. Swapped the remains for a GSXR750 which was great Swapped for an XT600. Wouldn't start if left for a week so took back to dealer and got a Honda SLR650. Closest I have ever been to falling asleep on a bike. Awful. Got rid for about 17 years until 2018. 2001 Speed Triple had it for three weeks as it kept blowing main fuses and subframe was cracked. Got money back and bought an SV650. OK but no loin stirring when I looked at it. 2014 Speedy LOVED IT! Now got my 2019 Speedy RS BEST BIKE EVER
Now you would have been one of the guys that I would have been in awe of! The GPZ 1100, wow! But of course the RS, I need to ride one, I have always fancied the 2008/9 speed triple in orange with those cool black wheels, maybe one day, as I only have room and enough patience from my wife for two!
When I rode that first Speedy it reminded of my Harris GPz as I had done that like a street fighter. Big bars, loads of noise and a big F off engine! Pure fun