Holy crap that’s got to be a record, I’d struggle to remember that list, I can’t remember what I did last week so what are your top 3 from the list and what else would you really want if any?
Wow, @Tigcraft, that is an amazing list! I'd truly love to hear some about some of the adventures you've had over the years with all of these bikes!
@Arf765 my top three of the list were 1, MZ Skorpion Sport, that’s a big single cafe racer off the shelf that no one recognised. It had sublime handling and was as pure a motorcycle you could get where the fun starts at 40mph on back lanes. 2, Ducati Monster M900S. It was the only bike that had such charisma, aura and heritage. It made my heart flutter every time I rode it and it was the correct choice moving on from my first TRX850. It was the only bike at the time that I would consider setting off for a ride in the rain!! 3, My current bike, RNineT, it’s a very calculated bike I bought which now modified ticks so many boxes and it’s also the one that I paid the most for ten times over. The boxer engine is a lush to explore and I can go on. @Sandi most my fun came from the small engined bikes of very early days. The bigger ones mainly four cylinder ones I discovered didn’t do it for me as they were too tame in character and the rides were never remembered like the singles and twins I had. Probably because the latter took more rider input and gave great rewards.
It was meant to be. Frames designed by ‘Tigcraft’ Dave pearce but it ended being thicker tube, far heavier and welded.
Need to update my list now I've got the GSXR track bike 1979 Suzuki A100 1980 Honda H100 Honda CB250G5 MZ 250 Honda CB250N SuperDream Suzuki GS250T Suzuki GS1000 with GSX1100 engine Suzuki GSX1100EZ Honda CB650Z 1988 Kawasaki GPZ900 1989 Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo Kawasaki GPZ900 1990 Suzuki GSXR1100L 1992 Kawasaki ZXR750J2 1993 Suzuki GSXR1100L Honda CB250N SuperDream Suzuki GSXR1100H 1994 Suzuki GSXR1100WP Honda CB125RS Honda CB250N Superdream 1996 Bandit 1200 1999 Triumph Sprint ST Bandit 1200 2000 TTR250 2001 CBR900RRX Fireblade Bandit 600 2002 VTR1000 Firestorm Bandit 750 Suzuki GSX1300R - K2 Hayabusa 2003 Bandit 400 Kawasaki ZX7-R track bike Yamaha Fazer 1000 2004 Bandit 1200 (1st time owned) GSXR1000 K4 track bike 2005 ZX12R-A1 GSX1300R - K5 Hayabusa 2006 DRZ400 Bandit 1200 (2nd time owned) 2007 Bandit 1250 2008 Suzuki GSX1300R 2000 (Hayabusa 600hp drag bike) Bandit 1200 (3rd time owned) 2013 Street Triple 2015 Tiger Sport 2016 Tiger Sport 2017 Speed Triple S Bonneville Newchurch 2018 Speed Triple RS 2019 CBR600RR 2007 model Tiger 800 XRT (current) 2020 Street Triple RS road Street Triple RS road/track (current) ZX10-R 2023 GSXR750L3 track (current)
I did start to slow down, but then retired/took redundancy in 2018 and I started having fun . It has peaked now as I do more track riding rather than road riding. I've done only about 200 road miles and 1000 track miles so far this year. Might even go down to just two bikes soon
When I was 18 I bought a Suzuki FZ50 to go to work on. At 20 I moved up to a real bike with a GN400. Then I did the "Dad" thing until about a year ago and got a 150cc scooter for around town and it wasn't enough, so after almost 40 years of not riding I now have a 2014 Bonneville (and love it)
Good on ya, I to have had a similar story and time gap between my last bike and now, 2023 was my first year back on a bike and loved it. Enjoy yours happy riding
1071 Honda CB125 1970 Triumph Trophy 250 1950 Lambretta LC125 1969 BMW R60/2 1964 Honda CA95 Benly Touring 1974 BMW R60/6 1966 Suzuki S32-2 Olympian 1976 BMW R75/6 1959 BMW R50/2 1972 BMW R60/5 1972 BMW R75/5 1989 BMW R100 GS 2003 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport 1993 BMW R100R 2009 Moto Guzzi Griso 1100 2014 BMW R Nine T Currently: 2019 Vespa GTS 300 HPE 2020 BMW R Nine T Pure 2023 Triumph Speed Twin 900 There are a couple I wish I had held onto, but….
1982-90 first spell on the road from being 16: Honda C50 (Oops wasn’t a moped ) Yamaha MT50 Suzuki GP125 Honda 400N Superdream Honda CBX 550 FII Yamaha RD350LC YPVS Honda CBX 750 F Got married so no bikes for a while 1999-2002 scrounged funds together for Honda CBR600 FV Had to sell to pay for the new double glazing but made Mrs Boothman happy 2014 to date, got back on two wheels (much to the disapproval of the long suffering Mrs Boothman) after a bit of a health scare Triumph 650 Daytona Honda CBR1000RA ‘Repsol’ Honda CBR1000RR ‘Black Edition’ Triumph Tiger 1050 SE
Hmm, first two are easy. Bandit 1200. Loads of grunt from the 1200 motor, handling was so so in std format, but mine had Ohlins rear shock uprated springs etc. It was nice and easy to work on . I toured France numerous times on one, did my first trackday at Cadwell, drag raced it, scared god knows how many pillions lifting the front wheel thanks to its inherent wheelie ability. Tiger 800XRt Bought this when I retired in 2018 as a bike specifically for touring, wish I had got one a lot sooner. With the luggage, tank range, cruise control etc, doing 400 mile days was no problem and it handled reasonably well for an tourer/adventure bike sans luggage. 3rd choice is more difficult, nothing that stands out particularly road bike wise, although the Street Triple RS does but as track bike that I could still use on the road. Had it for 4 years now and it's only because I put slicks on it recently that I can't use it on the road now. It lets me get away with some ham fisted riding on the track and has surprised some on the track, all done with std tyres on until the last trip. And while every one else 'fettled' their race bikes, put tyre warmers on etc, I would just check the heated grips still worked
