Have been recently reminiscing about some of the bikes I have owned, would be interested in what others have also owned, these are mine in chronological order...
Yamaha TY50 schoolboy scrambler, bought for 25 quid, rebuilt engine but then blown up as I used the wrong spark plug (too short)- but I was only 16 at the time.
Honda SS50 bought again for 25 quid, rebuilt everything as gearbox had bits of piston in it. Ran it for a year and then (if I remember correctly) added a C90 barrel, a C70 unrestricted carb, ended up with quite a fast 50(ish), gave the fizzies a run for their money. I cannot remember what happened to this bike, the bits I did not need from the C90/C70 I buried in the garden for some reason and no I did not nick em!!!
I then got a Honda XL250, lovely bike, hadn't passed my test so I ended up selling it although I did do a lot of mucking about on and off road, wish I had kept this bike....
I had to go back to a C90 which I used as a commuting workhorse for a year or so until I could no longer stand the embarrassment.
Then I bought a Suzuki GT125, this was a dream bike for a 19 year old, fast as f*ck, would do 95 until the carb drained, I ended up giving this bike to a mate who ended up crashing it.
When I started poly I got a Honda XL125 (cheap) in bits which I put together and used for 3 years, this bike was stolen 4 times when I lived in Brighton and each time it came back in a worse state, in the end I had to sell her, no money to keep repairing. Shame, was a nice little reliable bike.
I had a brief affair with a fizzy but it was a modern one and hard to de restrict, even that got stolen but the rossers were able catch up the theives on foot in the local park, so they dumped the bike and I got it back before they trashed it, ended up selling it.
When I moved to the SW I decided to take my test and bought a KMX125, loved this bike, would wheely when asked to and had a wicked power band. When I passed my test, was keen to get something bigger so I sold it which I kinda regret.
So the next bigger bike was a Suzuki RG400 (two stroke), what a machine, fast, twitchy as hell and very unforgiving if you went round a corner in the wrong gear, the gearbox was a nightmare which really did not help. However she had a brilliant power band and would lift up in 3/4 gear. This (chained up) bike was stolen from outside my house in Torquay, was probably a van job, These bikes and the RG500 (Barry Shene special) now go for serious money.
Then got a VFR400 (NC30) which I still have, nice bike, handles well and fun to ride, I am gonna try and keep this.
I also have KLX250 which I am currently selling. A BSA A65 which is my first and only british bike which I plan to restore and I have a TTR250 which generally needs work doing on it each time I take it out laning, but in a way that's part of the fun (for me anyways).
Looking back, most of my bikes were cheap, mostly due to she previous owners not having the money or know how how to fix them, interestingly I can now afford to buy something more modern and more reliable but I am still attracted to the older bikes (am thinking of getting a 2 stroke).
I can also clearly remember what each bike felt like to ride, the vibration, the posture, the smell, even the first ones and that is going back a long time....
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Trusty TTR250, KLX250, NC30 (pocket rocket), BSA A65 (in bits).
CZ 175 as a field bike
Honda MB5
Honda CB100n, still got the scars from crashing it
Suzuki GP100 (actually my brothers, but borrowed it a lot)
Z400
lots of CX500s and one CX500c (18 months despatching in London)
Suxuki GSX600F
Kawasaki GTR1000 (crap) got stolen
Honds CBR1000f
bit of a gap
ZZR1100d, now owned for 4 years (20 years old and still a beastie)
TTR 250 opem enduro (still got)
TTR250 Raid (bougt acouple of weeks ago, always good to have a spare)
I guess I'll be classified as an old dude with most of my bikes being of the old skool type, but anyway here is my puny list:-
Triumph 350 T21 with bathtub which was soon removed
Matchless G80s 500 single
Triumph 'trials' Tiger Cub
BSA A65
BSA A10 Roadrocket
Ducati 748
CCM 404
(Not many but all great fun. I have to admit that I started out on a Lambretta 175 but only for 6 months until I passed my test. Don't hold it against me)
12 1/2 years old; Summer of 76, next door neighbour gave me an early CD175 with the engine out & in bits.
Happy days with mates in that long hot summer rolling down a hill in field and pretending (for all of 10 seconds!) that it was the real deal
Swapped it for Mobylette moped that had an engine that...worked, oh yeah... proper power for the 1st time!!!
14 years old, Graduate to a 2 speed NSU 'Quickly' manage to flatten back wheel jumping out of bomb hole, it also catches fire as petrol drips onto flywheel magneto throw it into puddle at the bottom of bomb hole, chuck water on it to put it out, carry on riding as the fire risk ranked lower than the amount of fun we were having.
Bantam D7 '3 speeds', yeh..
Bantam D14 '4 speeds' yipee
BSA C12 with reverse cone megaphone, sounded like a real bike, just didn't go like one
16 years old, Gilera 50 moped (crap)
FS1E (fished out of river, long story!).
TS100 great until it stuck on full throttle!
BSA C25 Baraccuda (surprisingly fast)
BSA B25 Starfire
Triumph 250 Trailblazer
Triumph T140V, all over the UK on it, took a lot of looking after though to do a high mileage!)
Norton Jubilee (we all make mistakes)
BSA B50SS with MX engine and CCM big valve head. terrific bike... until it exploded in the fast lane on the M4!! (snapped the primary chain & crankpin)
CCM 580 with B50MX engine (swapped it for the Norton Jubilee's numberplate COY 50D which went onto a JPS Lotus Europa... which caught on fire!)
Bought my first bike a Beta 50 Enduro at 15 with evening and weekend jobs, had to make do with riding up and down my parents driveway until I hit the road at 1 minute past midnight on my 16th birthday
swapped for a fizzie then at 17 got a RD250 followed by
X7
RD400F
XS400
CB750F1
Z650
RD350LC
GS1000E
RD400F (no 2)
GPZ600R
had a break for several years then came back on a
GPZ 400
T595 Daytona
Tiger 955i
then got into Greenlaning
CCM 230 x2
TTR 250
XT660Z Tenere
DRZ 400S and a Triumph Scrambler
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Adventure before dementia. KTM 500 exc>Devon TRF Member.
Riding since 1977 (age 13 on my sisters DT100, she now has a CRF230).
I couldn't wait to be 16 & have my own bike but managed to wait 3 weeks for the new registration.
TS50ER - 1st August 1980 (LOD269W)
TS250ER - Bought cheap of a mate who won it in a raffle
GSX250 (Passed test on this, 1981) - Blew up an hour later, caught in a fire at Albion Motorcycles whilst being repaired.
XL185 - Replaced the GSX
RD350LC - Oh what fun, bought new in October 1981, it's still on the DVLA database. (HHT896X)
CB400 four - Everyone of a certain age had one, didn't they?
Z500 - Blew up just outside Birmingham on the way to the bike show
DT175 - Bought as a project, had no front wheel, kick start, big end bearing shot but sold it for a profit
MTX200 - Fun
GPX750 - Always wanted a GPZ1100, tried one, bought this. Went to Le Mans 24hr GP in 1984 on it
GPZ1000RX - The beast, ended up with 11 points so had to be sensible
VFR750 - Good all rounder
GSXR750 - Superb, rode it around Brands Hatch, saw 165 on the speedo, Toured Wales with SWMBO, we both loved it
XJR1300 - Love the looks, loved riding it. Spent my 40th birthday riding around Northern France on it. If I were to get another road bike it could well be another one of these.
XR400 - Time for a change, loved the bike, didn't like lack of kick start
CRF250X - Great bike that I didn't have the ability to ride anywhere near it's potential
TTR250 - great all round trail bike
WR250R - Even better all round trail bike
WR450F - loads of power, great fun
KTM 250 EXC-F
I may have forgotten one or two
-- Edited by Steve H on Tuesday 23rd of December 2014 11:54:13 PM
1 St bike was a homemade 34cc pit style bike that my dad made! Honda chaly 50cc Mtx80 Fantic 250 trials bike Bulltaco Sherpa t 350 Kmx 125 Nc24 400 Nc30 RC 30 shouldn't have sold that one!!!! Fzr1000 exup Fireblade 1st gen ...mental bike Had a break for a while....... Daytona 600 Benelli tornado Ducati 999s Fireblade SPeed triple 1050 Ducati multistrada gt, good riddance ! Now have a Bmw 1300s And my trusty xr250
-- Edited by Andybow on Monday 22nd of December 2014 06:10:13 PM
Bantam (always took a bus map)
BSA A10 Gold Flash combo (caught fire)
C15 (50 mile service intervals)
AJS 650 combo (cracker)
Norton M50 350 (slow and reliable but the featherbed kept it straight)
Montesa Cota 247 (1st new bike - pretty)
CD175 (went to Spain on it)*
Suzuki 50 stepthrough (ate sparkplugs faster than I could eat Mars bars. Rebuilt after being smashed up by a Clan Crusader)
OSSA MAR (1972 still in garage awaiting that BIG rebuild)
BSA Victor Grand Prix (fabulously fast and very reliable. 2 years racing and just gave it regular oil changes and an annual NGK posh spark plug)
Kawa 350-3 (vv fast. replaced carburettors with funnels to cut down on fuel consumption)
Honda CB450 Black Bomber (sexy and stolen)
GPZ750 (lovely lovely fast fast)
K100 (comfy but mighty heavy. Did 55 miles in 30 minutes just by Frankfurt Airport (2 up with camping gear coming back from the Elephant Rally))*
Italjet 50 Williams replica (hidden in garage if anyone interested)
R1100rs (really nice - just like a VW)*
Derbi Terra Adventure 125 (pretty and gentle green laner)