Motorcycle Thread

[ian.stockwell]

I have just bought a motorcycle after many years in the wilderness and it got me wondering as to how many others on this forum also have powered two wheelers.
Here it is, Triumph Legend, 900cc triple about 8 years old and has done about 16,000 miles.
The Mrs is glad about the small sissy bar as it means I won't lose her off the back.
Post your pictures here.

[Mikefule]

Nice looking bike. A bit shiny.

I have a BMW F800S - see photos.

Previously I've owned:

Honda CB400N, 4 stroke 400cc twin. Took it to John O'Groats and all across the top of Scotland and over to Skye and Mull. A good old fashioned 1970s style bike. It was eventually trashed by vandals.

MZ ETZ251, 2 stroke air cooled single. This took me to John O'Groats and over to Orkney, and down to Lands End. I also did Hardknott Pass on it one hot day. It was stolen two or three times but I just ran after them. Eventually, and with almost immediate regret, I traded it in for:

MuZ Skorpion, 660cc 4 stroke single with a Yamaha engine. I never liked it, and I worked out later that I lost £100 a month in depreciation over 2 years, and it cost me £1 a day in tyres and £2 a week in chain and sprocket sets. A disaster.

Gilera Runner VX200. 4 stroke single twist and go scooter. Brilliant bike: slim, nippy, well designed. It would do either 80mph or 80mpg, depending on the two position twist switch on the right hand grip! It was stolen and torched, then the torched remains were stolen by gypsies before it could be recovered.

Vespa GT125 modern twist and go scooter. Well designed, good handling, but I soon explored its limitations. You only live twice: once when you are born, and once when you are on a 125 in the overtaking lane on the motorway and the scooter says "No." I gave it to a young friend, who was knocked off it and it was written off. He made a fortune on the insurance.

BMW F800S in red. 800cc 4 stroke parallel twin. I did 4,500 miles in 4.5 months, then it was stolen and written off. Two chavs were seen wheeling it away. They pushed it two miles over a hill then abandoned it, but the frame had been ruined when they ripped the steering lock, and the wiring was rubberducked when they tried to hotwire it.

BMW F800S in yellow: same as above, but with an alarm. The mileage dropped off a bit last year, and the paint dropped off this winter. Lovely bike, but no bike lasts on salted roads.

[Mikefule]

These aren't my actual bikes as described above, but same models and colours.

[johnfoss]

Mikefule, ever considered moving to a neighborhood with less thieves and vandals? Dang!

I've never owned one, but when I worked for Nassau Motorcycle School on Long Island, my main ride was a Honda Rebel 250, probably from the late 1980s. Rode it all over the place, and occasionally on the freeway, but it was a little low-powered for that. We also had a Honda Twinstar (200cc) and a one-cylinder Kawasaki 250, though I can't remember the model name on that one. It had a slightly bent crankshaft, so it often had trouble with the electric start. I'd have to run with it, and jump on and pop the clutch at the same time. The one cylinder meant high compression, so you had to do it just right for it to work and it was a brutal workout!

Also we later got a Kawasaki Vulcan 750, which was like a Cadillac compared to the little bikes. But that was basically the owner's bike and I didn't get to ride it much. However, I did get to ride pretty much every model of Harley there was, including some custom-built ones, and all sorts of other bikes my students bought! I miss that part.

[ian.stockwell]

In the spirit of Mike's reply other bikes that I've owned, in no particular order:

Honda CD175 - Twin cylinder with, unusually for bikes, only 1 carb and a four speed gearbox. It had the worst brakes I've ever encountered.

Honda CB400F - Four cylinder in line. Design quirk - the pillion pegs were on the swinging arm, so hit a big bump and the Mrs would nearly fly off the back (not surprisingly they changed that with the f2 model.

Honda VF400 - V4 with something called a fully enclosed front disc brake. Worked OK but try changing the pads. ARRgghhhhh. Also as with any V4 the rear exhausts were a sod to get at. Bikw went well though.

Honda Goldwing 1100 - Plain one with no fairing, but mine had a sidecar bolted onto the side.

Yamaha XS650 - Japanese Bonnie. Vibrated like crazy but was fun to ride.

Yamaha RD400 - Two stroke rocket with rubbish brakes - Scaaaaaarrry.

Suzuki 250X7 - Air cooled twin - wheelie machine

Honda 250N - The smaller brother of Mike's 400. Underpowered as it was really just a sleeved down 400.

[Jeremy R]

http://www.evalbum.com/2350


My bro's EVcycle!

[dangerdog]

I've ridden motorcycles almost daily from about the age of 13.My progression went something like this.Home made mini bikes,Honda SL350,Honda XL 175,Kawasaki Z650 1978 my first road registered bike,Suzuki GSXR750L 1990 this bike I rode daily till last year ,it now sits proudly in my garage with 230,000km on the clock.My current transport is a Suzuki SV1000S.



Video of the GSXR in action

YouTube - sports bike commute

[Panotaker]

Here are a couple of my bikes. A 1972 Honda 750 Four.
And a 1988 Honda Goldwing.
Ralph

[monocyclism]

A motorcycle engine attached to minimalistic bodywork. My replica Morgan three wheeler powered by a Honda CX650 engine.

[Into the blue]

Hey, where's your other wheel?

Sorry.

[monocyclism]

Originally Posted by Into the blue

Hey, where's your other wheel?

Sorry.

I used it to make a unicycle

[Panotaker]

Originally Posted by monocyclism

A motorcycle engine attached to minimalistic bodywork. My replica Morgan three wheeler powered by a Honda CX650 engine.

That thing looks pretty cool. Is that a kit or do they sell them like that. Here in the states we do everything backwards. Most of the trikes here are made the other way around. They normally have one wheel in front, and two in the back. They basically still look like a motorcycle with handlebars and the riding position is the same, with the passenger sitting behind the driver.
Ralph

[Mikefule]

Originally Posted by Panotaker

That thing looks pretty cool. Is that a kit or do they sell them like that. Here in the states we do everything backwards. Most of the trikes here are made the other way around. They normally have one wheel in front, and two in the back. They basically still look like a motorcycle with handlebars and the riding position is the same, with the passenger sitting behind the driver.
Ralph

Ah, the important difference between a "trike" (something with 3 wheels) and a "three wheeler" (something else with 3 wheels)! The car in the picture is a "three wheeler".

We have trikes like you mean. We also have three wheelers in both configurations. 2 at the front and 1 at the back is sometimes called a "tadpole".

Two nations separated by a common language. (Oh, and a bloody big ocean.)

[tomblackwood]

I had this one, but with a full fairing and king/queen seat. Drove it across the USA twice, plus a lot of touring in the intermountain west. Put 60K miles on it with nary a hitch.

Then I downsized to this one. Three cylinder two-stroke, neck snapping acceleration.




Sigh...I miss them both terribly.

[knoxuni]

I got a 77 honda CB 360 cafe racer
and a 06 WR motard and a 330 KTM motard 2 stroke