My list of bikes

[Image]

My list of bikes with dates. What's interesting is the slow and steady build up of cc which was the norm in those days. Nowadays it's straight onto a 600 then a 1000 soon after.

My Bikes
1978 - 1979 Puch Grand Prix 50
1979 - 1980 Suzuki AP50
1980 - 1981 Honda CJ250
1981 - 1982 Yamaha US Custom 250
1982 - 1984 Yamaha US Custom 400
1984 - 1985 Yamaha XS 250
1985 - 1987 Yamaha RD400
1987 - 1995 Triumph Bonneville 750
2001 - 2002 Honda CB250
2002 - 2003 Suzuki GS550E
2003 - 2009 Kawasaki GPZ 900R
2009 - 2011 Honda CBR 1000
2011 - 2013 Honda VTR1000F

[Image]

Another change in culture now is for people to own both a car and a bike and only ride the bike on sunny days. When I began biking, bikers had one vehicle (their bike) and they used it for everything all year.
I wonder if this change in culture, especially the leaping onto a big bike from the start, is why it's necessary nowadays to have such strict licensing laws.

[seb421]

2002-2004 Suzuki RM250, 2000 Model
2004-2007 Honda CRF450, Band New
2008-2013 Honda VTR1000 Firestorm, 2000 on a 52 plate
2010-2011 Honda CB250N Superdream, 1978!
2013 - K5 Gixxer 1000 or RR7 Blade

[berko_lad]

This is my list... not very spectacular I know but it's steady!

'75 Puch Maxi
'76-'77 CZ 175
'77-'78 BSA B25
'78- '79 Honda 250 K4
'79 - '80 Dresda 750 Bonneville
'80-'81- Suzuki GS 550

Had a long break then after a VERY close shave on the M1!

'99 - '00 - Kawasaki KL250
'00 - '04 - Yamaha FZ750 Rat fighter
'04 - '06 - Yamaha XS400 street scrambler
'06 - '10 - Yamaha VMax
'12 - current - VTR

I only ever have one bike at a time because I like tweaking just as much as I like riding. My worst bike was the Bonnie thanks to horrifically bodged wiring which left me stranded more times than I care to remember and a clutch which simply refused to stop dragging no matter what I did or tried. The BSA also had its moments thanks to the stupid oil seal set-up on the end of the crank but when it was on song, it was brilliant to ride.

My favourite bike was the XS400 simply because it was such a blast to blat around on, especially in London. Sadly, being a lard butt I looked a bit daft on it and so when the engine blew, my wife suggested I sell it and buy something more suitable! Hence the Max which was awesome. My VTR is rapidly closing in on the fun stakes though, it has pretty much everything!

The comment about bikes being sole transport is spot on. I remember riding in all weathers and not thinking twice about it!

[AMCQ46]

good thread, and like you say you are going to see a difference from the older generation to the newer lads.

i will have to try and work out the dates, but i guess i started riding bikes at 13 on the farm so the first ones would be about 1974

1973 - 1974 new farm bike - Suzuki TS100 [but a farm bike version with a high & low range gear selector, single seat and big back rack].
1974 - new as a farm bike Honda XL100
1975 - new Honda ATC110....their 1st baloon tyred all terrain trike
1975 2nd hand Beamish Suzuki RL325.....we would take half a day to get it started
1976 2nd hand montessa scrambler - again it was in bits more than it was ridden
1978 - 1979- new Simson S50B1 in slow blue [was a devision of MZ], this was my first road bike, but obviously most of the farm bikes got some use on the roads as we lived in the middle of nowhere
1979 -1980 - new Suzuki X5 200 in fast yellow
1980 - 1981 - 2nd hand Honda 400 superdream in slow blue
1981 - 1983- zero miles, new but old reg, RD350LC in fast white [with a bit of blue]
1983 - 1986 - 2nd hand Suzuki GS1000S red & white icecram van - this got knicked from infront of my house in broad dayight when i moved to birmingham
1987 - 1989 2nd hand Suzuki GSX750ES in fast red
1989 - 1994 home brewed MZ250 road race single in fast purple
1994 - 2000 2nd hand Kawasaki KDX200E2 enduro bike for grean laning in fast green
2001 - 2002 2nd hand Alfer 250 enduro in disgusting purple, white, black & yellow livery
2002 - now ..2nd hand Honda VTR1000 fast yellow
2003 - now.. new GasGas EC200 enduro for greenlaning and enduro . more fast yellow
2008 - 2009...2nd hand 2003 Beta rev 3 250 trials bike . slow yellow
2009 - now...2nd hand 2006 GasGas TXT Pro 250 trials bike . slow red
2009 - now ... 2nd hand 1976 Kawasaki KH125 rebuild project . slow orange

up until 2002 i only ever had 1 bike at a time and the focus moved from road riding to road racing then to greenlaning, but in 2002 I decided to stop being a tight Scot and started adding bikes to my collection and even if i wasnt using them for a couple of years I would still keep them as I know I will go back to that dicipline again when I get bored of one of the others.

Also from 20 onwards I have to admit to cheating in that I would buy a winter car each year to save the bike. would be anything with 6 mnths MOT and I would run it through the winter and sell it for scrap at the end. but in my defence the winters up where I was born were serious and we lived above the snow line!

[lloydie]

no idea of the dates but i will try
my first - currant
1995-1998 yamaha t80 passed my test on that .
1998-1999 yamaha rd125lc blown that up running nitro fuel
1999-1999.5 yamaha xs250 cafe racer rode it once
1999.5-2000 suzuki rg125
2000-2002 suzuki rg250 gamma crashed that into the side of a escort in winter
so pass car test and gave up on bikes for a while .
2008-2008 honda cbr600
2008-2009 x2 cbr400 tri arms
2008-2010 hondaq cbr400/600
2010-2011 honda cbr900rrs blade
2011--- honda vtr1000f

i like to think i progressed through the ranks as one should and did 7 years all weather riding till i had a bad off .
now im just a summer softy

[whitestorm pete]

Another change in culture now is for people to own both a car and a bike and only ride the bike on sunny days. When I began biking, bikers had one vehicle (their bike) and they used it for everything all year.
I wonder if this change in culture, especially the leaping onto a big bike from the start, is why it's necessary nowadays to have such strict licensing laws.

its an interesting point i only have a bike license and people just dont get it! i will do my car test at some point but im in no rush. I come from a family where know one has a car so it feels normal to not have a car
my list of bikes.........
honda ns50 grey import
honda nsr125
honda vfr 400 nc30
honda hornet 600
honda firestorm 1000

[Image]

Now I'm older I can afford the luxury of a bike and a car but I like to think I cut my teeth in the days when I had a bike only and I can ride with someone today and tell the difference between old school and new school by the way they ride. Having said that, there's some newer riders who still cut their teeth by starting with a modest cc bike and riding it all year as their sole transport but they're few in number. The mid-life crisis guys are the worst, they pass their test, get a 600 gixer and leathers with 'Racing Team' written all over it and blast around the country lanes on sunny days which would be fine but their riding skills are shite!

[lloydie]

Now I'm older I can afford the luxury of a bike and a car but I like to think I cut my teeth in the days when I had a bike only and I can ride with someone today and tell the difference between old school and new school by the way they ride.

I can see the same my mate and his dad both rides bikes and both drive first and ride second .
When we are out on a ride its very frustrating riding with them as they ride like they are driving a car .
And both did the direct access test and brought a 600 the next day .

[Ckennedy]

I started to ride first. Had the option of a car and turned it down.
Started on a Peugeot speedake 50cc rev and go.
Moved onto a Yamaha ybr125
From that a restricted Suzuki sv650s
Then had it de-restricted
Now I have the firestorm and I have only had a car for a year and a half.

Feel move comfortable on a bike but a car was a must have. Admittidly it makes life a lot easier (more expensive too).

[Virt]

Not really worth me listing it but

2012 - Honda Hornet 600 (1999)
2013 - Honda Firestorm (2005)

told you so. I don't agree with you on the norm of jumping onto 600's then 1000's (even though that us exactly what I'm doing. Oops) my friend has a 500 and intend to only move up to something like an 800 at most next and my brother moved on from a 600 hornet to an 800 VFR VTEC. It's fairly common but not necessarily the norm, everyone I know thinks I'm mad for jumping onto a VTR after one year (they're right) but that's only because it's my dream bike. Otherwise I'd move onto something else and rise progressively.

Also, I only own a bike and there isn't a weather condition that has stopped me yet I remember one of my lessons on a CG125 and the instructor asked if I wanted to go back, hell no! The only way to gain knowledge and experience is through doing it. I don't wanna be a fair weather rider because bikes are still great in the rain or whatever, it's just an attitude thing

[AMCQ46]

thinking about it I was only 21 when I got my first 1000cc bike, but it felt like i had done my apprenticeship on all the smaller bikes up to that point, and I had already been riding for 6 or 7yr in all conditions.

I also have to say that riding a bike off road is a great training ground for bike skills, you learn about grip and sliding, you leand great clutch and brake modulation, you learn about balance and control, you learn to use the powerbands and you learn how to crash [and that it hurts]..........but you dont learn , so you still need to develop those skills on the road.

[VTRDark]

you learn about grip and sliding, you leand great clutch and brake modulation, you learn about balance and control, you learn to use the powerbands and you learn how to crash

Sounds like despatch riding.

(:-})

[BigVeeGrin]

I got into it from my dad - used to be pillion on Honda CD175, Jawa 350 and some MZ thing at some point. As a teenager used to ride my mates X5 (I think) and RD250. Then at 21 got mine after university, my mum wouldn't let me and my brother have one when we were 16 so it took years of cajoling and washing up!

Kawasaki KE100 - used to commute on this from Sussex to north London over the winter. wombles it was cold back then
KE175 - loved this to bits, totally massacred it. Sorry!
CB250N Super Dream - big end went coming back to sussex from Devon, it managed to limp home, took ten hours or so, gave it to my brother
XL250 in here somewhere - shared it with my brother
GPz305 - little commuter, loved it, belt drive as well
Gpz500 - first one in green, company offered me a company car, refused and told them I wanted a bike so they gave me a cheque and I went off to some big dealer in Clapham
GPz900 - had to, it was my first man bike. Awesome.
Honda MTX200 -two-stroke import had at same time as GPz900, used it for belting around London. Was a lot of fun
Ducati 907ie - first venture into twins, totally fell in love with the low down grunt
15 year gap
Firestorm - and now regret big time having the gap. What conventional life can do to you if you're not careful.

[geodude]

1990 - Honda CB400N - Gift from brother. Rode it around a bit
1991 - Yamaha DT50 - Off road.
1992 - Honda Vision - After CBT
- Honda XL185 - Off road
1994 - Yamaha RD125 - Did about 20 miles on it before the CDI fried
- Suzuki RM400 - Off road. Almost broke my leg starting this fooker.
1995 - Suzuki RG125 Gamma - Race tuned by Stan Stephens at Brands. Good for 105 (down the A3 near Butser Hill)
1996 - Yamaha DT125R - After dislocating me knee teaching martial arts (inward crescent kick) I couldn't sit on the RG so got this.
1997 - Honda CBR400RR NC23 - Passed my full bike test and already had 11 points on my licence.

10 years off to deal with life, wife and kids.
2007 - Honda CBR400RR NC23 - reminiscing
2008 - Honda VFR400 NC24 - Project bike. Lara's birth forced sale of both 400s
- Honda VTR1000F Firestorm - A faster yellow version of the awesome Honda v-twin we all know and love
2009 - Suzuki Bandit 600N - Swapped Firestorm for this with a mate. I wanted to learn to wheelie properly without fear of killing the VTR. I killed the bandit instead. Broke frame and eventually sold it to fund the DR350
2010 - BMW F650GS 30th Anniversary edition - Bought as a 50 mile a day commuting tool. Sold as commute now only 6 miles and wanted a Firestorm
2011 - Suzuki DR350 - I actually learned to wheelie properly on this baby. Green lanes
2012 - Suzuki DR-Z400SM - Green lanes and Supermoto hooliganism
- Aprilia RSV1000 2003 Tuono Fighter - Firestorm on steroids with upright position. Can't wait for the summer.

Current rides
Suzuki DR-Z400SM
Aprilia RSV1000 2003 Tuono Fighter