Best Bike you ever owned?

[Sumfun4me]

Just reading the thread on the 848 Vs 999s write up, which got me thinking about some of my previous loves. My 1098s is the 18th roady that I've owned in the past 25 years (albeit with an 8 year absence). Of all these bikes, there is one that still sticks out in my mind:
1989 Ducati 851 Strada.
This bike was such a joy to ride - every time I got off it I had a smile on my face. The fact that I came off a highly modified GPZ1000RX onto the Duc didn't seem to matter at all as far as the power difference.
So anyways, how about posting up some memories of your favourite all-time ride so we can all take a trip down memory lane?

[Desmogod]

Honestly, the handling, poise and sheer grunt of the 748 has me dumbfounded every time I ride it.
This is my first "Ohlins'd" bike, and I have to say, they really are as good as people say, combine that with an amazing chassis and a torquey motor, and it really is the best bike I (the bank) have ever owned.
The RGV comes a pretty close 2nd.

[Ausinanas]

A 95 Fireblade for me part x'd a gpz900 for it on a spur of the moment thing
seen it loved it put it on the credit card that day..
polished rims n swingarm n a jacked up rear end it just looked awesome but it was always a childhood dream of mine
"THE FIREBLADE!!"
used to make me laugh as the lads i was riding with spent twice as much as me on bike's
r1's 749's newer blade's but if ever we stopped it was mine everyone looked at...

[DJ749s]

This Duke 749S is the bomb, it's like riding a wild stallion, and deserving of great respect and care, the riding position is extreme but I can't wipe the grin off my face even after a short ride.

DJ

[Desmogod]

Does the S have Ohlins?

EDIT: p.s. love the avatar.

[cruelcheffy]

Well, I have ridden some that gave me a boner, but I didn't own them.
I have to say my ZRX 12000R now, but the original Eddy Lawson I owned in 83 had me creaming myself. She was just so improved on the other big Kwakas I had before.

[Deej]

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[DJ749s]

Nah the S has showa's, I think the R has Ohlins, to be honest I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference yet being new to the superbike thing.

DJ

[Gixxer 7]

Loved my old RG 250, but the best bike I’ve had is on of my current ones….

My k6 GSXR 750.

Great power, and the handling is like no other…. Absolutely brilliant bike.

.

[Maxo]

I knew my zx9 like the back of my hand.

And then someone killed it.

[Rock]

Many moons ago I had an '82 Honda CBX 1000 Supersport. Did many Syd/Bris trips on it, winter and summer, day and night, hot and freezing, it never missed a beat. But for outright passion, the day I picked up my new 88 851 was a day of trembling joy. It did not like the rain though, or the cold, or the heat....

[Sumfun4me]

Where's all the other old farts? I thought we'd likely hear some good stories about the might beeza bantam or sumfin...

[perdition]

i really like my trx850's i ve owned, the yzf750 was a neat n fun 4 but right here n now its the sc1000 for sheers grin and fun factor and its gonna be even betterer soon .....ps i'd really like to owe a duc 851/888 one day :-)

[joneen13]

Out of the three bikes I've owned so far (a 1998 ZZR250, a 1996 ZX7R and currently a 2007 ZX10R Limited Edition) there is really no comparison...

The ZZR was a temporary "I'm stuck on a 250 for a year, this'll do" bike, which in fact didn't do at all, so I upgraded to the 7, more out of desparation than anything, but I was detirmined to get a 750cc, I just hadn't anticipated that it would be so soon (less than 6 months of being a licensed RE).

Now don't get me wrong, I loved the 7 and it was the perfect R class ride to begin with because it taught me real handling because of its mass weight and sheer size (being that it was a tank), it loved the track and it went hard... when it went. It came down hard once and survived with barely a mark or two. I was devastated, but she was a-ok, and thankfully repairable. But it was time to let her go to introduce:

STELLA!

My Stallion of a machine! Stella was brought into my life a few months ago now and she is the most beautiful peice of machinery I have ever come across. It was actually on a whim that I acuired her as I wasn't particularly looking for a new ride at the time, it was more of a right place, right time, too good to pass up opportunity, and I haven't looked back since). She has sublime handling and she's easy and carefree to ride, although she does tend to let my right hand get the better of me without me noticing a lot of the time, but hey, it's only illegal if you get caught, right lol! She is an amazing bike to ride and she is so, so beautiful. It honestly doesnt bother me when someone makes a stupid remark about her being a Kawasaki, because in my eyes, she's perfect.

So yes, I'm quite proud and honoured to say, my bike of choice is my current, the ZX10R

[thro]

Bang for buck, RGV. No question. It turns harder than my 07 CBR600RR and has *just the right amount* of power to have fun around suburbia without getting put in jail.

You really have to *ride* the thing to be even somewhat quick on it, rather than cruising around in third gear half asleep on the 600. But make no mistake, when ridden hard it is quite quick.


Whilst most of the time on the honda, the feedback from it is "you pussy, you should have gone in 30km/h quicker and gassed it harder", you feel more "rewarded" when getting through a series of bends on the RGV without dropping out of the power band.

The CBR is definitely the better bike though - but at 7-8x the price and 17 years newer, its to be expected

[potato]

Originally Posted by Sumfun4me

Where's all the other old farts? I thought we'd likely hear some good stories about the might beeza bantam or sumfin...

i had an old ratty ex cop honda 750 4 in the early 80's.

new jappers then were just a few thousand bucks but most of my mates were into z9's etc and old pigs we could pick up for a few hundred.

change a tyre, service them and maybe a paint job.

never stop for anyone, let them catch you if they could

this 750 had a bigger rim and tyre on the back.

i lived in stoneville and my sis lived in kalamunda, had tea there at her place 3 or 4 times a week.

the bike spent most of its time on the wier rd going back and forth between the houses on its foot pegs and muffler around the bends,
i used to love spraying sparks at the cars that were behind me.

doing that road late at night with a bottle of red and a roast in me was dangerous but fun

[Sprint]

Jota.

S.

[Giant]

Sumfun

You sound almost like me. Ive had 18 roadbikes in 23 years of riding. The best I'd have to say would have been my 89 Suzuki GSXR750.



Um, why? ... probably because its the bike Ive kept the longest (about 2 and a bit years)

[Veefore]

Originally Posted by Sumfun4me

Where's all the other old farts? I thought we'd likely hear some good stories about the might beeza bantam or sumfin...

My all time favourite bike was an Italjet GP50 50cc motocross bike.
That thing was a genuine factory works bike that we obtained through a deal with the local agent. I won nearly every race I entered on that thing, often by a large margin. The bike was eventually sold and parted out and the engine used in a more modern standard type frame to win the nationals with a friend of mine riding. The original frame was made to suit me and no one else could ride it properly.


As for road bikes it is a toss up between my 1960 Velocette Viper or my 1973 Norton Commando 750. The Velo was such a classy bike but I just love the Norton. It was a real basketcase when I got it and I have learnt a lot about rebuilding things rather than just buying replacement parts when things stop working. I have had to make major modifications to the wiring, rebuild the motor after discovering a cracked crank case and primary case and rebuild the forks as they were locked solid.
At the moment I love just riding it how it is and fixing what breaks but I am slowly putting away some money to do a complete resto on it in the next year or two and restore it to its former glory as a true british superbike.

Oh yeah, and it is the best sounding bike I have ever heard!

[flashthebiker]

1975 CB 750 Four. My first bike. We did everything together including all those things a bloke between 18 and 22 did. Some were fun some were stupid, some I got away with some I got busted for... now as the memories filter out the bad stuff, it were just an awesome bike

BikePics - 1975 Honda CB 750