Show us your bike porn (of the motored variety)

fastboy

Just been on photo bucket today for the first time in yonks to upload some pics for info and to try and sell some pedals and was flicking through old albums so given the fairly decent thread on motorbikes recently I thought we could do a post your bike porn pics up thread to drool over. 

I don't bike anymore sadly (back operation 4 years ago put an end to that) but still love to look at the fine form of bikes. So I thought I'd kick off with a few of the bikes I had pics of in Photobucket:

Aprilia RSVR - V Twins, always good for waking the neighbourhood up with early in the morning

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/fastboy_2006/aprilia008.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/fastboy_2006/aprilia002.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/fastboy_2006/aprilia003.jpg

Suzuki GSXR K4 1000 - This was my last bike and was a bit of a beast as it had a full arrow titanium race system on it and power commander. 

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/fastboy_2006/GSXR004.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/fastboy_2006/GSXR002.jpg

strumjoughlamps

mine is only a wussy 125... but I does like it and its dirt cheap to keep.

[img]

jd0272

This'll make me sad as she'll not let me :x

Panama_Jack666

I've always wanted an RSV. Yours looks beautiful. I've never had a go on one, what's it like to ride?

I can't complain at what I've got though...

K2 (the best year - none of that emissions restriction stuff) GSXR 750.

http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a555/Panama_Jack666/IMAG0435_zpsbku60e57.jpg

fastboy

Panama_Jack666 said:

I've always wanted an RSV. Yours looks beautiful. I've never had a go on one, what's it like to ride?

I can't complain at what I've got though...

K2 (the best year - none of that emissions restriction stuff) GSXR 750.

http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a555/Panama_Jack666/IMAG0435_zpsbku60e57.jpg

Beautiful  

Always fancied a Rizla paint job but the right bike when I was in the market never materialised. 

The Aprilia was great although a very, very different riding proposition to the Jap bikes. It's not as fast by any stretch as a Jap 1000 and probably similar performance to your 750 or an exceptionally fast 600 but what is good about v twins is the torque. Doesn't matter what gear your in or the revs it just pulls and you get instant response. You ride them differently as well, there is so much engine breaking on a V Twin that you can roll off and drop a load of speed instantly. A few of my riding mates said the number of times they nearly went into the back of me because instead of jabbing the brake you'd roll off was surprisingly a lot... Size wise, they are big bikes compared to a Jap bike as well but they handle brilliantly and you quickly get used to them.

Then there's the noise, although it shows the standard battering ram exhaust (I kid you not when I say the can weighed something like 12 or 15 kgs!) I had an Akrapovic race ran on this one (this was obviously my for sale pic) and an air box mod which made the whole tank you can see (the tank is a false fuel tank on the Aprilia as the actual tank was below in the frame) one HUGE airbox. 

This thing was so loud on full chat it probably makes a Marshall plexi sound quiet and I did get a few noise complaints from the neighbours when I used to early morning commute on it

The one thing I will say is the biggest plus on the Aprilia is the build quality. It literally knocked spots off anything Japanese for how well everything was put together. It was the easiest bike to work on as everything fitted perfectly together and no bending of panels to get fairings back on etc etc. They also used very high quality components built to stand the test of time so no worries with corrosion either. The engines on them are made by Rotrax (an Austrian company) and regarded as the most bulletproof of 1000cc V twin engines so no Ducati type worries on reliability either. 

The only known problem with these was one of the relays (mine went and the bike won't start - fortunately I was at home at the time) but Hitachi did an uprated relay which was about £40 as a part and a 20 minute job to fit yourself so a lot of owners do this as a precautionary measure if they buy one although I suspect most of the early bikes have already had this done as the OE part wasn't up to par so most would have crapped out a long time ago. My local Aprilia dealership were very up front and honest about the relay when mine went and said they'd actually refuse to sell you an OE relay only the Hitachi one as they didn't want the grief if it went quickly. I had already done my homework so went in telling them I wanted the Hitachi part anyway.

IanSavage

Not exactly bike porn as it's most of the way to a rat / survival bike, but mine:

 

 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/smokingbeagle/IMG-20140623-00075_zps2b295396.jpg

Panama_Jack666

fastboy said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

I've always wanted an RSV. Yours looks beautiful. I've never had a go on one, what's it like to ride?

I can't complain at what I've got though...

K2 (the best year - none of that emissions restriction stuff) GSXR 750.

http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a555/Panama_Jack666/IMAG0435_zpsbku60e57.jpg

Beautiful  

Always fancied a Rizla paint job but the right bike when I was in the market never materialised. 

The Aprilia was great although a very, very different riding proposition to the Jap bikes. It's not as fast by any stretch as a Jap 1000 and probably similar performance to your 750 or an exceptionally fast 600 but what is good about v twins is the torque. Doesn't matter what gear your in or the revs it just pulls and you get instant response. You ride them differently as well, there is so much engine breaking on a V Twin that you can roll off and drop a load of speed instantly. A few of my riding mates said the number of times they nearly went into the back of me because instead of jabbing the brake you'd roll off was surprisingly a lot... Size wise, they are big bikes compared to a Jap bike as well but they handle brilliantly and you quickly get used to them.

Then there's the noise, although it shows the standard battering ram exhaust (I kid you not when I say the can weighed something like 12 or 15 kgs!) I had an Akrapovic race ran on this one (this was obviously my for sale pic) and an air box mod which made the whole tank you can see (the tank is a false fuel tank on the Aprilia as the actual tank was below in the frame) one HUGE airbox. 

This thing was so loud on full chat it probably makes a Marshall plexi sound quiet and I did get a few noise complaints from the neighbours when I used to early morning commute on it

The one thing I will say is the biggest plus on the Aprilia is the build quality. It literally knocked spots off anything Japanese for how well everything was put together. It was the easiest bike to work on as everything fitted perfectly together and no bending of panels to get fairings back on etc etc. They also used very high quality components built to stand the test of time so no worries with corrosion either. The engines on them are made by Rotrax (an Austrian company) and regarded as the most bulletproof of 1000cc V twin engines so no Ducati type worries on reliability either. 

The only known problem with these was one of the relays (mine went and the bike won't start - fortunately I was at home at the time) but Hitachi did an uprated relay which was about £40 as a part and a 20 minute job to fit yourself so a lot of owners do this as a precautionary measure if they buy one although I suspect most of the early bikes have already had this done as the OE part wasn't up to par so most would have crapped out a long time ago. My local Aprilia dealership were very up front and honest about the relay when mine went and said they'd actually refuse to sell you an OE relay only the Hitachi one as they didn't want the grief if it went quickly. I had already done my homework so went in telling them I wanted the Hitachi part anyway.

Nice! I quite like the the write up you've done there!

The thing that always attracted me to them was the sound. V twins sound lovely in general but Aprilia's sound the best by a long way. I've got an Art race can on the gixxer and that sounds good (quite loud as well) but nowhere near Aprilia good!

I like how big the RSV's and Tuono's are. I'm a big guy (6' 3") and would really struggle to be comfortable on some of the new sports bikes. Especially 600's!

My first ever bike was an Aprilia RS 50 when I was 16 (12 years ago now). That was forever falling to bits and I was back and forth to the dealership buying parts. It was good though as it taught me how to do maintainence. I had mates with RS125's and they were forever falling to pieces. I've only heard good things about the reliability of the big ones though.

It's a shame you don't ride anymore. It it completely out of the question or do you think you'll get one again in the future?

JayGee

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1UHrE0X-rz8/VCrKKHtigeI/AAAAAAAAAcE/5gRvT4L6MAg/s144/image.jpg

Who needs more than one cylinder anyway?

fastboy

Panama_Jack666 said:

Nice! I quite like the the write up you've done there!

The thing that always attracted me to them was the sound. V twins sound lovely in general but Aprilia's sound the best by a long way. I've got an Art race can on the gixxer and that sounds good (quite loud as well) but nowhere near Aprilia good!

I like how big the RSV's and Tuono's are. I'm a big guy (6' 3") and would really struggle to be comfortable on some of the new sports bikes. Especially 600's! 

My first ever bike was an Aprilia RS 50 when I was 16 (12 years ago now). That was forever falling to bits and I was back and forth to the dealership buying parts. It was good though as it taught me how to do maintainence. I had mates with RS125's and they were forever falling to pieces. I've only heard good things about the reliability of the big ones though.

It's a shame you don't ride anymore. It it completely out of the question or do you think you'll get one again in the future?

Sadly I won't be able to ride again as there was a fair bit of nerve damage in my right leg so I just don't have the strength in that leg if the bike pivots the weight to the right even slightly whilst stood at lights etc it will go over. I also need to be careful with my back as there was a fair bit of degeneration in the lower few vertebrae so sitting on sports bikes for hours on end will just accelerate that sadly. 

Believe me I'd love to be able to bike again and if I could I would have been back on a bike years ago as it was an enforced giving up and not a decision I made through having much of a choice. I'm not even old which makes it worse. I'm 36 and had to give up biking at 32!

Back to the Aprilia then. I think you'd like it. I'm not a small guy either at 6ft and my best mate bought one after riding mine. He's 6ft 5 and about 22 stone !! He still has his to this day (he bought a factory so got the ohlins forks, brembo brakes and OZ racing wheels) and he's done quite a few jaunts into Europe as far as the Czech Republic on his so has spent days in the saddle and he always said he found it comfy to ride. I always found mine really comfortable to ride as well and it's pretty upright as sports bikes go. I used to do a 140 mile round trip commute on my one back in the days and never had any problems with comfort. The only downside was there was no fuel gauge on my model (2002) and I was never brave enough to risk trying it in one tank so used to fill up at the start of each journey. 

Given that it is a big bike the nice thing about them is the seat is big and the rear sets aren't in some ridiculous position like the modern 600 sports bikes where your feet are virtually behind your hips and you have a lot of pressure on your wrists as well as your back, everything is very neutral and it really suits bigger guys as a bike - in fact if a rider was quite small I'd probably recommend that they didn't get one due to it's size. Best recommendation is to get yourself down the dealers and sling a leg over to try it for size. 

Reliability wise the relay was the only issue I had (my mate's one went as well unsurprisingly as it really is a weak part). As for my mates one he's just replaced the clutch plates himself as it was a relatively simple job despite being a non standard type suter clutch (basically a slipper clutch that works through pressure plates - they use these on motogp bikes as they prevent wheel hopping as well as controlling slides)  but his bike has 40000 miles on it now and has done lots of Europe trips and a fair few track days so I'd say it was par for the course especially as I know whilst he is fastidious with maintenance, he's not the most mechanically sympathetic guy either

As I mentioned before they are a joy to actually work on. You can't really see it from the pics but all the fairway bolts are quick release for example as standard and everything just fits without ever needing to mess around on it. Another good mod for these as well as the air box mod is to change the sprockets. There's various configs that owners favour but I vaguely recall one up on the front and two down on the back really improves acceleration without affecting top end too much or the speedo. 

I had the above on mine and on short circuits with no real top end speed to be had (I think Lydden Hill really springs to mind) with the combination of torque and never being able to get above about 85mph and the slowest corner being around 40 ish you could literally leave the bike in 3rd gear for the whole circuit with zero compromise and concentrate 100% on corners and never worry about changing. In fact it was quite satisfying riding on short circuits coming out of the slower corners because instead of fumbling for revs and changing down you would literally just roll on the throttle (that you had just rolled off for your breaking) and get thrown out of the other end whilst the 4 cylinder bikes were busy trying to stoke the revs. Where top end wasn't required on the short circuits with no real straights the twins were generally leaving the Jap bikes behind. I'm no Marc Marquez by any stretch but on the short circuits like Lydden it was quite easy to lap guys on 600's 3 or 4 times in a 20 minute session.

Panama_Jack666

fastboy said:

Panama_Jack666 said:

Nice! I quite like the the write up you've done there!

The thing that always attracted me to them was the sound. V twins sound lovely in general but Aprilia's sound the best by a long way. I've got an Art race can on the gixxer and that sounds good (quite loud as well) but nowhere near Aprilia good!

I like how big the RSV's and Tuono's are. I'm a big guy (6' 3") and would really struggle to be comfortable on some of the new sports bikes. Especially 600's! 

My first ever bike was an Aprilia RS 50 when I was 16 (12 years ago now). That was forever falling to bits and I was back and forth to the dealership buying parts. It was good though as it taught me how to do maintainence. I had mates with RS125's and they were forever falling to pieces. I've only heard good things about the reliability of the big ones though.

It's a shame you don't ride anymore. It it completely out of the question or do you think you'll get one again in the future?

Sadly I won't be able to ride again as there was a fair bit of nerve damage in my right leg so I just don't have the strength in that leg if the bike pivots the weight to the right even slightly whilst stood at lights etc it will go over. I also need to be careful with my back as there was a fair bit of degeneration in the lower few vertebrae so sitting on sports bikes for hours on end will just accelerate that sadly. 

Believe me I'd love to be able to bike again and if I could I would have been back on a bike years ago as it was an enforced giving up and not a decision I made through having much of a choice. I'm not even old which makes it worse. I'm 36 and had to give up biking at 32!

Back to the Aprilia then. I think you'd like it. I'm not a small guy either at 6ft and my best mate bought one after riding mine. He's 6ft 5 and about 22 stone !! He still has his to this day (he bought a factory so got the ohlins forks, brembo brakes and OZ racing wheels) and he's done quite a few jaunts into Europe as far as the Czech Republic on his so has spent days in the saddle and he always said he found it comfy to ride. I always found mine really comfortable to ride as well and it's pretty upright as sports bikes go. I used to do a 140 mile round trip commute on my one back in the days and never had any problems with comfort. The only downside was there was no fuel gauge on my model (2002) and I was never brave enough to risk trying it in one tank so used to fill up at the start of each journey. 

Given that it is a big bike the nice thing about them is the seat is big and the rear sets aren't in some ridiculous position like the modern 600 sports bikes where your feet are virtually behind your hips and you have a lot of pressure on your wrists as well as your back, everything is very neutral and it really suits bigger guys as a bike - in fact if a rider was quite small I'd probably recommend that they didn't get one due to it's size. Best recommendation is to get yourself down the dealers and sling a leg over to try it for size. 

Reliability wise the relay was the only issue I had (my mate's one went as well unsurprisingly as it really is a weak part). As for my mates one he's just replaced the clutch plates himself as it was a relatively simple job despite being a non standard type suter clutch (basically a slipper clutch that works through pressure plates - they use these on motogp bikes as they prevent wheel hopping as well as controlling slides)  but his bike has 40000 miles on it now and has done lots of Europe trips and a fair few track days so I'd say it was par for the course especially as I know whilst he is fastidious with maintenance, he's not the most mechanically sympathetic guy either

As I mentioned before they are a joy to actually work on. You can't really see it from the pics but all the fairway bolts are quick release for example as standard and everything just fits without ever needing to mess around on it. Another good mod for these as well as the air box mod is to change the sprockets. There's various configs that owners favour but I vaguely recall one up on the front and two down on the back really improves acceleration without affecting top end too much or the speedo. 

I had the above on mine and on short circuits with no real top end speed to be had (I think Lydden Hill really springs to mind) with the combination of torque and never being able to get above about 85mph and the slowest corner being around 40 ish you could literally leave the bike in 3rd gear for the whole circuit with zero compromise and concentrate 100% on corners and never worry about changing. In fact it was quite satisfying riding on short circuits coming out of the slower corners because instead of fumbling for revs and changing down you would literally just roll on the throttle (that you had just rolled off for your breaking) and get thrown out of the other end whilst the 4 cylinder bikes were busy trying to stoke the revs. Where top end wasn't required on the short circuits with no real straights the twins were generally leaving the Jap bikes behind. I'm no Marc Marquez by any stretch but on the short circuits like Lydden it was quite easy to lap guys on 600's 3 or 4 times in a 20 minute session.

It's sad to hear that your riding days were done with at the ripe old age of 32. I'm 27 and suffer with a bad back too, is there any hope for me?!

I'd love to have a go on one. I'd be very tempted to make the leap when I have the funds. Although it'll take some convincing with the Mrs as I've just spent 2 grand on an '57 Re-Issue Les Paul today!

I've always struggled with knackered wrists and sore back riding mine and it's quite big compared to a modern 750. I couldn't imagine doing any serious mileage on it. The RSV sounds like it'd suit me down to the ground.

I've never had to do any serious maintainence on my 750, I've been lucky... well until this week and it didn't seem to be ticking over right. I'm going to take a closer look this weekend although I'm not as mechanically sympathetic as what I once was. It's all the electrics that confuse me! 

Track day is on my to do list. My (ex) girlfriend almost bought me one as a birthday present just after I got the gixxer. I talked her out of it because I was afraid of dropping it as I'd only had it a month and was still quite timid on it after a pretty bad accident on a previous bike two years before! We've got some good tracks up this way (Yorkshire). Cadwell park is not too far away. I really must get on and do one next summer!

Torque is where you want the power really. It's pointless having something that'll do 200mph like a Hayabusa because they're big, heavy and you'll never reach that speed.

I would also like to do some big europe rides but not on my bike! Both my car and bike (and Les Paul) are fully paid off so maybe it's time to look for another addition... although I don't think I could justify 3 vehicles. I could just give my girlfriend my car (which we share) and treat myself! Ha!

Interesting you mention you're no 'Marc Marquez'. Does that mean he's officially taken Rossi's position as the king of two wheels?! Ha! It was good to see Rossi back on top a Missano I must say. However, Marquez is fearless and a complete beast! He deserves all the praise he gets. The most refreshing rider in Moto GP since Simoncelli.

thisisguitar

http://www.cycleworld.com/2014/09/30/2015-kawasaki-ninja-h2r-supercharged-sportbike-unveiled-at-intermot-2014-motorcycle-show/?src=SOC&dom=fb

Not mine, but thought you guys might like to see it as it popped up today

racefaceec90

wish i could afford a decent motorcycle (a kawasaki  zx 636 ninja would be my dream bike).

boogieman

Mine is a Honda CBF1000 in black. I'll try and find some photos and post them.

Tone71

My SV, fun to ride, sounds great and handles superb and holds its own on ride outs, sure its not an inline 4 powerband monster but it`s a bike I can use all year round and it sure as hell beats sitting in traffic.

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af349/Tone71/20140730_151209_zps9f2b3d6e.jpg

Still gonna get a inline 4 too though!!

boogieman

Tone71;366279" said:

My SV, fun to ride, sounds great and handles superb and holds its own on ride outs, sure its not an inline 4 powerband monster but it`s a bike I can use all year round and it sure as hell beats sitting in traffic.



http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af349/Tone71/20140730_151209_zps9f2b3d6e.jpg



Still gonna get a inline 4 too though!!

Massive difference between a V twin and a 4 pot (sorry if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs ). You get hardly any engine braking with a four compared to a V. It really threw me when I went from a VFR to a CBF.

BenSirAmos

I love my Bandit

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/Ben_Sir_Amos/Bandit_zps034c483b.jpg

midiglitch

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r680/midiglitch/20140828_172910_zps4o0076at.jpg

My current steed.

I did my first track day down at lydden hill a couple of weeks ago and i have to say it was amazing.  I rode there and back, which was ballsy, but fortunately the only time i chucked the bike down the track there was no significant damage.

I'm hoping to go to rockingham this weekend, but I won't do it if I cant trail the bike as its too far to ride, and i don't want to risk being stuck up there with a broken bike and all the cost and hassle that could involve.  Which gives me just a couple of days to buy a trailer...looking unlikely then.

I'm booked into brands at the end of october, which i'm really looking forward to, and have a gps laptimer sat in the post office courtesy of ebay so I can judge my performance a bit more objectively.

I've got the track day bug, big time, and what I would say about it, if you are thinking about it, is do it!  Imagine the best open winding motorcycling road, where the pavement is perfect, with no potholes, cracks, or dirt, no oncoming traffic, and no speed limits.  Thats all a track day is.  Its not a race, its not competitive, i found everyone to be super friendly and helpful, and not only could i legally push my bike hard safely, but i learnt loads from doing it.

Yes, i was ragging the balls out of the little 600, and the tyres took a beating, but man was it fun!

It will be march or april before i can pull the trigger on my next bike, but the shortlist is the gsxr1000, r1, or cbr1000rr circa 2008 (cos thats all i will be able to afford.)

Am booked in to test ride the new zx10r, but the kwaks from that era are not so highly regarded i don't think.  

I hope to get one in white, like this....

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r680/midiglitch/imagejpg1_zps29331cb5.jpg

gubble

that white R1 is a tasty bike.

 

Must post pictures of mine on here

xmrchi

It's lovely to see so many bikers I ride every day through rain and winter, and have had them all, before my r6 I had a mille and they are fantastic bikes only probs are the generators and back brake placement. But as a riders bike you can't best them.

3 yyears ago I did 40k on a Honda firestorm and honestly think you can't beat that bike for flexibility, after my v twin phase is went on to r1s but had both of them stolen.

When I got my cash through from the insurance from the last one I got my current r6 as I had not had a 600 for years, and have to say on British roads i have had more of fun on the r6 than the r1s! http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag268/mrmatthewharper/Mobile Uploads/20140612_191801_zps6d444350.jpg

xmrchi

In regards to Europe trips, I go to the nurbergring or magny cours every year on the bike and I highly recommend any one to do it, the journey over there is breath taking, it's mad how even thought there rare now no boarders you can always tell what country you're in because of the roads,
France :flat straight
Belgium:bumpy and horrible, but nice houses
Germany: fast smooth tarmac, and the greatest bends in Europe, especially through the black forest, just don't have a wheel bearing go in the middle of the black forest, mine did and its was a very long and slow ride to the nearest garage!

Tone71

I love the idea of a track day, it is definitely on my list of things to do