Any Motörbike riders here?

octatonic

Some pics of the show:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/q71/s720x720/1475920_427179160745204_1405898792_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/q71/s720x720/1459143_427179580745162_1596751560_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q71/s720x720/1480576_427179377411849_763767265_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/q71/s720x720/1452435_427179214078532_961018636_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/q77/s720x720/1450703_427178960745224_1559151067_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q74/s720x720/1424308_427179077411879_1969923345_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/q71/s720x720/1459821_665684063463226_1773921209_n.jpg

littlegreenman

Indian is very nice, a few of the others look to have quite odd geometry (for good reason no doubt, the 2nd pic looks like having knobbly off-road tyres but you would surely die if you tried riding that on a dirt trail!).

Dunlop girl needs to eat a few pies IMO

octatonic

She smelled very nice.

(sigh)

Back to bikes- I got on a Triumph America and a Speedmaster.

It has made it a bit complicated actually- I'd love a T100, or a Speedmaster or an America.

They are all lovely.

octatonic

The HMC Classic here is pretty interesting:

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q74/s720x720/1424308_427179077411879_1969923345_n.jpg

It is basically a 125cc Chinese-made cafe-racer/Bonneville rip off.

A bit different to the rest of the Chinese bikes and it was advertised for £1500 + on-road costs NEW!

If I wasn't heading towards a bigger bike quite soon then I would be very tempted- they looked great.

Emp_Fab

Let's see if I can remember all of mine...  I started out on a Yamaha TY50M when I was 16, then a Honda XL185SA that I passed my bike test on, then a big jump to a Honda CB550K4 that I stuck a Piper 4-into-1 short pipe on (God, that sounded divine up near the redline), back down to a Kawasaki KL250 motocross that stood about five feet off the floor !, then a beautiful Honda VF500FII V4 that handled like a dream (no, not the shit-ugly predecessor to the SuperDream !).  I think that's all of them (that I owned anyway).  The last bike I rode regularly was a mate's CB650 Nighthawk that he lent me to get back and fore to work in when my car got nicked and torched.

That one ended up buried in the front of a VW Polo and put me in hospital.

Misterg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/VFR/chrome_zps3ab9803a.jpg

octatonic

LOL.

Misterg

My appetite was whetted when my little brother got a little Suzuki TS50(!) - like this:

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8116/prylbankenseimgmopederstd1.jpg

Then I acquired this Suzuki TS185 field bike:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/VFR/TS185-1_zpscac89c1a.jpg

And my brother got a Honda CR250R motocrosser that we used as a field bike. It was absolutely nuts to ride, and launched many unsuspecting pilots off the back or through hedges. He got it cheap because the gearbox was shot - we rebuilt it on the kitchen table using the Rayburn and the deep freeze to shrink-fit new bearings to the casings (we were both in our teens). Something like this, but in similar cosmetic condition to the 185:

http://images.australialisted.com/nlarge/honda_cr250_cr250_nbsp_1979_19461531.jpg

then a Suzuki A100 owned briefly in Aberdeeen to practice on, and I passed my test (pre CBT, etc.) on a borrowed Yamaha something-or-other and set out on the road with my Kawasaki Z400J (the 4 cylinder one) with an 'Alpha' 4 into 1 (about the cheapest exhaust you could get which, with the folly of youth, I proceeded to rip all the baffles out of).

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/VFR/Z400J-1_zpsf8e11df5.jpg

This was my only transport for 4 years and took me the width of the UK on a regular basis, and was my daily commuter when I started work. I resprayed it in my bedroom at University which improved the looks a little. Never let me down.

Then I started getting respectable and got a nice GPz550:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/VFR/gpx550-2_zps7572f0b6.jpg

This was my only transport for another few years, and took me all over France and Northern Spain. Then I got my 'dream' bike (one that I had lusted after in my teens) a gorgeous white VFR750 - identical to this picture, and in pretty much the same nick:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/VFR/21118742_zpsd7c65533.jpg

...Then we had kids, and it meant that I needed to use a car every day, so the bike got stuck in the garage for a few years, until I eventually faced up to the fact that years were going by without the prospect of me using it, so I reluctantly sold it last year.

Now no bikes.

holnrew

octatonic said:

The HMC Classic here is pretty interesting:

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q74/s720x720/1424308_427179077411879_1969923345_n.jpg

It is basically a 125cc Chinese-made cafe-racer/Bonneville rip off.

A bit different to the rest of the Chinese bikes and it was advertised for £1500 + on-road costs NEW!

If I wasn't heading towards a bigger bike quite soon then I would be very tempted- they looked great.

That could very well tempt me...

I like the bike in the third picture.

IanSavage

octatonic said:

https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q71/s720x720/1480576_427179377411849_763767265_n.jpg

*swoon* GORGEOUS!!!!

cruxiform

I've got a Y2K Honda Fireblade 929 which is my baby. Been to the Isle of Man TT( TT 2014 is already booked and paid for, yay!), 2 euro tours including riding the nurburgring and lots of ride outs all over the country. I've ridden bikes for over 25 years, they're a passion a bit like playing the guitar. Good on the OP for getting into biking and good luck. You WILL love it. The sense of freedom it gives just can't be acheived in a car. For example, touring Europe on your lonesome and doing some camping:













Anybody considering a bike, if you can do it. Life's too short etc. Enjoy it while it lasts.

holnrew

cruxiform said:

I've got a Y2K Honda Fireblade 929 which is my baby. Been to the Isle of Man TT( TT 2014 is already booked and paid for, yay!), 2 euro tours including riding the nurburgring and lots of ride outs all over the country. I've ridden bikes for over 25 years, they're a passion a bit like playing the guitar. Good on the OP for getting into biking and good luck. You WILL love it. The sense of freedom it gives just can't be acheived in a car. For example, touring Europe on your lonesome and doing some camping:













Anybody considering a bike, if you can do it. Life's too short etc. Enjoy it while it lasts.

OK, that's me convinced.

octatonic

Me too- but no camping.

I'm sure they have hotels now in Europe.

cruxiform

Of course and they're a lot cheaper than the UK but I like camping too. I go to the Eifel region in Germany and stay in a hotel there for about £35 a night half board. Amazing value. However, when I did my tour in September the weather was 28-30 degrees every day and camping was a pleasure. Waking up in the Black Forest and breathing in the mountain air was wonderful.

octatonic

Hehe- just joking.

I can't wait to get my bike and the summer to arrive.

cruxiform

I'm excited for you

littlegreenman

Very tempted to hire a nice bike next time I go across the pond to Canadia. I imagine riding along roads like this would be rather nice (was ace enough in a car!).

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/166939_2189457128190_1216590785_n.jpg

cruxiform

Looks nice but where's the bends?

littlegreenman

cruxiform said:

Looks nice but where's the bends?

About 200 miles up the road, when you hit the mountains

Misterg

Trouble with roads like that on a bike is that there is only one thing to do - nail it. That gets very illegal very quickly, and the novelty doesn't last for long. Otherwise they are boring as hell.

What you want is miles and miles of this:

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/route_images/916_DSCF0081.jpg