and / or
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A husband is someone who, after taking the trash out, gives the impression that he just cleaned the whole house.
Bought 24 years ago and still going strong...most of the time
Other stable mates come and go but i'll be in a box before this one has a new owner.
This thread makes me a bit sad.
I wouldn't want to see any of my bikes again - maybe it's because they were all well used or broken by the time I moved on to the next.
Or maybe it's because they were all ghey (had to get in before someone else said it).
Or maybe it's because I never had as much money to spend on each one as I would've liked. The VFR's come close - apart from getting the front end revalved and tidying up the paintwork, I've pretty much modded it as much as I've wanted to.
I'd really like to have another v-twin, but not the FahrtSturm - it was too ugly and too compromised, even with the mods that had been done.
... and that's what I think.
Or summat.
Or maybe not...
Dunno really....![]()
I think I've been in love with just about every bike I have ever owned.. they have all brought me joy, lots of stories and good friends. Not to mention the required amount of adrenaline
But if I had to choose one I would choose the Triumph T595, Very first production run in '97, Bright Yellow (First run had a very deep bright paintwork). It was respectably fast if a little fat and stable if slow handler.
Guess the whole package just added up to more than the sum of its figures.... Loved the sound, the speed and the fact I could grind headers on the road when seriously in the mood...... Oohhh why did I sell it!!!!
Clocked up over 40K MILES all over europe on it.
Everyone has an opinion.. mine can be found here Riding Articles
My old Yammie 1973 YR5 350....before I ported it & made it unridable
1989 PEPSI RGV 250. Awesome little bike sold it cheap went for a holiday to englandGot some nice expensive photos though.
Have had a couple of these and this one was a FREAK Only pic I have on the computer is one taken on my cell phone and it didnt have the proper tank on it as it had a bit of crap in the bottom at the time and kept sucking shit through the fuel line and dieing.
Member #3164 of the SHITMARK haters club.
...it is better to live 1 day as a Tiger than 1000 years as a sheep...
Although it doesn't get as many mile put on as my Cruiser, the Royal Enfield Bullet 500 is still my favorite bike.
Riding something that gives you a taste of how biking once was is a lot of fun.
Although not a speed machine it is a very nice handling, pleasant bike to ride.
My Daytona 1050 - there's nothing like building your own (okay so this is more of a hybrid than a scratch-built job) and then playing your own tunes on the ignition & fuel mapping. Great sense of accomplishment when it all works - the only downside is the resale value, but hey I built it to keep not to sell.
I had a look at a '75 BMW R90/6 for sale in Whangarei back in January 1986.
It was a dog.
It had been stripped in England, shipped to NZ and badly re-assembled. Some bits were missing, most were worn out and a few in the wrong places. And it kept saying to me "buy me, buy me....." so I did. I'm a sucker for lost causes.
I fixed up the worst bits immediately, and progressively worked my way through the other bits. I rode it for almost seven years as my daily commuter transport and used it for touring. Along the way it acquired the genuine R90S bodywork, and eventually didn't look too bad.
This bike really got under my skin. It wasn't fast, but it covered distances effortlessly. It wasn't the best handling, but it was predictable and sure-footed. It was great with a pillion, and easy to mount luggage. It also proved to be very reliable and straightforward to maintain once the previous owner's bodging efforts had been overcome. It wasn't brilliant at anything in particular, but it was good at most things. I came to appreciate the German logic behind the design more and more.
Then the engine started making terminal noises after a trip to Hastings late in 1992, and I couldn't afford to fix it due to the birth of our second child and dropping to single income. I parked it in a corner of the shed and put a cover over it, waiting for the day when time and money would coincide...
Five years later, I dragged it out and started the process of restoring it. As I could afford it I'd send an order to suppliers in the UK, Germany and the USA accumulating the bits I'd need to finish it off.
In the meantime, my wife had bought two BMW airheads, so we shared them while my bike was off the road.
Then about five years ago, a genuine R90S became available in west Auckland. (For non-BMW folk, the R90S is the Holy Grail for airhead enthusiasts!) Owned by a current member of Kiwibiker for many years, it was already in bits and in need of full restoration. Most of the stuff I'd already bought for my bike could be used on the R90S, so I bought it and put in the shed along with everything else. Then about three years ago, my beautiful wife said, "it's time. Get your bike finished." So I was given the opportunity to spend most nights and weekends in the shed to put the bike together. The result is an amalgamation of the R90S frame and crankcase, bits of my original R90/6, a whole heap of new parts, plus various bits taken from my ever-growing stock of second-hand BMW parts....
Six months later, on 1st June 2006, it passed its VIN inspection and has clocked up almost 11,000km since. It's my only bike, so I use it occasionally for work, it gets ridden in the rain, it gets *ridden*. It's no garage queen!
Meanwhile, my son and daughter are already arguing over who will inherit it, and my wife has forbidden me from selling it....
(for those interested, pictures under my profile)
The other bike I have some affection for is the Honda GB400TT which got me back into bikes in 1987. I'd driven to Barry's Pt Road in Auckland to pick up a yacht sail and spotted this beauty in the window of the Honda shop. I just HAD to have it. Mrs B was not well pleased and retaliated by buying a piano at nearly twice the cost of the GB. All's well that ends well....![]()
Has to be a ZXR750R-M.
I used to work for Phase One Endurance and was part of the team that built the qualifying bikes. Over the years with Kawasaki the team collected a mass of new parts. For a small price I was able to build a bike out of the parts and Russel Benny built me a blue printed engine. This baby kicked out 138hp a fookin amazing amount of power back then. It would blow away litre bikes with ease and the handeling was sooooo sweet. I guess its the one bike that I really conected with, built with my own two hands (except for the finer points with the motor). A high compression ratio and living life at the red line took its toll and she got traded for an RC45..........another story.
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