Rkoetting

Current bike, BMW R1200GS Adventure, past ones: BMW R1200RT, Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa, Kawasaki ZRX1200R, Suzuki GS1200, Suzuki GS850, Suzuki GS750, Harley Davidson FXRS.....

HardCharger

Darn it. I knew I should've used the right side photo...

Thanks for the props. This is absolutely my first "road bike" in 25 years of MC's. I picked this one up used, well both of them actually. The XRL I picked up (stock) the fall of '03 & the Ascot I got this past July from someone in Orange County, CA.

Ascots are very scarce & are usually trashed if any do come up for sale. I've been fascinated with the VT500FT since '83 so I took a chance on this one. It ran but it didn't run right. Took a long time to find an independent shop that would even touch this "vintage" machine. It was a lengthy process but it turned out it needed to have the motor rebuilt due to frozen rings & a cracked piston. Didn't know that at the time, however...$$$ It's running a lot better now, though.

Overall it isn't in bad shape & I'm slowly getting around to correcting the 20+ years of neglect, jury-rigging & previous owner(s) drops. Gotta love those "naked" bikes. Almost has a dirt bike quality to it since was born out of the flat trackers from the 70's & early 80's. Definitely a little "street strafer."

Keep the rubber side down.

ravnhaus

'06 Triumph Bonneville T-100. Biking has suffered since addition to the family!

daytonian

Bikes owned
650 Nighthawk
700 Honda Shadow
Kaw Ninja 600R
Honda F2
Kaw ZX-6R
KZ 400
Yamaha 1100 V-Star (just sold)

If I ever get another bike it will be on/off road like Suzuki DLR 650 or KLR 650.
I miss rippin a big nasty wheelie once in awhile but don't miss the tickets.

clutchy

lake travis? awesome bike!

kraftwerk 

Sometimes I miss my 1976 Honda 400four Supersport, that was a nice bike.

I am The Edge

Suzuki Hayabusa

No Mojo

2004 Superhawk

dangerman

I thought that too until I saw a riding partner high side a 70's era hybrid. He was braking through a steep right hand sweeper, and locked the rear, got sideways, then snapped into a high side.

He has always been slow in the decents. Turns out he always used both front and rear brakes. He doesn't any longer.

dangerman

used to have:

96 Ducati 916
98 Ducati 900SS
84 Honda CB900F

got married. all gone

DUHI4GOT

Nice bikes! When in Canada (wife is from here and has family here so we have a house here) I ride my '03 GSX-R600 and when in NY I ride a '01 GSXR-1000

ranger5oh

Im so jealous of your motorcycles. Ive ridden before, and always wanted to own one. Im a really safe rider, but I always think about the circumstances I cant control. I had to swerve out of the way of a sofa on the interstate in my car one day... and I thought.. hitting that on a motorcycle is death. I had a friend break his arm after he skidded on a wrapped newspaper in the middle of a corner. I had a friend get hit after a lady backed out of her driveway right into his path without looking.

I imagine I will own a motorcycle one day... but it will be after I somehow convince myself away from the dangers.

clutchy

don't ever do that. The danger keeps you safe, keeps you sharp. I've been riding over 5 years now and i've never gone down. I'm statistically way out of the danger zone which is highest year 2-3, but that doesn't mean i'm in the clear.

I'm always scanning and always vigilant, but i don't ride defensively, I ride offensively. Make your statistics. Control the scenario and don't ever feel as if you had no other option. MAKE IT THE WAY YOU WANT IT.


favor the bold.

thomspins

Ahhh.. LOVE the bonnie!!

Trade ya straight up

durstgt

nice to see another monster owner on the board! Are you on dml?

I ride a Ducati Monster 750, but I'm too lazy to find a picture of it to post.

Bearbig

I have:
1981 Honda CB 750F
2002 Honda CB 900F2
There are not many starter bikes in the states. My wife lucked out and found a 1993 Suzuki GS 500 a few years back.
Believe it or not a beginner needs to start small as things happen very fast on todays sportbikes. For example the throttle response on my 900 is very quick and if your not careful the front end comes up very quickly!

This year I put more miles on my bicycle.

nalax49

Honda Hawk GT 1988

Doesn't get much riding time since it has to compete with a lot of bikes.
Motorcycling since 1966. Bicycling since 1970.

CrimsonKarter21

Yeah, a full one cylinder. You could find a decent shape bike from the mid-nineties for under 2K.

josephvman

John,

I ride an R1200GS, and have recently cleared the garage of a number of aircooled boxers (had 3 R100RS's). One of my friends here at work just got an R1200GS Adventure, and he's a serious cyclist (a mountain bike racer but he has a Lightspeed w/ DuraAce). Another guy here at work has an '05 Boxer Cup with a bunch of carbon bits. I had an R1100S back in '99 (Mandarin Yellow) and it was one of my favorite bikes, definitely the best handling BMW I've had, and a great sport-tourer. I've had a couple of dozen different BMW's (and a handful of Duc's) but I keep coming back to riding GS's.

josephvman

Are you on advrider.com? I've got an R1200GS, and it's a great web site for GS guys.

Rkoetting

Yep, ADV rider is my other vice!!

bung

My Speed Triple will soon be replaced by a 2007 Triumph Sprint ST.

chris17

I have a 1995 Honda CBR 600.

I had to wait until I moved out of my parents house and off to college before I was "allowed" to buy it though.

dsb137

The R6... In it's natural habitat... Jennings GP earlier this year...

daytonian

This thread is making me want to ride. God I miss my ZX-6R sometimes.