Motor bike owners

[phil.gas]

I passed my motor bike test when i was 17  had a couple of bikes at the time a honda cb250 and a yamaha 250.
my bike phase lasted a couple of years before i got into cars,   this was over 20 years ago.
then 3 years ago i got back into bikes again. bought a suzuki bandit 600  and a couple of months ago part ex it
for a yam r1..
cannot believe the power from this bike..good job i am a bit more sensible as i have got older 
wonder if there are any other bike owners on the forum, and what do you ride

phil

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Well I don't ride anything now as I turned ardent treehugger, but I am looking in to getting another small capacity bike

So far I've had (legal on road bikes at least )

Piaggio Typhoon
Honda Hornet (big learning curve that )
Yamaha RD350 pre powervalve
Honda Fireblade
Then I got married
Vespa PX200
Honda C90
Honda SuperDream
Yamaha XJ600N
MZ TS250
C90
MZ ETZ251
Yamaha T80

Up until 02-3 I'd ridden pretty much everything out there too, but that was a lifetime ago

[phil.gas]

good selection there mate.
ye getting married/girlfriends tends to stop the bike fun..
what did you think of the blade..always wanted one.
Bet you get into big bikes again in the near future (its in your blood )

phil

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Mate, kicking bikes is one of the hardest thing's i've ever done, even though the smurf things have broken quite a few of my bones

I loved the blade , it was fast, composed, changed lines like you would not believe a big bike would be able to do
I even hit a half brick while cranked over once, and apart from a bit of a shimmy at the bars, the blade shrugged it off

But it was the engine that really done it for me, such a spread of power, and dead elastic with it

I think we're going to have to chat about it at the meet mate

Oh and bring the R1

[Mike]

Over the years I've owned:

Yamaha XT500 on/off road
Suzuki 750
Honda GB500
Harley FXRS with some Screamin' Eagle extras.

Mike

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Over the years I've owned:

Yamaha XT500 on/off road
Suzuki 750
Honda GB500
Harley FXRS with some Screamin' Eagle extras.

Mike

I love the XT and the GB mate, I always wanted a big single

[Mike]

Over the years I've owned:

Yamaha XT500 on/off road
Suzuki 750
Honda GB500
Harley FXRS with some Screamin' Eagle extras.

Mike

I love the XT and the GB mate, I always wanted a big single

The XT500 was a lot of fun and had lots of low end torque. Man it was easy to get the front wheel off the ground.

That little Honda GB500 was only made for two years but was really quite nice. The bonus was it had electric start, and anyone who's ever had to kick start a thumper knows it can sometimes be a challenge. The GB500 was a little small for me so my wife rode that, I road the Harley she bought for me. One interesting note, before she moved back to Washington State my wife road a Ninja 250 in Washington DC.

Mike

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Sadly I know where your coming from where kicking a big single over is concerned, I got a kick back from an old CCM and it near as damn it shattered my shin

[MultiMat]

Learnt on a Honda CD250u , loverly looking little bike (grey wanna be classic Brit bike) did not leak oil & had electrics that worked. So much better than a original Brit Bike  .
Last model GpZ 900(17 inch front 4 spot calipers  ) sold bike & got a 1963 Chrysler VC Valiant.
Favorite bike memory being on the back of a ZXR 750 wheeling away from the stop lights, the sense of speed/near death sadly have not felt since.
Having worked in a large tertiary hospital's ER I can not justify riding a motor bike being a Dad & Husband . Too many dick heads trying to kill you when ride a motor bike  .
That is just my choice though I am most envious of those that do hoon around on 2 wheels.

[Mr. Whippy]

Lemme play!

Honda CT90
BMW F650
BMW R1100S
Ducati Multistrada
Suzuki Burgman 650 exec ( )
Kawasaki Ninja 250
Honda CRF 70

Ridden a bunch of others too, just didn't own them.

I still have the Ducati and on down the list.  The Multistrada is my all time favorite.  Awesome handling, enough power to scare myself and easy to tour with.  Not really a track bike, but then again, I don't get to the track much anyway.

The Burgman is the family station wagon of motor/scooter bikes.  Easy to ride, tons of storage and ABS

The Ninja is a bit rough in the plastic but runs great. 

[Rob]

My current ride is a 2007 Triumph Tiger.  Love the thing.  My previous main bike was a Suzuki V-Strom which was crashed by the guy who bought it from me and I bought it back for next to nothing.  Gonna build a cool project from it.  I also have a couple of TL1000R and TL1000S bikes in parts.  One TLR is almost track worthy at this point.  My wife rides a SV650 which I ride quite a bit.  Yes if you haven't noticed I'm obsessed with Suzuki V-twins.  The triple I'm riding now is the first non-twin I've had as a main ride for 6-7 years.  I've got a ton of other project bikes in the shop which are ridable but works in progress.  Bikes are a big part of my life, that's why a couple of years ago I became an MSF instructor.

[Mike]

My current ride is a 2007 Triumph Tiger.  Love the thing.  My previous main bike was a Suzuki V-Strom which was crashed by the guy who bought it from me and I bought it back for next to nothing.  Gonna build a cool project from it.  I also have a couple of TL1000R and TL1000S bikes in parts.  One TLR is almost track worthy at this point.  My wife rides a SV650 which I ride quite a bit.  Yes if you haven't noticed I'm obsessed with Suzuki V-twins.  The triple I'm riding now is the first non-twin I've had as a main ride for 6-7 years.  I've got a ton of other project bikes in the shop which are ridable but works in progress.  Bikes are a big part of my life, that's why a couple of years ago I became an MSF instructor.

I highly encourage people to take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course. I did, even after years and years of riding without a license or training. I learned the "old fashioned" way, borrowing my friends bikes and just riding. But when I got my Harley I decided to do the responsible things and take the course, get legally licensed and insured. One of the best things I ever did. I mean it was easy, it was fun, but more importantly I learned quite a lot. 

Mike

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Having worked in a large tertiary hospital's ER I can not justify riding a motor bike being a Dad & Husband . Too many dick heads trying to kill you when ride a motor bike  .

I know how you feel mate, that and the enviroment issues are what I'm really struggling with now

[Rob]

Are you comparing the environmental impact to public transportation?  Where I live, which I'm assuming is much like most of the US minus really big cities, public transportation is not a viable option.  For me I feel like I'm helping out mother nature by riding my 40-50mpg bike instead of my automobile.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

No compared to cycling

Atm I'm trying to find a bike with the best emissions/mpg

And your definetly got a much lower Co2 foot print riding a bike than a car

And that includes hybrids

[Mr. Whippy]

Are you comparing the environmental impact to public transportation?  Where I live, which I'm assuming is much like most of the US minus really big cities, public transportation is not a viable option.  For me I feel like I'm helping out mother nature by riding my 40-50mpg bike instead of my automobile.

Quite right.  It also helps prevent congestion and helps with decreasing the amount of paved parking needed. In the East, especially the megopolis that is Boston to Washington DC, there should be better mass transit, there just isn't the political spine to do it.

For those who haven't been to the Western States, it is difficult to comprehend how vast distance is between towns.