Your Favorite Motorbike

**Kanamori** · 03-30-2006, 14:17

I hope to be buying a Buell XB12R sometime in the near future.

In action:

I'm a sucker for something different, so I like Buells. However I could see myself having a terrible and grizzly, yet very thrilling, death on a Ducati.

So, what kind of bikes do all of you like? Personally I can't wait to get back home and start riding mine again.

**English assassin** · 03-30-2006, 16:19

Oooh, finally, my kinda thread.

First off the Ducati 999 is out because I cannot forgive it for beign the replacement for the 916, which went beyond being a mere motorcyle and was one of the most beautiful things ever. Whereas the 999....isnt. (though its OK from the sides and rear.) But, Ducatis are a sensitive issue. Crime of crimes, I had the chance to buy a second hand Ducati 749R for a song from a bloke who had just been posted to Dubai, and I didn't. WHY? What was I thinking? Sure, i already had a bike, but this was a 749 R for god's sake. I could have ridden it all summer and still made a profit selling it in the autumn. .

I will burn in hell for that.

I can respect a Buell as a choice. I like the streetfighter look (if you can call my current Hornet 900 a streetfighter...well, it does have the old fireblade engine). I hear riding a Buell is a bit weird though, and I'm not sure how flakey there are now, but in principle, I respect what they are doing.

For a new sports bike I'd go for the Triumph Daytona 955 for a good honest British punch in the gob or the Aprilia RSV Mille for Italian sex on wheels. For a streetfighter I'd go for the Cagiva Raptor 1000 because I am a masochist.

**Kanamori** · 03-30-2006, 16:48

Yes, oddly, they often put you up straight, considering it is a sport bike. But oh, I've never ridden anything that can hug a corner so well. They're not exactly meant for long rides either. Why did I start this thread again, I'm just wanting to ride more and more, and there's no way I'll even be able to rent a sportbike here, being under twenty. Out of curiousity, what kind of hoops does one have to jump through in the UK to get a license for bikes?

**Red Peasant** · 03-30-2006, 16:51

Ahh, beautiful motorbikes.

Favourite I owned was a Team France ZXR 750J1 Superbikes replica, I even toured it several times round Europe, which could be painful, as a tourer it ain't!

I agree with EA that the finest looking machine ever is the 916 Duke. Basically, you are looking right over the handlebars at the tarmac, and you get an almighty pain in the neck just by trying to look forwards! I got a couple of goes on a mate's machine but preferred my cumbersome Kwak.

The best bikes I rode were race-prepped, a Yam RD350LC and a Kawasaki ZX6R...mind blowing.

Bikes I would like to ride are the Yammie R1 and an old Vincent Black Shadow (well really, there are lots and lots of bikes that I'd like to try out, so many awesome machines, new and old).

Best experience was scratching the tarmac on my Kwak through long sweepers in the Alps, to my right the mighty granite cliff-face, to my left a sliver of armco and a long, long drop, and up above a clear blue Alpine sky. Heart-pumping stuff!

**Sjakihata** · 03-30-2006, 17:59

I prefer a good customized chopper, not those sporty jap(anese) plastic models...

**English assassin** · 03-30-2006, 19:16

Out of curiousity, what kind of hoops does one have to jump through in the UK to get a license for bikes?

Its complicated, but if you have a US licence you can ride on that I think. Otherwise there's all sorts of cobblers about being restricted to 33 BHP for two years unless you do the test on a bigger machine etc etc, happily in my day once you passed the test you were good to go on anything (though the cost of actually insuring the bike of your dreams still meant you were restricted to something like a GS500, a bike which to this day I despise as a result of 18 miserable months riding a ratty old one)

Obviously though teenagers can pass the car test in a Fiat Panda and go out and buy a bloody Honda Civic RS, its only bikers who can't be trusted...

grrr

**Red Peasant** · 03-30-2006, 21:09

Originally Posted by Sjakihata

I prefer a good customized chopper, not those sporty jap(anese) plastic models...

Each to his own, friend. You ride the yankee inspired springy, comfy chairs, and let real bikers ride the real machines (British, Japanese, or Italian)

**Beirut** · 03-31-2006, 00:26

Great thread.

My last bike was a customized 1972 Honda 750K bored out to an 836 Wisco with a nice paint job. Looked a lot like this bike. A real classic head turner.

If money is good this summer, I'm looking at one of these sweethearts. A BMW 650. I just loooove this bike.

I'm not a speed rider at all. Low and slow and comfortable.

My previous bikes - Honda 50CC scooter, Honda 200XL, Honda 350 XL, Honda 500XL, Honda 1982 750K, and the 1972 Honda 750K. Also had a few three-wheeled Honda ATVs and one four-wheel Honda ATV. (Notice a pattern here?)

**Lemur** · 03-31-2006, 03:54

I always wanted something like this. And then I would need matching goggles for me and my bulldog. We'd be styling.

**Samurai Waki** · 03-31-2006, 04:00

Suzuki Hayabusa 1200cc of power and beauty...I will own this bike one day

**Crazed Rabbit** · 04-05-2006, 00:43

I like the Ducatis, and older style bikes, but I would love a Ninja. 1000cc packed into a smaller frame than other 650cc's.

And the great thing about bikes in Washington is you don't need insurance. I guess the thinking is if you get in a crash you won't come out.

Crazed Rabbit

**Beirut** · 04-05-2006, 01:37

Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

I like the Ducatis, and older style bikes, but I would love a Ninja. 1000cc packed into a smaller frame than other 650cc's.

No thank you. That much power makes me... nervous.

I had my '82 Honda 750K up to about 150kph and the front wheel started oscillating like crazy. I let off the gas reeeal easy and held on for dear life. I guess the bike's harmonics got schizo at that speed. If I never experice that again in my life it's just fine with me.

130kph is plenty fast for me. A speed demon I ain't. Low and slow baby, low and slow.