Let's see your past bikes...

[texscottyd]

12 minutes ago, keithu said:

Here is Tom being arrested on his Katana in 1997.

Tom seems mighty chipper, considering the situation. 

[texscottyd]

13 hours ago, rodb47 said:

If I ever get it running, I'm going to pimp it out. Lol

Because the yellow is too subtle, right?    

If memory serves, it’s an updated, shaft drive version of the NT650 Hawk GT hiding under all that Elite On Steroids bodywork.   Should be bulletproof, once you do the basics to get it back on the road...  carbs, brakes, remove mice from airbox, etc 

[keithu]

11 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

Tom seems mighty chipper, considering the situation. 

He had just been pulled over for a minor speeding violation. What he didn't yet know, when I snapped this photo, was that a clerical error caused a "failure to appear" warrant to be issued for him in Nevada. Once at the jail he was able to prove that the warrant was erroneous, and he was back on his way after only about a two hour delay. 

[Toddtr]

33 minutes ago, keithu said:

That's almost the History of Sportbikes right there. What didn't you like about the '93? Obviously we've all read that they were overweight, but this sort of thing is always more important in magazine comparos than in the real world. 

A friend of mine racked up serious miles on a Katana 1100, well over 100k I think. Here is Tom being arrested on his Katana in 1997. The officer kindly allowed Tom to ride his bike to the jail so it wouldn't be impounded.

It was the weight and the handling, it IMO was a step back from the 1987 model I had. Now the 929 was a huge step up from the cbr 900 and it handled fantastic. Your friend looks happy for a guy going to jail

[riding_tall]

Can't find pic's of any of my first  bikes right now but here is a more recent past bike. The Buell is still one of my favourite bikes.

[rodb47]

3 hours ago, texscottyd said:

Because the yellow is too subtle, right?    

If memory serves, it’s an updated, shaft drive version of the NT650 Hawk GT hiding under all that Elite On Steroids bodywork.   Should be bulletproof, once you do the basics to get it back on the road...  carbs, brakes, remove mice from airbox, etc 

From what I've read in the interwebs, it's a shaft drive version of the Africa Twin 750 (XRV 750).  At least the engine from that bike. The yellow really helped while commuting. Never had anyone cut me off or pull into my lane after that paint job. I can do a rebuild. I just have to commit.

[Zach26]

5 hours ago, Toddtr said:

In order 1985 Ninja 900, 1987 Gsxr 750, 1990 Katana 1100, 1993 Gsxr 750..worst of them all, 1999 Cbr 900, 2000 929, 2002 R1, 2006 750, 2009 Aprilia 550. I hate to say this but the Katana was probably the best handling bike in the turns. The R1 had many track days and at that time was a beast and I had a great time with it. The Aprilia was awesome but finicky, now I’m on an old man Tracer GT

What made the 1993 GSXR 750 the worst of the bunch? I think it's one of the best looking bikes in that group. The only thing that stops me from trying to find an older sport bike like that is my back and knee problems. I'm only 30 but being an airframe mechanic has not been kind to my body. 

[Toddtr]

It was a turd, heavy and didn’t handle well at all. If I was buying an older bike a clean Katana 1100 would be my first choice, then probably the R1. Around here a nice R1 2002-2004 goes for less than 5k some are closer to 3k. Probably have a hard time finding a late 80s early 90s bike In good condition but it’s not impossible. Just remember those older sport bikes are like dinosaurs, they have chokes and carbs that require maintenance. Side note: the aprilia even though fuel injected had a manual choke. If you tried to get going with anything under 160 on the temp gauge it would stall out, took a while to get used to that. 

[keithu]

1 hour ago, Toddtr said:

Side note: the aprilia even though fuel injected had a manual choke. If you tried to get going with anything under 160 on the temp gauge it would stall out, took a while to get used to that. 

My BMW K100RS was the same way. It was fuel injected but had a "choke" lever that truly was necessary to get it started in the morning. I think it was actually a manual idle advance rather than a true choke. 

[duhs10]

9 hours ago, duhg said:

I rode a friend's FZ-6 and enjoyed it very much.  It's a badly underrated bike IMHO.

I agree.  It really was a good bike.  Only sold it because I needed cash at the time due to purchasing my first home.

I also feel like the FJ-09 is somewhat of an evolution of the FZ6 (Fazer).  The '08 FZ6 had approx 98hp and just over 400lbs... similar power to weight to a stock FJ, but the FJ has much more instant torque as we all know.  Both are half faired. Similar seating positions although the FZ-6 was slightly more aggressive.

FJ-09/Tracer definitely better in almost all categories IMO.

[racreative]

1979 YZ80 •|• 1986 BW80 •|• 1989 IT200 •|• 1985 XL600 •|• 1983 Vision 550 •|• 2005 Vulcan Classic 800 •|• 2009 FZ6R  •|• 2011 CRF45R  •|• 2015 FJ09

 

[Toddtr]

I always loved the Honda XLs but never had one. My first dirt bike and last was a KLR 450, she cracked 4 ribs the second day I had her. I found out real quick that jumping hills was not for the inexperienced, needless to say I got rid of that mean b.... My ex had to lift me out of bed for the next 3 mornings because both sides of my rib cage were damaged, never again. 

[CJ3cyl]

Me at 14.  1978 Yamaha DT175.

[CJ3cyl]

Me in November 2015. Yamaha FZ1.

[andz]

My first bike was a Suzuki AC50 that I got in the last year of high school in 1978. It was forever having heat seizes and one day the retaining bolt holding the carb onto the engine came loose and while bouncing around in the carb chamber managed to get through the carb past the needle and shredded the rotary valve. The only way home from that is to push. 

 

A couple of years later I sold the AC and bought a 1980 Honda CB400N brand new. My then girlfriend (now wife) loaned me half of the deposit and we had some great times on this bike. I later fitted Moriwaki 425cc pistons, a Moriwaki cam and a Moriwaki 2 into 1 pipe and it would run both clocks off the scale (speedo marked to 180km/h, tach redline at 10, then blank dial after 11).

 

Next was a 1982 Honda CBX550F.  This bike had inboard ventilated disc brakes that looked like drums but they were tricky in the rain especially if you were used to the gradual grab of conventional disc brakes. I rode this until I got my first company car in April 1984 then had no bike for 20 years.

 

In April 2004 I bought a new FZ6 Fazer which I sold today to my brother in law. During the 20 years of limbo I had raised the idea of a bike with the wife several times only to be stonewalled, as we had been bumped off the 400N by a prick in a pickup who turned right without indicating as I was overtaking him. Luckily it was in suburbia so not a major off but enough to make her nervous. When she said "fine get a bike" my first choice was the XJR1300 as I loved the retro look and the yellow checkerblock colour scheme. I had never seen the Fazer before going to my local dealer and for months after I bought it I didn't see another one, it always attracted attention. A great bike and a real looker.

That brings me to my current ride, a 2017 MT-09 Tracer. We took the naked MT-09 for a test ride but the short seat is dangerous for a passenger and no wind protection is tiresome. 3 years on I am loving the grunt of the triple and the sound of the Akrapovic never gets boring.

I will have to dig for pics of the first 3, I know I have prints that I can scan and post.

EDIT: I added some pics from the web until I can upload my own, my bikes were the same models and colours as these.

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by andz