how many here are bikers

[Blackngolds3turbo]

Careful packing of ones’ shed can fit quite a few of both...

[Steve V8]

Ex biker now, the Harley had to go to fund the Esprit rebuild.

Kidneys next...

[Sgt_Bigmac]

I have two Suzukis

Suzuki GW250L3 the bike I learnt to ride on and a Suzuki GSX-S750 my current werkend warrior machine.

Image shown is my 750

[ramjet]

Ding! Ding!

[esprit22]

My mean machine!

[Iain]

Yup - biker since mid 80's and a bit of a serial collector/restorer of '80 machines...

Current collection:

1985 Yamaha RD125LC - 1 owner from new - me! Finishing rebuild - son will get to ride when he's 17 - and has done some training. 

1987 Suzuki RG500 2-stroke square 4 GP Rep - impulse buy off Ebay after Sunday night glass of wine 10 years ago. Usually a bad idea - but this appears to have been a good investment!

1989 Ducati 851 - sounds like a Sopwith Camel on steroids - bags of character and handles like a dream.

1987 Yamaha FZR1000 Genesis.

1985 Honda VF1000F-II Bol d'Or - the one I've generally been riding this year.

1986 Kawasaki GPz900R - nearly finished after respray/overhaul.

Iain

[Tommo7]

Just the one bike, and nly been riding since 2011

[sjw]

Over the last 10 years, traveling light as required with an Exige  😎

From this Yamaha R6

To this Honda CBR600RR

To this Yamaha MT09

To this Kawasaki Z900

Not been into Europe yet on the Z900

[Karls]

Bikes were my passion since I was 11, last one I had was a Ducati 748...I adored that bike. If I wasn’t riding it I was cleaning it. Termis, jhm airfilter, chipped - gorgeous. Then one sunny Saturday it all ended, unbeknown to me. All I remember is two weeks later being woken by a nurse repeating my name. I was incredibly lucky to survive; they called my wife to my bedside in intensive care four times to say goodbye. But I wasn’t going! It’s left me with long-term injuries including a tbi.

It was an unavoidable accident according to the Police, I had no time to react to the car driver who was trying to pull off an incredibly stupid move. In a split second my old life and career had finished and a whole new world of pain and struggle was replacing it. A grim prognosis was the outlook.

But you know what, 17 years down the line I think I’ve proved them all wrong. I’ve learnt to walk again, learnt to talk again, working part-time, still a dad to my 18 yr old son and still a husband to my wonderful wife...how she’s stuck with me christ only knows.

The only thing I want you guys to take away from this is this: You may think you’re an experienced and safe rider, I did. But on that day, I can’t remember seeing a car, reacting to a car, grabbing the brakes, nothing. Apparently I was resuscitated at the roadside before being airlifted and I can’t recall a god damn thing. They are out there guys, and they are waiting for us...just have that in the back of your mind on your next ride out.

But above all, enjoy riding your bike as it’s a feeling that can never be matched, no matter what car you drive.

Here endeth the lesson 😊

[rudolphwolven]

***

Hi Karl,

What a hell you went trough......nearly unbelievable.......I feel very sorry for you because of what happened to you and you had to deal with those years.

I feel rather uncomfortable by simply posting below my motorbike history which is a huge contrast of what you told us.......I hope that you will understand that a new poster has to follow-up this thread.

I wish you a good health for you and your relatives in the future.

Best regards, Ruud

 

Some information of one of the first Goldwing's...produced 44 years ago....1 liter flat four cyl. ohc engine , 82 hp,  redlining at 9.000 rpm, top speed over 125 mls/h, 5 speed gear box located beyond the crankshaft for a low gravity point and eguipped with at double speed counter revving alternator to eliminate torque force of the engine during throttle acceleration (which was a typical BMW boxer problem), cardan shaft, weight 640 lbs, faux tank storing the air filter and electrics, real tank below the seat just in front of the rear wheel, all in all contributing to an extreme low point of gravity..........at the time of the introduction at the 1974 Cologne Motorbike Show this "ridiculous car-like monster" caused an earthquake in the motorcycle world press.....the engine was this/first time especially developed by the Honda Cars sister company......

My 1975 Honda Goldwing GL1000 K1........2nd owner since 1978 ........uninterrupted (dry) stored over 31 years from 1983 to 2014.........7.500 mls on the odo...

Proud winner of the NGWClub-USA contest Bike of the Year 2016------ GL1000 K1 1975

Edited February 3, 2019 by rudolphwolven

[Karls]

Hey Ruud, don’t get me wrong, I still love bikes! I can’t ride them anymore but I will always love bikes more than I do cars so please don’t feel bad about posting your bike history. I didn’t put my post up to make people think like that.

[gvy]

I recently became a biker @   the age of 52.

At that age you would imagine I choose a cruiser or an adventure but nono. A first class street fighter rebel bike it became. A triumph street triple and it is just fun to ride. Small, agile, light,nimble,quick, ( Hey didn't I just describe a lotus )

SAM_8074 by Geert Vijncke, on Flickr

SAM_1174 by Geert Vijncke, on Flickr

Geert

[2GOOD]

10 hours ago, Karls said:

Hey Ruud, don’t get me wrong, I still love bikes! I can’t ride them anymore but I will always love bikes more than I do cars so please don’t feel bad about posting your bike history. I didn’t put my post up to make people think like that.

Blimey, did you have your bump in Gloucestershire? 19 years ago this month I was knocked off my 916 (again Termi’s etc.) on the A40 near Andoversford. A 78 year old who could only read a number plate at 3.5m pulled out of a side road right in front of me in a 60 limit. Recovered to Cheltenham General by Ambulance, coming round when they hit a bump in the road & then rebuilt by the NHS over the next few months.

 Still have a bike, an 848 just don’t use it much"

[duncx]

22 hours ago, Karls said:

Bikes were my passion since I was 11, last one I had was a Ducati 748...I adored that bike. If I wasn’t riding it I was cleaning it. Termis, jhm airfilter, chipped - gorgeous. Then one sunny Saturday it all ended, unbeknown to me. All I remember is two weeks later being woken by a nurse repeating my name. I was incredibly lucky to survive; they called my wife to my bedside in intensive care four times to say goodbye. But I wasn’t going! It’s left me with long-term injuries including a tbi.

It was an unavoidable accident according to the Police, I had no time to react to the car driver who was trying to pull off an incredibly stupid move. In a split second my old life and career had finished and a whole new world of pain and struggle was replacing it. A grim prognosis was the outlook.

But you know what, 17 years down the line I think I’ve proved them all wrong. I’ve learnt to walk again, learnt to talk again, working part-time, still a dad to my 18 yr old son and still a husband to my wonderful wife...how she’s stuck with me christ only knows.

The only thing I want you guys to take away from this is this: You may think you’re an experienced and safe rider, I did. But on that day, I can’t remember seeing a car, reacting to a car, grabbing the brakes, nothing. Apparently I was resuscitated at the roadside before being airlifted and I can’t recall a god damn thing. They are out there guys, and they are waiting for us...just have that in the back of your mind on your next ride out.

But above all, enjoy riding your bike as it’s a feeling that can never be matched, no matter what car you drive.

Here endeth the lesson 😊

Important lesson for us all. I started biking at 17 (passed my bike test before my car test!) and received some sound advice from my mate's dad who was a very experienced biker. He said ' treat every other roaduser as if they want to kill you'. That advice has saved me a couple of times.

Anyway, to lighten the mood a little here's a picture of my current steed (very minor use nowadays so nothing special) and of a rather nice car that I used to own (very special) 

Just for you Karl

 

 

Edited February 3, 2019 by duncx

[Karls]

4 hours ago, 2GOOD said:

Blimey, did you have your bump in Gloucestershire? 19 years ago this month I was knocked off my 916 (again Termi’s etc.) on the A40 near Andoversford. A 78 year old who could only read a number plate at 3.5m pulled out of a side road right in front of me in a 60 limit. Recovered to Cheltenham General by Ambulance, coming round when they hit a bump in the road & then rebuilt by the NHS over the next few months.

 Still have a bike, an 848 just don’t use it much"

Yep. It was in Gloucestershire but I think the car driver was in his 50’s so I can’t compete with 78!

My brother had an 848, loved it but found it really uncomfortable.

[Steve V8]

Well I was, until last July...

Dad told me "if I ever see you on a motorbike you can pack your bags" so I got myself a paper round, saved hard, and a few weeks before my 16th birthday bought myself a little FS1dx off a mates brother for £25. Here she is and that's me the long haired scruffian on the right.

That first ride, the freedom, all of a sudden the world is your oyster, I was hooked on bikes for nearly 40 years have owned, built, raced, and customised many over the years...here are a few of them.

 

[2GOOD]

8 hours ago, Karls said:

My brother had an 848, loved it but found it really uncomfortable.

He’s not wrong 😀 But I’m a bit older now than when I had my 916! Keep looking at BMW GS1200’s but can’t do it

[Karls]

I love the GS...guess it’s a sign of me getting older but I’ve always had a soft spot for big trailies and Dakar lookalikes.

[Karls]

Saw this on youtube...god, I still love the look of these, they’re timeless:

 

[Neal H]

Beautiful but the riding position will cripple you! If I owned one, I'd park it in my conservatory and view it as a work of art.

[pete]

Wouldn't mind one of these

[Bazza 907]

Wasn't that the one that TE Lawrence topped himself on Clouds Hill in Dorset?

[pete]

He was certainly on a Brough

[andy tims]

I’ve got a K8 GSXR 750 track bike and a 2015 S1000rr. Both brilliant, but the BMW is an absolute rocket ship. 

[bahama61]

Triumph Rob North and a std T160.

Although since the Elise turned up its choices, choices ! Lol