Previous / other bikes you own(ed)?

amsctalx

Registered
I rather liked reading about other peoples previous bikes, so I would like to start that topic again...

I have been riding since I was twelve. A friend and I assembled a Bultaco dirt-bike from salvage parts. I bought my first street bike when I was sixteen. It was a 1971(?) Honda CB125. I bought it at a yard sale! Very slow, but a fun bike none the less.

I can't remember all of them and only have pictures of a few, but:

1974 Honda CB360T
1975 Honda CB750
1979 Kawasaki KZ900
1980 Yamaha XS-1100 Special
1981 Kawasaki GPz550 (my first sportbike - whohoo! )
1983 Kawasaki GPz1100 (morphed into dragbike)
1985 Kawasaki ZX900 Ninja (2 - totalled one at track)
1986 Yamaha V-Max (fun for puttering - gave to brother)
1986 Yamaha FZ-600 (wife-trainer, track bike)
1988 Yamaha FZR-1000 (traded for 90)
1990 Yamaha FZR-1000 (spun a bearing, moved parts to 92)
1992 Yamaha FZR-1000 (great bike - modded extensively)
1992 Kawasaki ZX-250 Ninja (starter bike for kids - still have)
1992 Honda GL1500 (boring)
1996 Kawasaki ZX-11 Ninja (didn't like handling)
1999 Honda CBR1100XX (racked up the miles, traded for 01)
2001 Honda CBR1100XX (great bike - shoulda kept it)
2001 Suzuki GSX1300R (still have - short and med range blast)
2002 BMW K1200RS (still have - med to long rides)
2002 Yamaha YZF-R6 (still have - twisties, track days)

My crappy little website has some pictures of some of the bikes:


My Websites's photo page

Mike
 
89 GS500E 1st bike at age 30, bought at the end of 1990
92 GSXR 750 bought at the end of 91, stolen in Dec of 92
93 GSXR 750 bought in Jan of 1993, sold in 2001 for the 'Busa
 
The only other bike I have had is a 1998 Honda VFR 800. I still have it while I try to get it sold. Anybody interested? ;)
 
'93 FZR600 - an "ok" starter bike
'96 ZX11 - great bike then but sold it when I moved from California to Toronto in 1999
'01 CBR600F4i - nice bike when you're trying to get back to riding
'02 CBR954RR - very user-friendly, awesome power for a nimble and light bike, put in 9000 kms in 5 months of owning it but traded it in for......(drum roll)
'02 Busa silver/grey - best bike I've owned, lived up to all the hypes (so far) and never fails to draw attention from plain folks and bike enthusiasts
 
70 sumthin honda 50
Yamaha yz 80
yamaha yz 125
Kawasaki 400 (2 stroker 3 cyl)
V45 sabre
yamaha 400 (dont ask)
cb 125 street bike....still got it!!!!
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cb900
cb500
Katana 600
Katana 750
RF 900
Ducati 916
ZX-10
Busa
 
looks like we got some experienced bikers here!! (not including myself... still novice)

1983 RM 80
1986? YZ 490

here is the kicker: my first STREET bike:
1981 LTD1000 <-that bike was a kick! not nimble, but quick launches.... I ran circles around a guy on a Hurricaine 1100... the LTD was fast.

2002 GSX1300R Blue/Black, oh yea, the fastest color!
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first bike was an 02 Katana 600....lasted about five months, got sold and bought the Busa....really good starter bike though...a lot of my buddies said I was nuts for gettin the Busa but i figured I'm 27, fairly responsible and decent rider...what the hell?
 
78 kawi kz 750,81 kawi 1000, suzuki tm 250,84 650 honda night hawk ,2000 kawi zrx1100(still have great bike)and 2002 busa .not counting other ones that didnt last long enough to count!
 
My brother, largely responsible for my cycle fever, built my first mini bike out of a bicycle. It had about 2HP and could not go over 25MPH. I got bored with it fast and bugged my Dad into getting me a 4HP Sears for my 8th grade graduation. I had it down to the crank twice, and nearly doubled it's stock top speed (try THAT with a Hayabusa!). 44 MPH on 12" tires was a real kick. I got in trouble with the cops for riding w/o a license and sold it for $40. and bought my first rifle with the $, thus starting another hobby. I couldn't be happy without a bike, though and gave up a trip to Switzerland with my folks and a year's wages (@ $1.60 an hour) to buy my first real motorbike, a Kawasaki H-2. At 64 RWHP and about 400# it was the hottest thing going. I had nightmares before I picked it up. I remember what my friend Porkie said to me: "You and what army is going to hold onto that bike?" 18000 miles and 500 fouled plugs later I sold it for $150 less than I paid for it. I hear they are collectables now. It was a rotten bike- dangerously poor handling, horrible gas mileage, smoked like you could not believe (I could blanket a four lane highway) and would not run at smoothly at any speed under 60 MPH (can you say four stroking?).
To be continued....
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The year I got married, 1978, I bought a new, red KZ-1000. Heavy, but a nice bike. The arrival of my 2nd child was it's death toll, we needed the $ and I had no time to ride anyway. A few years later a co-worker sold me his Yamaha 650 Maxim. He was pushed off the road by a truck swinging wide for a turn and never rode again. The Maxim was a SWEET machine, sharp looking, shaft drive, much better handling than the KZ-1000, but underpowered. Child #3 arrived along with alot of bills and I sold it to my little brother who is parting it out on eBay as we speak (type?). When my daughter got married SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER I was hot to get another bike. Once or twice a month I would stop at the local Honda/Suzuki/Polaris dealer to drool and see how I fit on the gleaming rockets on the showroom floor. I did not like the way the gastank indentations hit me in the knees on most sport bikes. The Hayabusa was OK, and I LOVED the way it looked. I also wanted to (again) get the fastest bike on the road. BUT out the door cost was way over 10 grand and I was still paying wedding bills, plus my little guy's college tuition (a new 'Busa worth every year
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).
to be continued after I go shovel the ice out of the driveway...
 
to be continued after I go shovel the ice out of the driveway...
LOL!

ground is wet, 34 outside, fog lingering at about 50' above us, snow in the immediate hills.... gonna run the dog today. MUST run da busa today. been 2 weeks.
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"to be continued after I go shovel the ice out of the driveway..."
So you can go for a ride?
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I started putting all my OT in a separate account and bidding what I could afford on eBay. My wife was getting sick of my talk and was getting ready to lecture me about it when I told her "I bought a Hayabusa on eBay, I'm picking it up Saturday". She took it pretty well and has been supportive since. She knows by the gleam it puts in my eye that I am in LOVE. She (my bike) is like a girlfriend- I buy her presents all the time and get a silly grin on my mug I get when I think about her. Yes, my bike is female.  
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 I cover her, lube her, and I am the only one who rides her.
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Thank you for your kind attention.
 
It all started with this 72 honda cb 350, next came the
76 yamaha It 175
72 SL honda 350
85 suzuki Gs550L
86 Suzuki Gsxr 750
87 Kaw Spectra 1100
88 Kaw Spetra 1100
1992 Harley Davidson FSXR 1340 (From show room to the Busa! )
1999 Busa ( 230 hp)Gold
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1987 got 1st bike - 1974 Kawi KZ400 - found in grandma's barn - died just before I got next bike.
1988 - got 1985 or 86 Suzi Madura 1200
1994 - sold Madura, replaced with 1989 Kawi EX500 - for street and road racing.
1994 - got early 70's Penton 100 for $25, sold for $100; got 1983 Yam IT250
1995-6  was given 1976 Honda CB400F supersport - quickly got rid of the hunk o junk
1998 - sold EX500 and IT250 replaced with 1997 DR650se - dual sport/supermotard heaven.
2000 got basket case Triumph TR6R (67 motor/ 69 frame); 1975 Suzi RL250 (vintage trials) and 1997 BMW F-650 (another thumper dual sport) - 2000 was a bike acquisition year, though not expensive
2001 new Hayabusa - Blue/silver; sold DR650

Still have the Busa (main street/sport touring bike) BMW (road raced last year, 6th overall in AHRMA Prod. SIngles) Triumph (racing next year) and the RL250

Gar
 
1978 - bought a used '74 Yamaha RD350 - put 25K miles on it in the next 5 years. Couldn't afford a car so I used it to get through school.
1990 - bought a new '90 Kawasaki Concours. put 35K miles on it until I saw the new '93 vfr.
1993- bought a new '93 VFR. Still have it. Got about 30K miles on this one.
2002 - bought a '02 Hayabusa. Got about 6K miles on it right now.
 
5 hp Briggs & Stratton mini-bike
~ 1980 Suzuki RM 80
~ 1982 Suzuki RM 125
~ 1982 Suzuki RM 400
1980 Suzuki GS 750E
198? Suzuki GS650 Tempter
1987 Suzuki GSXR750
CRASHED!!!
1983 Kawasaki KZ750Ltd
1982 Yamaha 920 Virago
1993 Harley Fatboy
1995 Triumph Tiger
2001 Suzuki Hayabusa - Da King

I think that is all of them...? Just glad I had more HP on my minibike than Kerbie!!!

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