Favourite Bikes

[Rain Rider 1]

Whick bikes over the years are your faves.

My number 1 is the TL1000s. Torque, brawny look, sound.
Gixxer 1000 is a close 2nd. Power.
Hawk GT because it was sooooo cool.
73 CB350 in California purple because it was my 1st capable streetbike.

[jimo]

Totally agree with you accesment of the TL, I have one myself, and it is my all time fav of the 20 plus bikes that I have had. Wouldn't mind a TL-R as well.

[RickO]

My all-time favourite bike was my 1974 Norton 850 Commando.

Put together as a project bike from bikes and parts of bikes rescued from basements and barns, the old Snortin' Norton was never totally reliable. I eventually bought a big bore shaft drive bike I could travel on.

When it was running just right though, there was nothing more satisfying to ride. The exhaust note and intake honk were music to my ears.

Lots of torque from 3000 rpm on up made it easy to ride lazily, but it would respond when wound up. The light weight, low centre of gravity and tall skinny tires made it surprisingly good as a gravel road explorer.

I sold my Norton to a guy from Newmarket a couple of years ago. Hope he has it back on the road.

[mrspock]

My list of fav bikes of fairly short . My Number one bike is the Honda ST 1100 , followed by the Honda ST 1300 , then the 1984-87 Honda Nighthawk S750 and lastly , the BMW 1150 and 1200 GS Adventure .


spock

[hank]

I'd have to say the busa has been my fav. But the fj was the most usable bike, as welll as user friendly.I tend to keep my bikes for a long while.

[Malks]

Other than my current ride which is so comfortable and sneaky fast, my '69 BSA Lighting had to be a sentimental fav. It was pretty reliable, handled awful, had lousy brakes, leaked oil and backfired flames out the shorty pipes, but riding it was always fun! When coming home late I had to shut it off at the end of the street and coast into my garage. Ah, the old days.

[Ivor biggin]

I wouldn`t dream of picking my favorite bike as the list is getting rather long and they all have something special about them that I want to remember. I will, though, mention the only bike that I hated and that was a Kawasaki Concours. Boy was that thing ugly. Me painting it British racing green didn`t help much either, My Son took one look at it and asked if I was working for the MNR.
IB.
P.S. my 900SSCR was very nice. ( red with yellow powder coated wheels):cool:

[TimP]

My favourite bike is my next one. Or at least I think it will be. Otherwise why bother?

[Balaboy]

Favorite bike ;
I got a few ,the one I got my licence on , a 1966 Honda Dream red, remember them? chain gard, speedo in the head lite , It brings back wonderful memories, but the XL 250 Honda, my first new ride , got me every everywhere ,rain or shine ,summer winter,, never let me down, but I have to admit my ride now is my all time favourite -est the Yamaha Warrior, it gets me my cruiser , with lots of power, yet it does the twisties , like a sport bike [you can argue this if YOU want ] and it looks good! I took this to the west coast in 04 , and never once had that feeling ,'' oh gotta get on it again! ''And this bike with 46000 k has never let me down ,not once, ever. Cheers

[Ivor biggin]

yet it does the twisties , like a sport bike [you can argue this if YOU want ] and it looks good!(quote)
I wouldn`t touch that with a barge pole.
IB

[TimP]

yet it does the twisties , like a sport bike [you can argue this if YOU want ] and it looks good!(quote)
I wouldn`t touch that with a barge pole.
IB

I think you just did.

I'm not much of a cruiser fan myself, but the Warrior is a good looking bike and certainly one I could ride. I rode a Vulcan years ago on a Kawasaki test ride day, and it was fun except for the parts that fell off before I completed the tour around the block (in downtown Toronto - now that was sure a fun route to cruise).

I think any bike is better than no bike, no bike is perfect and you can and will change them when the time is right. I've gone years without a bike, and years more where the old CT70 was the best and only ride I had. I'm not sure what slagging someone else's bike achieves, so I try not to do it. Unless it's, you know, yellow.

[Rocking Couple]

Good for you Ivor, I have been resisting a similar comment. Although, to give the Warrior (and Balaboy) their due, I too have ridden the Warrior on a short one-on-one demo, and was quite impressed with it's sporting potential....considering that it is still, very much a cruiser. The frame is aluminum, and quite sturdy; engine is stressed in the frame and COG quite low. Pegs higher than some. It just happens to be one of the better handlers in it's class. I only hope that Balaboy doesn't over-shoot the limits of the bike some day, trying to prove it's competence. Besides, if he is quite skilled on it, then the new rider on his 'latest/greatest' sporting 600, might well crash thinking that just cuz it's a cruiser he's trying to keep up to, he ought to be able to do 'what that guy is doing'. And so it goes..

[Desert Rat]

Hey, whatever turns your crankshaft, that's what I say. I did Deal's Gap with couple of buddies once, one of them on a Warrior. I was impressed by the way he hustled it through the turns, but that was a case of big balls and very little brains. Even then, it was no sport bike. Power cruisers are a performance step up from their more relaxed brethren, but it's still a cruiser. If it makes you happy, I say great, but trying to use it as a sport bike is like trying to open a bottle of beer with a banana. It might work, but it's going to get messy.

[Balaboy]

Hey, I was just saying it handles real well. I don't race or push it beyond my abilities one thing I never considered though , was to have some friend try to keep up , and be confronted with some terrible conclusion. It is not a sport bike ,doesn't handle like a sport bike , hell I'm even afraid to take a sport bike out .We all get very familiar with our bike of choice and know its abilities, and then try to push them a little ,again I hope I didn't suggest that people push or exceeded their own abilities.
Like the ad says '' I wanna ride I wanna ride'' , spring is just about upon us ,Thank God .

[Ivor biggin]

I don`t know if you guys are setting too much stock in demo rides. It`s a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon as you get to ride a couple of new bikes but what does anyone get to learn from them. The whole ride is spent following Mother Goose at a pace suited to the slowest rider and while this may be o.k. on a cruiser it`s unlikely to give any worthwhile impression of a cutting edge sportbike. These rides can give a false impression and as an example I`ll mention demo rides I took at Mosport a few years ago. First on a GSXR600 and then on a 600F4. The Suzuki seemed hard and unsophisticated while the Honda came over as smooth as silk. Now I`ve read enough about these bikes to know that the gixers rough edges would disappear when ridden the way it was meant to be but the demo didn`t give it a chance.
IB.

[Rocking Couple]

That is why I said "one-on-one". The bike was one of the ones, and I was the other one. I checked to see if suspension was set to stock settings,and even took my tire gauge with me. After a few experimental corners, I set it into a corner I knew, at a speed that I knew would unsettle some bikes, and noticed that while it still has limited clearance, it didn't get into weaving like many a steel tube framed cruiser would have at that same speed in that same corner. So that told me a fair bit. Had it been a typical demo ride, then ya, some things you will discover (vibration, wind management, heat, etc) many other things you won't. Still better than a showroom setting. Unfortunately though, escorted demo rides are among the most unsafe rides you'll do in a season.

[Paddy]

RR1, that sure is a period piece Honda there, what with the chunky seat/tailpiece and OE tires. Good colour too. What a charmer.
And I still love the look of those TL1000s'. I would love one for my next ride.
I'm finding it hard to part with my KZ1000 even though it wiggles and weaves through turns and weighs a ton. Riding my little Yamaha xs650 after that feels like I'm on a scooter.
I must say though that riding my friends 1980's GSXR1100 was about the most fun I've had on a real rocketship.Even compared to his R1 and 'Busa.