I once rode a BMW R69s, it belonged to my brother and as I remember I more than earned that ride in elbow grease expended on cleaning that bike. I've always liked BMW's they are simple, direct and a little off kilter. Now I'm a little worried that BMW have forgotten the simple utterly reliable and sometimes exciting machines they used to build yes they still build twins, but the writing is on the wall I think the twins will fade. My current favorite is the R1200S it has the same role as that R69S and for example the R90S. Its not really a full blown sport bike, its more a bike that can be used for a ride to work or one across the country all with a great handling chassis and lots of usable power. (Not overblown like an Yamaha R1 for example). An everymans sportbike that will last 10 or 20 years and still look kewl..
The other manufacturer I really have always loved is Ducati. They build great bikes, not always reliable and needing lots of pampering, not always designed logically or with the user in mind, but usually having that very rare ability of building something of great beauty but also that just darned well works. The old form follows function I guess. They even use a valve actuation method that although extremely efficient, has not been used by any other manufacturer the way Ducati has.
Who can resist a 900 SS or any of the Monsters. Now on the other hand you had better be ready for bad electrics, a little unreliability and your butt not wanting more than an hour or two in the saddle.
Neither manufacturer builds inexpensive bikes, but both build bikes you can have a relationship with. Ones you can both ride and just ogle if you wish.
Another Manufacturer that is on my list is KTM. KTM build some of the best off road bikes bar none, they also build a few street bikes that are to me stunning in execution the Duke and SuperDuke are not for everyone or in fact most people and I think KTM know that. But for the right person they are just wonderfull peices of quality built engineering, which is good since I own a SuperDuke. Quite honestly the KTM's are enthusiasts bikes, you own one, you will love it or you get rid of it in five minutes and I do mean that I have met a couple of people who had SuperDukes and sold them since they scared themselves silly or exepcted a bike that you just got out rode and put away. Nope with both bikes you will have to bring something of yourself to make it work properly. VTwins are no longer the firebreathing top of the heap bikes they once were, but don't tell the Superduke that. The Superduke has all the usuable power and lots more than you could ever use, it has no protect you from the elements pretensions and if misused it will bite you badly it handles like a small dirt bike with an off on switch for a throttle. When ridden properly its an amazing peice of engineering and character. A throwback bike that is way more than the some of its parts. Lol sorry I love my Superduke......
I still want to own a Ducati and BMW one day, but the Superduke is of all the bikes I have ridden or owned my favorite and I cant see myself parting with it.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Past Bikes
Ok so some of my past bikes, I started riding a buddies dirt bike at 15 years old. My parents would have killed me for that if they had known. It was in my defense ridden off road (really officer I never rode it on the street really!!! )
My first real bike that was bought and paid for by me. Was a Kawasaki KH250 two stroke triple when I was 18. I had to pay cash for the bike and since I was 18, there were no parental impediements. Back then the learners limit was 250 cc's in England and the bikes to get were either Suzuki or Yamaha Twins or the Kawasaki triple. It looked exactly like its big brother the infamous bad handling but oh so fast Kawasaki 500. Except it wasn't so overpowered and it handled just fine all the way up to its maximum speed of around a ton.
I remember going to the dealer and paying for it, then riding it home well I took a long detour wheelied it more than once and I'm surprised i survived intact that first ride, when I got home i hid the bike. (My Mom didn't find out for two weeks and I don't think she spoke to me for 6 months after that.
I rode the 250 for a few years and had a great time, put expansion chambers and ace bars on it. I even kept it after I passed my test. Lol not because I didn't want a new bike, but more because you try being a teen and running a vehicle and having any money left over.
Next up was a Honda CB400F. Nice bike but in reality if you have ridden a two stroke it wasn't much of a step up nor did it handle any better, no matter what anyone tells you. It was reliable though and looked kewl, mine was red which wasn't as common as the dark blue and it didn't oil up the plugs or sulk in the rain like my Kwakker did. I didn't keep the 400 for very long, as a youth I was a 2 stroke person all the way, I swapped it for a clapped out RD400, more smoke more guerrila riding, what a wonderfull bike.
Next up girls and well a gap in riding sigh...
So on to the next bike and a different country. I moved to Canada and because you can't exactly ride a bike in winter here and I didnt have huge amounts of spare cash, I had a few years of cars only. But I never lost my love of bikes. Although I went from the sublime to the ridiculous when I did get my next bike. I bought a Honda FT500 Single cylinder. Totally underpowered looked like a dirt track bike, but a hoot to ride just about anywhere on road or off. I had this for quite a few years and really loved it. I changed the pipe, carb and made various attempts at tuning it up for more power and found out singles are a bit of a dark art to get more power from.
Next up was a move back to the dark side and another two stroke. Now you would think I would remember the bad part of two strokes, the blue smoke, weather related sulks and oiled plugs - but no not me, all forgotten in my lust for the RZ500, so I bought a Yamaha RZ500 V4 yes it looked just like Kenny rode and though it was heavy and a bit of a pig it was damned fun to ride along zero avenue in White Rock to see how fast it would go on a Sunday morning, I swear the cops on both sides of the border could see the blue haze for miles. As a second bike this or the Suzuki Gamma 500 are about the funnest bikes of their generation, and compared to two strokes of earlier generations handled very well if a little heavily and i hated the Anti Dive Crud. They are however still two strokes and they are prone to be cantankerous, bad tempered and just plain fun all on the same day even, a bit like being with a Bipolar person, off there meds, you never know whats going to happen next.
Next up a Honda 750 NightHawk. You meet the nicest people on a Honda, I should have know and remembered form the 400... Hrmmm nice can be boring. Honda's just go and go and go and well I guess they eventually rot but they are just about unbreakable. Which was the logic I was using since I was done with 2 strokes and sulks and all the other things that go with them. Logic meant trying a big for me Honda... Bad choice for my style of riding so damn heavy and boring.........
Last bike a Norton Atlas 750 that came in pieces and well I learned that I'm not as technically capable as I thought. Nice dream though.
My current bike is a KTM Superduke, at this point in my life this is my mid life bike its as tricked out as I can make it and still be relaible, its also mostly hidden, not bling bling bike for me. On this bike its so easy to lose your license, its even easier to act like a crazed youth. If you see a Ducati on the road its almost like a red flag to a bull. It looks either urban applocolypse beautifull or all slab sided ugly depends on your viewpoint. As with all my bikes I named it, and going back to the heroes of my youth its named after TE Lawrences Brough. Boanerges as in twin gods of thunder, and my neighbours on Sunday mornings more than agree with that name....
So what next BMW, another KTM (Especially when the Venom comes out), Ducati????? Triumph or a bike I lusted after in my youth (Tridents, Laverda's BMW's) . Ahhhhh I wish I could own one of each but since last time I looked I was not independently wealthy I get to choose only one or two or at most three or........
My first real bike that was bought and paid for by me. Was a Kawasaki KH250 two stroke triple when I was 18. I had to pay cash for the bike and since I was 18, there were no parental impediements. Back then the learners limit was 250 cc's in England and the bikes to get were either Suzuki or Yamaha Twins or the Kawasaki triple. It looked exactly like its big brother the infamous bad handling but oh so fast Kawasaki 500. Except it wasn't so overpowered and it handled just fine all the way up to its maximum speed of around a ton.
I remember going to the dealer and paying for it, then riding it home well I took a long detour wheelied it more than once and I'm surprised i survived intact that first ride, when I got home i hid the bike. (My Mom didn't find out for two weeks and I don't think she spoke to me for 6 months after that.
I rode the 250 for a few years and had a great time, put expansion chambers and ace bars on it. I even kept it after I passed my test. Lol not because I didn't want a new bike, but more because you try being a teen and running a vehicle and having any money left over.
Next up was a Honda CB400F. Nice bike but in reality if you have ridden a two stroke it wasn't much of a step up nor did it handle any better, no matter what anyone tells you. It was reliable though and looked kewl, mine was red which wasn't as common as the dark blue and it didn't oil up the plugs or sulk in the rain like my Kwakker did. I didn't keep the 400 for very long, as a youth I was a 2 stroke person all the way, I swapped it for a clapped out RD400, more smoke more guerrila riding, what a wonderfull bike.
Next up girls and well a gap in riding sigh...
So on to the next bike and a different country. I moved to Canada and because you can't exactly ride a bike in winter here and I didnt have huge amounts of spare cash, I had a few years of cars only. But I never lost my love of bikes. Although I went from the sublime to the ridiculous when I did get my next bike. I bought a Honda FT500 Single cylinder. Totally underpowered looked like a dirt track bike, but a hoot to ride just about anywhere on road or off. I had this for quite a few years and really loved it. I changed the pipe, carb and made various attempts at tuning it up for more power and found out singles are a bit of a dark art to get more power from.
Next up was a move back to the dark side and another two stroke. Now you would think I would remember the bad part of two strokes, the blue smoke, weather related sulks and oiled plugs - but no not me, all forgotten in my lust for the RZ500, so I bought a Yamaha RZ500 V4 yes it looked just like Kenny rode and though it was heavy and a bit of a pig it was damned fun to ride along zero avenue in White Rock to see how fast it would go on a Sunday morning, I swear the cops on both sides of the border could see the blue haze for miles. As a second bike this or the Suzuki Gamma 500 are about the funnest bikes of their generation, and compared to two strokes of earlier generations handled very well if a little heavily and i hated the Anti Dive Crud. They are however still two strokes and they are prone to be cantankerous, bad tempered and just plain fun all on the same day even, a bit like being with a Bipolar person, off there meds, you never know whats going to happen next.
Next up a Honda 750 NightHawk. You meet the nicest people on a Honda, I should have know and remembered form the 400... Hrmmm nice can be boring. Honda's just go and go and go and well I guess they eventually rot but they are just about unbreakable. Which was the logic I was using since I was done with 2 strokes and sulks and all the other things that go with them. Logic meant trying a big for me Honda... Bad choice for my style of riding so damn heavy and boring.........
Last bike a Norton Atlas 750 that came in pieces and well I learned that I'm not as technically capable as I thought. Nice dream though.
My current bike is a KTM Superduke, at this point in my life this is my mid life bike its as tricked out as I can make it and still be relaible, its also mostly hidden, not bling bling bike for me. On this bike its so easy to lose your license, its even easier to act like a crazed youth. If you see a Ducati on the road its almost like a red flag to a bull. It looks either urban applocolypse beautifull or all slab sided ugly depends on your viewpoint. As with all my bikes I named it, and going back to the heroes of my youth its named after TE Lawrences Brough. Boanerges as in twin gods of thunder, and my neighbours on Sunday mornings more than agree with that name....
So what next BMW, another KTM (Especially when the Venom comes out), Ducati????? Triumph or a bike I lusted after in my youth (Tridents, Laverda's BMW's) . Ahhhhh I wish I could own one of each but since last time I looked I was not independently wealthy I get to choose only one or two or at most three or........
Winter in Ontario
Its February, winter still lays on the ground and there is a deceptive look of faux spring around that you just know means that season is not yet a reality.
As in all years I plan / dream to buy another bike, but what to get?
Do I listen to the good angel and buy something sensible, or how about a basket case British Twin, nope remember that I did that once and erm well it stayed in the basker. Or how about that devil sitting the other shoulder who always has fun but you know will get me into trouble... The one who says Ducati............
Ah the choices..... So hard so permanent, winter pipedreams, another month and I'll be back on the Superduke sigh.
As in all years I plan / dream to buy another bike, but what to get?
Do I listen to the good angel and buy something sensible, or how about a basket case British Twin, nope remember that I did that once and erm well it stayed in the basker. Or how about that devil sitting the other shoulder who always has fun but you know will get me into trouble... The one who says Ducati............
Ah the choices..... So hard so permanent, winter pipedreams, another month and I'll be back on the Superduke sigh.
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