It's like this - bikes come in all shapes and sizes. I've had several over
the years, with various degrees of success and fond memories...
1984
A Camino like mine
Honda Camino moped. After a serious service, this was good for 40mph, cost me three
quid! When I got to be 17, this was passed to my brother, who also thrashed and crashed
it before getting an RD50. Eventually it was passed to Jason, who ended up cutting
it in half and dumping it in a skip.
1985
A CB like mine, but mine was orange
Honda CB125J... at 17 in the UK, in those days, you could ride a 125cc bike with
12hp, so I could get a proper bike.
I lent it to a friend, who ran it with no oil in, so I then
learnt not to lend bikes to people, and how to rebuild engines.
This was the bike that I had my big accident on... after that, Steve and I used my good
engine and his good chassis to build a bike that we sold to a simpleton who ran it
without oil until it completely seized.
We disavowed all knowledge of it, and ran away.
1989
After a few years not riding, or being a passenger, I got my hands on a Yamaha
YSR80. Just to have a bit of fun
on, mind you, and had rather a lot of fun. Until the engine siezed in a big,
horrible way. I rebuilt this after it was shipped over from the UK, and sold it as
a race bike, with a 50cc engine.
1991
I decided to get all posh, so I bought my first ever brand
new motorbike, a Yamaha TZR125. Gosh, this was nice, so I
passed my test and never rode it again. My then girlfriend rode it, and when she
passed her test, we put the powervalve kit on it, giving it 25hp and 100mph.
After we split up, I sold it to a simpleton who couldn't understand how I was
younger than him and riding a 650.
1992
I got another brand new bike, this time a TZR250... 48hp of
terror - I didn't think I was going to get it home :o)
Unfortunately, I had a lot of engine trouble with it, and those
nice people at Blays in Twickenham fixed it, while those nice
people at Yamaha paid for it. Shortly after the third rebuild,
it was stolen, and the insurance company wrote it off.
1993
I bought another TZR with the insurance money, and this time when the engine
fell apart, I fixed it myself, and it ran really well after that.
I fell off this after a badly fitted rear tyre let go. Shortly after that, I
sold it.
1994
To replace a bitsa that was put together by a friend who worked
at Halfords that was subsequently stolen, and to keep fit, I bought
a 1993 Specialized Hardrock sport mountain bike. This got boxed up
and shipped to the US, and is still hanging in the garage if you need to borrow
a pushbike :o)
I bought my first Hawk, a 1988 model, in gray. After a
crash caused by a dangerous road, I got it sprayed blue. I had
an awful lot of fun on this bike, so much that I bought
another
when I got to the US. I sold it to a guy who kept crashing it and emailing
me for advice on how to fix it. I told him to stop, as it was getting too
upsetting for me.
1995
While waiting to get around to fixing the Hawk, I bought a VFR400,
possibly the most silly bike I've ever owned. If it wasn't
so single minded, I'm sure I'd have imported it to the US. I've
regretted that ever since. Sure, a modern 600 is lighter, and over 50% more
powerful, but none of them has that exotic gear driven cam whine, or V4
exhaust note.
1998
Another Hawk, this one red. I decided that I should have fewer toys cluttering
up the garage, so this went to Los Angeles.
1998
I decided to go racing, so I bought myself another YSR, this one
a 50. I raced it in the stock class, as I was too cheap to tune it.
I have this silly plan of turning it back into a street legal machine, and we'll
just have to see how that goes.
2000
I've always fancied a dual-sport, so I got a Kawasaki KLX650. Obviously, I
couldn't leave it stock, so it's become a supermotard. I decided that I should
have fewer toys cluttering up the garage, so this went to Scott. I haven't heard
the last of it, I'm sure :o)
2000
After riding a Stumpjumper, I decided I needed a bike with
suspendy forks - enter the 2000 clearance Specialized Rockhopper Pro
mountain bike.
2004
Well, the YSR was starting to seem sensible... I ended up rebuilding the
swarf-laden carb, and abysmal brakes. I then played around with this
little beast for 18 months or so, including 1 practice session at the race
track, and sold it just to get it out from underfoot.
2008
I finally succumbed to the desire for an easy life and bought a 2007 DRZ400SM.
I doubt I'll be able to leave it stock, as everything I own, vehicle-wise has been
firkled with, but hopefully this won't need such drastic work done to it :o)
After the lottery win
Another Honda, this one a 2 stroke V twin race bike. This weighs
as much as your shoe, and puts out roughly 135bhp. Oh, it's over
$100,000, hence the lottery win requirement...
