Motorbike thread - Show'n'Tell, Stories, Dream bikes, etc...

[foureyedmike]

Just wondering if there's any riders, or ex-riders, on this board? Would be great to see some pictures of past rides, dream rides, etc...

I started riding in 2010 after getting a very memorable ride on the back of an R1. Hung up the leathers last year... my wife loved the bike when we were dating, but after we married and she became an ER nurse...

I liked sport-touring bikes. My two rides were a 2004 Suzuki Bandit, and a 2000 Honda VFR.





The Bandit was fine, and did well on rides with bigger bikes, but I have to say I miss the VFR a lot more. I had a Two Brothers pipe on it, loved that exhaust note

My dream was to re-do an '80s or early '90s bike. I wanted to fix up an FJ1200, a GPz900R, a ZX-11... something ridiculous like that. I probably would have paired that bike with a more 'touring'-ish bike - a BMW RT, or Yamaha FJR, Honda ST, something like that...


*************

Enough about me - what have you owned and enjoyed? Any good stories, trips, etc.?

[Beagle]

The only anywhere close to running scoot I've got at the moment is a 74" Sportsturd that is currently keeping the concrete on my back porch from floating off... needs tires and a starter and by now I'm sure a carb job again.

I think I had (still have) a guardian angel that got tired of chasing me around. The CBR110xx I had got stolen and totaled... was really a bit more bike than I needed. haha.

Speaking of dream bike - Dream 50. I want one.



or , and I'm serious, a Honda Grom. (all 125 fuel injected screaming cc's worth)

[Barry Donovan]

my locale is terrible, and the gurus have a few short weeks to take it easy..even with fast stuff.
my first dream bike had 3 wheels, and a vw engine mid mounted.
Never saw one before the internet.




A yamaha double gets the first credit in my life of 100+ mph... and first lesson in speed wobble. That was the late 80s.
My first hatred of inlines and even amount cylinders began there.
I drove a harley at 1340cc.. did not enjoy that. My balls are my throne...not to be sitting on anyone elses.

I then found the boxer trikes, after the internet. Never owned one. Still gets my poverty stricken thoughts. I have two 1781cc liquid subaru engines now, from the 80s. I only need a 2wd auto tranny, one of these trike frames sitting around...and further custom some radiator. Very nice.


The daydream that maine has scenic roads, turns, and hills.. it still keeps some enthused. Many accident every year, and they are gruesome.

my dream bike is a result of another hobby, and realizing the extra wheel.

[STINEY]

Hehehe....wait till Joe sees this thread. He has a FJ he's been improving and enjoying the heck out of.



My junk. Wifes '84 700 Kawasaki on right, my GS750 Suzuki with 1100 engine on the left.





And my Grandpa's '65 250 Ducati, bought from him in 1995ish. Its on the burner for some attention soon.

[STINEY]

By the way, this is what I was about to do to our 440LTD Kawasaki before I stumbled across the 700.

Just to share ideas for your 440....

[Beagle]

By the way, this is what I was about to do to our 440LTD Kawasaki before I stumbled across the 700.

Just to share ideas for your 440....

That's the first mod I'd make to a 440... turn it into a 550!

[foureyedmike]

The chop would be cool! And a really good use of an LTD 440...

Found another old picture... in my 2nd year of riding, got to demo an 848 Evo with a carbon Termi exhaust. Holy !!!!, the front end came up in the first three gears. Apparently the guy in the next demo shift wrecked it. Glad it wasn't me, I didn't have $15k at the time (and still don't).

[STINEY]

my locale is terrible, and the gurus have a few short weeks to take it easy..even with fast stuff.
my first dream bike had 3 wheels, and a vw engine mid mounted.
Never saw one before the internet. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1041111[/ATTACH]

That is a super-cool trike Barry! Thanks for sharing.

[foureyedmike]

Absolutely, the trike is cool! Those are thin little tubes...

Also Stiney, the 1100-swapped GS750 is pretty awesome too. I bet it goes OK. I like the early '80s look a lot. The Duke is rad too, but would be a lot of work!

[STINEY]

One of my neighbors has this liittle gem.......swapped in a 20 hp v-twin and hopped it up.






The GS does alright.....holds its own.

[Barry Donovan]

One of my neighbors has this liittle gem.......swapped in a 20 hp v-twin and hopped it up.






The GS does alright.....holds its own.

I could do a 20hp v-twin.
I was reading history of the v-twin..the original engineers were trying to be pleasant.
700cc +/- was the big one.
I'd keep one of the real old ones for sure. Military version would be cool.

[Beagle]

I could do a 20hp v-twin.
I was reading history of the v-twin..the original engineers were trying to be pleasant.
700cc +/- was the big one.
I'd keep one of the real old ones for sure. Military version would be cool.

The first Harley V-twin was 49.5 cubic inches ~811cc , in 1909, and they were late to the game. Their first production 74" (1200) was 1922...

1906, probably the first "Production" USA v-twin bike.. a 61 inch (1000cc) v-twin in a M-M got you 4 screaming HP.



Heck, the 88" Harley is over 700 cc per jug. Dad tells me stories of his buddies boring and stroking the 61" bikes to 80" in the 50's. You need the inches when you aren't making any revs.

Here's one of the first V-twin Indians - no wonder mama didn't want to go for a ride!!!!!




I stand corrected, the Curtiss "Hercules" (yeah, that Curtiss of aviation fame) lays claim to the first American V-twin, but they weren't concerned with being mild I don't think. Otherwise, why would they make a V8 bike in 1907? V-twins were making less than 10 hp, and this beast had 40!!



found a better pic -

[JOES66FURY]

I've got a 1990 FJ1200. I added R1 Front calipers and a 97 Bandit rear tire/brakes.

I scratched up the right side in November when a float stuck and soaked my tire....

I fragged the left side last month when some r-tard pulled out in front of me.

Ended up replacing the coil pickup, pickup cover, shift lever so far. Need to find a mirror and a new helmet and I can be back on the road.

It's got a V&H 4 into one exhuast and pod filters...the exhaust note is pretty quite while cruising but at WOT it is glorious....



Here is a side by side of the stock tire and the Bandit tire

[mike343sharpstick]

My motorcycle list is long, I'll skip the first two, 70's KZ400 and, I think 1990 DR650S were not that great. First bike that was worth a crap was my 1990 Hawk GT. I bought it NEW in 1992 as a leftover because nobody wanted them, so I got a great deal.
When I got it, it was just like this.


The bike was great, but a bit slow. Insurance was cheep as it wasn't a sport bike. At the time Two Brothers racing was winning the AMA supertwins races on a modified version of this little V-Twin. Long story short, I started Road Racing the Hawk in 1994 through 1997 and when I later sold it to build my next Racer, it looked like this and had been through HELL and Back.
The list of modifications was a little crazy, For the most part I had no budget or garage for most of this time, so most of the fabrication work was done outside, or in my crap-hole apartment. To name a few upgrades, the body work was from a RS250 GP bike, The front forks were 1990 GSXR with twin 320 MM discs, The heads were ported, and it had an aftermarket Fox shock to name a few. Still, it didn't have the power I'd wanted to compete at the front of the pack in the Lightweight classes against the FZR 400's, 750 2V Air-cooled Ducati's, etc. but it handled amazingly.

... And this was only the start of many more two-wheeled science projects.:D

[mike343sharpstick]

Next Bike was a dream-come-true. And I still have it! My wife calls this “The Mistress”

’95, great new job, met a great girl who would later be my wife, and a used 1992 750 Ducati came up for sale at the local bike shop, essentially my dream bike of that time. This was THE dominating bike in both lightweight twins, and lightweight superbike at that time, and here was this stock bike at a reasonable price.

I drove it on the street for a couple years, and decided to race it for the 1998 season. Spent the winter of 97/98 building it. The motor was built by notable Ducati tuner in Minneapolis Doug Lofgren (A bit of extra money is a beautiful thing!). Did OK that year, but battled handling issues through the year. In 1999, I got my sh!t together. Handling issues were fixed with the purchase of an Ohlins shock, spent hours each week in bike prep, and took some advanced riding schools. As a second year expert did pretty well, ending with a visit to Daytona for the fall Race of Champions.

Notable modifications- motor has everything; 14:1 compression custom pistons, carrillo rods, ported heads, ported carbs, updated ignition modules, bigger cams, custom exhaust with carbon mufflers, Ohlins shock, rebuilt forks, modified frame and swingarm, magnesium front wheel, superbike cast iron 320 mm Ohlins brake discs. Bla blab la. It’s a cool piece and a dream on the track.

Sadly I couldn’t keep up that pace of spending money and time, so serious Road Racing had to take a back seat to real life at the conclusion of the 1999 season. I still did track days for a number of years, and started Supermoto racing locally in the mid-2000’s, and then did some woods riding which I still do today.