PDA

View Full Version : My bikes since day one



TorqueMonsterMT-01
10-22-2006, 11:22 PM
None of these pictures are actually my bikes except for the Roadster and MT-01 at the end. I just found similar examples on the web.

I'd really like to see other's history in photos.

My parents wouldn't buy me a bike, so I had to wait for my first paycheck when i turned 15. I had already wrenched on my brother's XR750, Rotax 600 shop built and our specially made JAP engined speedway 'classic night" funster. Unfortunately, I couldn't have my own until I had my own money.

With my first paycheck, I bought a box of 1972 Yamaha 125 and spent a few weeks putting it together. It should have looked like this, but I didn't put any mirrors, rack or lights on it.

http://www.serpentinesurfer.com/images/mybikes/125.jpg

After getting the racing bug the next summer, I bought a used 1976 KX 250. Power was long and hard to manage, but fun and competitive. It looked a lot like this one except for dirty most of the time.

http://www.kawasakinorthside.com.au/images/1976_kx250.jpg

For fun, I picked up a Bultaco 360 Pursang for weekend riding. I never raced it because the open class was for old men (fast old men, but still old!)
Wheelies in every gear, horrible brakes. Bad combination, but damn fun.

http://monkeyads.com/proofs/_48159_80917.jpg

Once I destroyed the Bultaco against a tree, I picked up a 1980 KLX250 for the weekend ride. Good bike, not fast, but great handling made up the difference.

http://www.diehuebschen.de/bilder/autos/KLX.jpg

I finally retired the KX race bike and bought a 1983 CR480R. Muy rapido, best MXer Honda ever built in my opinion. The pros proved it too.

http://www.cyclestopracing.com/bikes/1983_hon_cr480.jpg

That same year, my brother and I went halves on a 1973 Commando. $800, perfect condition, 2300 miles on the clock. I am still kicking myself for selling it a few years later.

http://www.georgiacycledepot.net/images/1973-NOR-COMMANDO-850BLACK.jpg

Sometime in the middle of the Norton ownership, I picked up a 1975 KX900. Classic UJM classic power. I toyed with drag racing, but consistency was not my best trait.

http://www.redlinecycle.com/MVC-016H.JPG

I went on with my MX career riding several different CR250s through the '80s and early '90s, but I still look back on the CR480R as my prime condition, best results and most fun.

In 1990 I bought a new street bike for the first time. A bright red NT650 Honda Hawk GT. Through the 90s and until I moved to Tokyo, I modded alomost everything in the suspension, motor and transmission. I liked the naked bike looks and didn't change the style much except for the exhaust. Mine was all polished up and looked a lot like this except for the little sissy fairing and I had the TBR exhaust.

http://hometown.aol.ca/oreosly/images/hawk-gt-web-1.jpg

After arriving in Tokyo, I diverted from the norm and bought the 2003 BMW Roadster. I spent three years on it and moved to my current Yamaha MT-01.

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/16017862-M.jpg

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/photos/36293154-M.jpg

DJ Down Under
10-23-2006, 02:18 AM
Nice....so you've gone full circle then................just kidding..:003:

I'm looking forward to seeing others collections of past rides.

DJ

rivi
10-23-2006, 05:29 AM
MT-01 :drif:

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l238/rivers_bucket/0042005959.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l238/rivers_bucket/101973065-O.jpg

BobFV1
10-23-2006, 07:32 AM
Jeff -

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Similar to my own, but I was heavier on street and lighter on dirt. I really, really like that classic Kawi 900 UJM - quite the muscle bike for it's day - reminds me a lot of my favorite old 80 or 81 Suzuki GS750E - my first new "big" bike.

http://www.redlinecycle.com/MVC-016H.JPG

http://www.thegsresources.com/images/hall_of_fame/10-2004.jpg

Boxerboy
10-23-2006, 07:52 AM
1. Suzuki 250 X7. Mine was black. I got it for a song because the PO had joined the "Orange People" and it didn't fit in. True story!
http://www.suzuki-gt.co.uk/images/1979_GT250-X7_sales1_225.jpg

2. BMW R65LS. A nice little bike despite many disparaging remarks on the Net.
http://bmw.hlabs.spb.ru/pics/moto/history/82-r65ls.jpg I mistakenly traded this for a...

3. 1983 BMW K100. One of the early models in Oz. 26 warranty claims later, it was wrecked in a head on accident. Mine was red.
http://z.about.com/d/motorcycles/1/0/S/b/f0694.jpg

4. 1983 BMW R100RS. The flying blood clot, named after the deep crimson smoked scheme. Magnificent paint. This was mine..
http://www.indian.no/netpics6-10/picture829.jpg
Sold after 50K ks and 2 detente gearbox springs broke consecutively.

5. 1979 Moto Guzzi LeMans mk 2. Fantastic ride, but wouldn't start once hot. I had to short the starter to get it going. The pic is a 1976 mk1 but essentially the same. The mk2 had the squarer but effective fairing.
http://www.motoguzziclubqld.org/images/05BP0205_850LeMansMkI.JPG
Sold because the boss couldn't cope with the pillion seat.

6. 1987 FJ1200 Yamaha. Monster, but soulless and the wallet couldn't cope with the tyre/chain/sprocket costs! This is a web shot, not mine.
http://www.tomlaferriere.com/classics/images/fj1200/ScottVWBus%20026.jpg

7 & 8. For a while I had a second bike. 1972 GT750 Ducati. Mostly it was a 375 single 'cause any humidity and the front cylinder exited the scene. Mine had a black frame, a tank badge verses a sticker, duller red paint but otherwise was similar to this one.http://www.harvestclassic.org/gallery/albums/Rivers/Ducati_GT_750.sized.jpg
The next was a 1971 BMW 75/5. It was an absolute bargain, and great fun even though it was decrepit looking when I first got it.
http://www.indian.no/netpics6-10/picture830.jpg
Both those bikes returned a 100% profit within 6 months.

9. 1981 BMW R100RS JPS. I did 96K ks on it then smashed it.:icon_redface:

10. 1981 R100 in RS livery..silver/blue/3/4 seat. Crashed when a car turned unexpectedly the wrong way into a one way street, but directly in front of me. I missed the car, but not the tree.
http://www.indian.no/netpics6-10/picture827.jpg

11. 1982 R100RS JPS. Spent a bit of cash on engine and gearbox, but it's doing fine just now. I like the RS, in case you hadn't worked that out.
http://www.indian.no/netpics6-10/picture900.jpg

Somewhere in there I had a Suzuki RG 250 screamer bought as a wreck from an international student that had already left the country. He was supposed to find a flat and settle into a Uni course, but bought a bike, rode unlicensed, crashed it, had it stolen where it was crashed again. His parents got him home and put him in the army!
I bought it, fixed it (told my wife not to let me ride it after the first test ride!!), then sold it. It paid for a complete paint job on the first R100RS JPS.

So far that's it. Now if someone was to give me a shedful of cash, the R1200ST has really grown on me. I hated its looks initially, but it's quirky face and a few ride reports have me liking it.

TorqueMonsterMT-01
10-23-2006, 08:59 PM
Nice....so you've gone full circle then................just kidding..
Yes DJ, I've been around the block more times than my 44 years permits.:Stoned_anim:
I can't take it back.

Rivi,
That MT-01 has the France only Yamaha 50th year paint scheme. I like it, but I like the blue version better. I'm not into CF for the MT, I think it is more of a billet showcase than a CF flyer. To each his own I suppose. The CF is a popular add-on.

Bob,
What can I say about early 80s Suzuki GS's. Back then, those UJM inline fours were damn fast machines, but even more so for young stupid people like I was.

BoxerBoy.
Nice collection. I like them all. It takes a lot to say "don't let me ride that one". I would have learned the hard way.

C'mon guys. Most if not all of our bikes are out there on the web. Let's see some histories!

vintagemxr
10-23-2006, 10:18 PM
My motorcycle life and assorted extra pictures is here (http://www.corgifan.com/history) except for the latest bike. Need to take a picture and update page three, I guess.

Sometimes when I look at the old pictures from the bikes and other stuff (hang gliders, dirt cars, etc. etc) I think of the line from a Greatful Dead song: "What long, strange trips it's been." Fun too... :)

TorqueMonsterMT-01
10-23-2006, 11:00 PM
Excellent web page VintageMXer! Nice bikes too.

I totally forgot to mention a a very forgetable bike that I had for about a year. Actually, my first street legal bike.

The 1977 HD SX250

Great motor, but heavy and a pain in the ass to maintain.

http://www.bikez.com/pictures/harley-davidson/1977/14452_0_1_2_sx%20250_Image%20credits%20-%20akita-racing.jpg

mnnden
10-24-2006, 08:50 AM
Great Topic, VintageMXer, I really enjoyed your post, wonderful pictures.
Boxerboy, and TorqueMonsterMT-01, all I can say is I am envious!!!!!
Den

vintagemxr
10-24-2006, 11:44 PM
Glad you guys enjoyed the pix. I love to see other people's old bike pictures and see where other riders "came from." I can see by the pictures that everyone here has (mostly) great taste in motorcycles. :002: Seems like most riders have at least one bike that they can look back on and ask themselves "What the heck was I thinking when I bought that??" :eusa_wall: For me it was a Suzuki T500 "Titan." Ugh...never rode the thing much of anywhere because it buzzed the hands numb in no time at all. My '77 Goldwing was a close second for it's shear lack of personality.