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I hought I was the only one in the world who had a Z250 Scorpion

Anyway this is what I have had, some good some appaling.

Yamaha TY50
Yamaha RD 200 (Worst bike ever)
Kawasaki Z250 Scorpion
Honda CB400\4 (prettiest bike ever)
Kawasaki Z1000a (brute)
Suzuki GS1000s (ice cream truck)
Kawasaki GPZ550
Honda CB750F2
Ducati Monster 620sie
Aprilia Falco (finally got it right)

Mine is shameful.

Couple of scooters and a C90.
Various small to medium 70s and 80s Jap twins. Apart from a kwak I think I got the set.
Briefly an old GL and a nearly new FJ1200. One too heavy, one too dull.
Long term bikes - a CX650, a Guzzi, an ER6(still got) and now a Faclo.

Was the CB750F2 one of the nineties versions or the original.
I had a 1992 CB750F2 N "Sevenfifty" in red which was quite good in it's own old fashioned sort of way.

It was a 750 Superdream in looks and was a horrible thing to ride, it had 5 gears, none of which felt right.

CB750F2

Started off on a CB250T Dream. Which was awful.
Got my first Z250. Always remembered fondly as 'the reliable one'. It wasn't of course, just less of a nightmare than the others.
I then had various small(ish) bikes for commuting on including the other 3 Scorpions, 2 CB100's, a TL125 (I actually liked that bike), an X5 (why I thought a 2 stroke Suzuki was a good idea is beyond me), and various other bits of cheap tat which were kept running with prayers and a big hammer.

Then I got a car.

So bikes became something I did for fun and I bought a CB550F2 Supersport. Had it for 5 years and loved it.
Then bought a CB750F2N. The retro thing. Had it less than 12 months until I bought my first Falco.
2002 in Blue. Brand new with 4 miles on the clock. Had 15K on it when I sold it 2 years later and bought...
Bandit 1200. Bought for pillion comfort. Sold because it was dull.
Got a VFR800. Quite liked it but got made redundant and money was tight so it got sold.
Then I got the first of my ZX9's. Blue she was with a full system, carbs jetted, K&N, ignition advanced. 140 or so at the rear wheel. Lovely. Sold it to a mate and bought the lads Silver one off him. Bog standard and immaculate. I binned it. Total write off with damage to every panel.
So I bought another Bandit. Which was just as dull as the first one so I got a Blade instead. Which was OK but not really me.
So I bought Bess. And now I'm happy. (Poor but happy).

Mine is easy.
YBR125 - aweful machine, could barely reach 60mph, was really unsafe because it had skinny 18inch wheels and weighed nothing. Had all 5/5 of my off's on that thing.
GPZ500 - Decent bike, ultra mega super stable regardless of weather conditions. Could touch 120mph and pulled nicely in lower gears, the parallel twin had decent engine braking and set me up for the falco well. Still own it, but havnt started it in a rather long time, needs some tlc.
SL1000 - powerful, sounds awesome with a decent set of cans, nice and comfortable to ride and looks the shiz. However it can be a handful in bad weather conditions, but that could be the avon storm 2's which take half a century to generate any heat. Could spend $$$$$ on it making it "better" but ultimately i would probably buy something else. (maybe the new 1200 ducati or the bmw s1000, Well i can carry on dreaming anyway...)

No cars owned, not going to bother until necessity requires it.

Dale

Blimey - here we go down memory lane...

1965 Honda C200 - 90cc single cyl. bike (NOT step-thru) as also owned by James May (not the same bike, obviously). Bought for £9 as non-runner with seized crank. Dad said I could have it if I fixed it myself. I didn't need a second invitation.

1967 Honda CD175 - 175cc twin. Would do 80mph flat out down a long hill. Great fun.

1966 Honda CB77 305cc twin. First bike I ever saw an indicated 100mph on. Happy days. Still have it, awaiting restoration.

1980 Yamaha RD350LC. One of first batch in the country and first new bike I ever owned. Deposit paid in January and delivered in August. £1100 new. Added new words to my vocabulary; powerband, seizure and holed pistons. Still got it, awaiting restoration.

1984 Yamaha RD350YPVS. Stonking machine; reliable (for a two-stroke) and went like stink. Wish I'd never sold it.

1988 Yamaha RD350YPVSII. Bought as damaged repairable, used as basis for Hejira 'special'. Engine was crap compared to earlier YPVS and was heartbreakingly unreliable. Hejira chassis was incredible; just needed a decent engine.

1989 Honda VFR750FK. Bought new and I put 80k miles on it in 6 years. Most reliable piece of machinery I've ever owned, plus it had character. Engine still felt like new when I px-ed it for the FT.

1989 Ducati 851. New. Head ruling heart, really. Beautiful looking bike but poor handling and brakes as standard. Rear Marzocchi shock was awful, forks not much better. Chopped it in for the bike I had really wanted all along:

1990 Ducati 888 SP3. When I first clapped eyes on this it made me whimper I wanted it so badly. Brutally horny. But £14,500 new was out of my league. 18 months later I got a minter (1400 kms only) for my 851 + £5000. Deal. Still got it; never going to sell it. Ever.

1995 Honda VFR750FT. New, but had a hard act to follow in the FK. Kept it for 2 years, chopped it in for:

1997 Suzuki TL1000S. The original full-fat Widowmaker. Boring it wasn't. Had to sell it and the Hejira when I was out of work in 1999/2000. Replaced with a trusty old:

1988 VFR750FJ. If there is a motorcycle equivalent of an old drinking mate, it's probably this for me. Lives in France most of the time and is always game for a laugh when we visit.

1990(ish) KTM640 Supermono. Took it in PX for the Hejira as a fixer-upper ten years ago and it's still never turned a wheel in anger. But one day it will...

2008 Aprilia Falco. Probably the last new motorcycle I'll ever see myself buying or wanting. Became part of the family very rapidly and is a stone cold keeper.

Puch free spirit loved it and broke it

BSA C15 bought it left it a mates who then got posted to Germany and I never saw it again

honda 100 lent it to someone who got pulled for having a valid tax disc for the wrong vehicle police impounded turned out the guy I bought it off had robbed the engine. So he paid me the money back and I reclaimed the bike as I had bought it in good faith the police helpfully let the tyres down and invited me to push it home 6 miles as it didnt have a valid tax disc...then drove it into some gates

Kawasaki 250 one of the cleanest bikes I ever had for its age carbs kept doing weird stuff especially after I put a chisel through the side of them

shared a BNW R80 boring as ...

Cx 500 and Watsonian grand prix sidecar now that was fun then took the sidecar off and forgot to put my feet doen yes it fell on top of me then got run off the road by a TR8 bike survived well as luckily so did I ... well luckily for me

several GS550 all rats alll brilliant one cafe racer and one like a bumble bee and some standard

Triumph Trophy borrowed decent bike except for the fact you had to lie on the bars to keep it straight

VZ800 nice little pretty thing good for girls and me apparently

Triumph Sprint RS test rode one and it was brilliant bought one and it was shite I mean a great big bag of steaming brown stuff without doubt the worst bike I have ever bneen near and customer service ... customer service my arse

Then quite a few 1200 Bandits quite simply brilliant but then the EU joy police came along and made them get rid of the carbs never had an issue with any of the Bandits probably the best all rounder there is for my money

first Falco decent bike in Black but crappy seller so lost faith straight away then saw the light and went bronze and never looked back although whenever a parcel or a statement arrives I do look over my shoulder and open them in the khazi ready to flush the evidence

may have missed a couple but thats the overview

My list seems very "poor" in comparison...

CB250N - SuperDream. Super Nightmare more like... Got twice what I paid for it when it came time to get a bigger bike.

CBX750 - "The last of Honda's in-line 4s." Bought it as a wreck and fixed it up. 10 years and 130,000km. Plenty of rebuilds and fixing. Just when I got it absolutely right, I traded it for my next bike. I still miss it sometimes.

CBX750SP - The most modified CBX750 on the planet. GSX-R running gear, Harris frame kit & tank. Looks lethal and goes like stink. Still got it, just don't ride it.

Falco - Oh yeah.... What a bike is supposed to be like. Just wish I had more time to ride it.

Here goes with my list from way back when -

Bikes I’ve Owned.

(Well the ones I can remember, left out a few old dogs!)

From Age 16!


Capri 70cc Scooter !!
Took me to school at 45 mph max downhill and 5 mph uphill, plastic tyres, came off every time it rained,

Velocette 500 single, with sidecar.
Only bought because could ride a combo with L plates, took test with it and converted to solo.

BSA Star Twin 500
Seemed powerful after previous bike, but old relic really.

Velocette Venom 500 single.
Great old Brit single, but had not been too well looked after by previous owner, so didn’t keep.

Matchless G12CSR 650 sports. (1960)
Fully converted it to a Café Racer, absolutely loved it and quite rare, had a plastic crank and broke two of them. (see below).

Matchless G12CSR special with Norton Dominator 99 – 600 twin engine. (1960)
Spent ages rebuilding when I couldn’t source another crank for above, hand built conversion, even designed all new engine mounting plates to fit. Went fine but got rid when discovered that could pick up more girls with 4 wheels, so bought a Mini.

Norton Dominator 650 SS (Paul Dunstall Conversion - Café Racer). (1965?)
Gorgeous bike the absolute dogs bollocks at that time, but couldn’t really afford to run this and a car, sadly I chose to keep the car.
Then regretted it! Would love this bike today!

Triumph Tiger 110 – 650 Twin. (1959)
Original pre unit construction motor, bought is a rebuild project, when back on road, decided it would be great to use as transport to work when I worked three shifts. Discovered how nice it was to ride a bike home in the dark when 6 volt electrics regularly failed. Also reminded me how many bits fell off old Brit bikes if you rode them, no fun looking for a rocker inspection cover, which had just departed, when coming home in the dark off at 6am off a night shift.
Otherwise great fun.

Suzuki T350 Twin. (1972)
Decided if I was going to use a bike for work I’d try a Jap one with good 12v electrics.
First time on a Jap 2 stroke, dead reliable between rebores.
Loved it, but handling was very 70s Jap.

Suzuki GT380 Triple. (1973)
As above with extra cylinder, loved it at that time.

Kawasaki KH250 Triple (1973?)
Bought project, rebuilt then sold on fairly quickly.

Kawasaki KH350 Triple (1973?)
Bought project, as above, seemed to enjoy rebuilding bikes more than riding them at that time. Very quick in a straight line laying down smoke.

Matchless 350 single.
Another rebuild, seemed like a good idea at the time – wasn’t.

Honda VFR750 (1989)

Honda CB Sevenfifty Retro 750/4 (1992)
Started me back on bikes yet again, perfect bike for a rusty old ‘un like me.
Looked great and loved it. Nice shiny real bike and handled half decent.

Honda CBR1000F (1995)
Had from early October 2002 to December 2009

Aprilia Falco SL1000 (2001)
Bought 1st of August 2004, best bike I have ever owned.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX9R F1P (2002)
Bought in Jan. 2010, replaced the CBR1000F as second bike to share the garage with the Falco, very quick but comfortable bike, easy to ride fast or slow. More performance than I could ever really need, (with 150 bhp and 175 top whack), not quite as much fun as the Falco and less "character" but nice, and bloody quick!
Probably the last comfortable Jap sports bike.

here we go... Some in series and some in parallel and some more than once ;) and not in any particular order and it might not be all of them

BSA 125 bantam
BSA175 Bantam... with Todd racing head and expansions ... my short foray into boy(girl) racerhood.. it exploded in a shower of hot sparks and profanity 2 days before my 17th birthday... hence the urgent purchase of...
Honda 70
Yamaha YDS7 (250 twin)
Ariel 350 Red Hunter as my 18th birthday presie (still got this and its now a 500)
Triumph 650 Tiger
Triumph T140V
Harley 1000 sportster chop
1965 Harley 900 sportster (had this one 13 years)
Different Harley 1200 sportster chop
1962 Harley 1200 Panhead
Royal Enfield 350 (early 1950's sidevalve, so slow that my mates clubed together and bought me the OHV engine to put in it!)
Ariel3.. if you dont know what is it google it!
1340 Harley Shovel Chop
1340 Softail Springer
Yamaha XS650
Yamaha XS750 Tripple
Triumph 900 Tiger
Cagiva Raptor.
Cd 175
Italjet Dragster 180
XT350
Greeves Triumph 3TA trials
Vellocette MAC350
... I think thats it

Shebee wrote: Ariel3.. if you dont know what is it google it!

Is that the Bio or the non-Bio for a coloured wash?


and, yes, I do know what one of those is .... but I've never previously found anyone who had one .........

D-Rider wrote:

Shebee wrote: Ariel3.. if you dont know what is it google it!

Is that the Bio or the non-Bio for a coloured wash?


and, yes, I do know what one of those is .... but I've never previously found anyone who had one .........

Definately Non Bio... to quote the manual "you may need to pedal assist on hills"