[The Other Ian]

Wow, that's a lot of first bikes.....

Just following the thread drift suggested by Mark. . .

There's a fizzy going for £4,995 on ebay at the moment, right colour too.

Moving on and at the expense of thread drift, what did you all move onto ??
Mine in order -
GP100
GS550
RD400 - v scary
GSX750
RD350LC - YPVS
RM250
GSX1100EFE
CB1000 Big One !
ZX7R
GSX1100EFE - still have and work in progress although hasn't been ridden for 10 years....

Ahhhhh

Mine in order:

Suzuki AP50 scooter
Kawasaki GPZ 305
Suzuki GS500e
Honda Deauville NT650V
Suzuki GS500e
Triumph Sprint ST 955i

There's been a definite upward trend so far, although where to go next I'm not sure! Could be the Sprint for a while. Being 6 ft 3, bike choice is driven by whichever bike provides anything near comfort! Needless to say, the Kawasaki was not a favoured choice on that front.

[Mike Tango]

Moving on and at the expense of thread drift, what did you all move onto ??

Kawasaki Z250

Bit of a break.

Honda Hornet
Ducati Hypermotard 796

Currently...

Ducati Hypermotard 821SP
and
Scrambler Ducati Full Throttle

Would like to get hands on...

Ducati Supersport S
and
Norton Dominator SS

[The Kissimmee Bum]

Moved on to;

Kawasaki KE175

Honda CB 250N

Kawasaki KH 400

Trident T160

Commando 850 Interstate

Suzuki GT 550

Kawasaki Z750 Turbo

Suzuzuki 1200 Bandit

Kawasaki ZX9-R

Triumph Tiger 955i (Why?)

ZZR 1400 (2007 Model)

ZZR 1400 (2011 Model)

[cockney steve]

OK, not a pilot, but James Comet, girder forks, solid back end, 2-speed hand gear-change (worn dog-clutches, so it slipped out of first with a machine-gun rattle )98cc's of throbbing Villiers power, with a big exposed brass flywheel. Wonder if RHK3 survived.

[vw-dan]

Bandit 650, which I still have. Picked up a VFR 800 V-Tech a couple of weeks ago for a spot of touring.

[Big Dex]

Triumph Tiger 955i (Why?)

I'm on my third 955i Tiger!

[The Kissimmee Bum]

Triumph Tiger 955i (Why?)

I'm on my third 955i Tiger!

I left a great deal of mine scattered about Poland as it gradually disassembled itself. Numerous fasteners etc were replaced with cable ties to enable the journey home.

Without doubt the most top heavy, lardy feeling bike I have owned. Sadly.

[Big Dex]

I left a great deal of mine scattered about Poland as it gradually disassembled itself. Numerous fasteners etc were replaced with cable ties to enable the journey home.

Without doubt the most top heavy, lardy feeling bike I have owned. Sadly.

My first one was a 2001 (spoked wheels) and was fantastic. At 40k, I sold it and bought a new one (2006), with mag wheels. It wasn't the same, and warped disks for fun, and didn't seem to handle anywhere near as well. I sold it soon thereafter. I recently bought a second hand 2005 model (spokes again) and it's as good as the first.

Caveat: I also have a T-Max 500cc scooter that I'm rather fond of, so take my choice of bikes as decidedly questionable!

[MarkOlding]

This is great and just proves the adage that one persons meat is anothers poison !

To add a bit more contention, do the motorocyclists on here feel riding a bike makes you a better pilot, due to a lighter touch and more mechanical symapthy ?

(posted and have now run for cover).....

[GAFlyer4Fun]

It was flying that gave me an awareness of mechanical sympathy. I was never taught that when learning to drive a car or learning to ride a bike.

The bike riding definitely improved my car driving. Don't think it had any effect on my flying apart from being used to seeing the horizon more rapidly leaned over on a bike than in a car.
Like aircraft, some bikes are more agile than others, and some cars are more agile than others, so the cross over probably depends on what sort of vehicles have been experienced.

I dont think the more subtle machine control for a motorcycle has a cross over to flying due to coordination of different muscle groups and using different muscle memory for controlling different machines.

We often hear about the concept of a pilot being ahead/behind the aircraft. e.g. a pilot struggling to keep current or with long gaps between flights is more likely to be behind the aircraft.
Observing how other vehicles react on the roads it gives a clue to whether the operator is ahead/behind the vehicle, and most seem to be behind the vehicle.

[Johnny]

Suzuki TS250. Never ridden a bike before but rode it home from the Dealer!! Slightly hair raising riding along a road which had the top surface scraped off for resurfacing. Had me doing involuntary swerving as the front wheel followed the grooves

[skydriller]

Observing how other vehicles react on the roads it gives a clue to whether the operator is ahead/behind the vehicle, and most seem to be behind the vehicle.

I'm afraid I've never driven a motorbike on the road.
But I don't think it's about drivers being behind the vehicle, I think it's because many can't seem to look any further than the car in front of them. The last time I was rear ended in a car, the woman said "when you braked and slowed I didn't think you would stop..." to which I replied "you didn't notice the queue of traffic stopped ahead of us?"

[The Kissimmee Bum]

The last time I was rear ended in a car, the woman said "when you braked and slowed I didn't think you would stop..." to which I replied "you didn't notice the queue of traffic stopped ahead of us?"

A number of years ago I was stationary at a set of red lights with nowhere to go when I looked in the rear view mirror to see a pair of women in an Austin Maxi yacking away to each other and showing no sign of slowing down. My last action was to release my handbrake and wait for the bang which sorted out the back end of the company van nicely. The driver was apologetic but her friend had a different view, screaming at me "didn't you see us coming then?".

[The Kissimmee Bum]

Anyway, back to bikes.

Following some surgery recently my ZZR may be a little heavy on the shoulders and chest for a while so I am fancying something a little more upright and sedate.

BMW R9-T takes my fancy. Any other suggestions from the house?

[Jason P]

First? A Honda CB125 Super Dream. I loved it. Then, after passing my test...

Kawasaki 550 LTD - hideous.
Suzuki GSF600
Honda VFR750 (twin arm, the first decent VFR)
BMW R100GS
Suzuki Bandit 1200S (my first and only new bike)
Another VFR750 - single sided swing arm in white
BMW R1100GS
Moto Guzzi 850 California T3 (with LeMans 1100 engine )
VFR750 - the NACA faired one
Moto Guzzi V11 Sport
BMW R1150GS (there's a pattern here folks)
Another 1200S Bandit
BMW K1100LT
Ducati Multistrada 1000
BMW R1100S (wish I'd kept)
BMW R1150 GS Adventure
Harley Davidson Road King (Evo)

I really don't ever want to tot up how much that lot's cost me over the years.