My first "bike" was
a Honda C50 - Cub. I used to ride this around
our paddock in 1979-82. It had a 3 speed gearbox and a
centrifugal
clutch. Easy to kickstart & easy to ride. It was also
very
quiet, but lacked power. One summer holiday I took the yellow
plastic
fairing off to prepare it for off road use. I made a "bash plate"
from oregon particle board to protect the engine. It wasn't a
very
exciting off road bike,as it couldn't climb hills and was basically
designed
from the ground up for use on smooth roads.
My first "real" bike, I bought this for
$300 whilst unemployed in 1993.
It was pretty rough when I bought it but I managed to restore it back
to
it's former condition with out too much effort and money.
Mechanically
it needed a new CDI unit and the carbies cleaned. Cosmetically it
needed just about everything. I started by sandblasting the
engine,
then resprayed everything, including the chrome guards and grab rail
(which
had rusted). The bike was horrible to ride, it weighed 166 kgs
(heavy
for a 250) and had very little power. The engine felt like it was
going to blow up doing anything over 80 kph, but I'm sure it was fine.
The Honda just felt dangerous to ride, maybe it was the rock hard
tyres.
Despite these aspects I managed to get my licence on this bike. I
decided that I would get another bike and if it didn't feel any safer,
I would quit riding...
My second "real" bike, the GPz250R was fantastic! It NEVER let me down. It had a noisy clutch (at idle) from the day I bought it until I sold it, but that's my only complaint. The handling, speed and overall feeling of the bike was a quantum leap from the CB 250 Twin. After owning the GPz250R I was very impressed with Kawasaki bikes. I was hooked on riding.
This is one of the
few bikes that I could ride to work, get off, go to
my desk and still be smiling. Having said that, life with the RZ
wasn't always sweet. Firstly it needed a new stator a few months
after I bought it, then one night when I was riding home from a
friend's
house I heard a noise in the exhaust and the bike seemed to loose a bit
of power. A few traffic lights later and the bike was loosing
more
power. Having a friend that had been through 2 RZ engines I was
starting
to worry. I pulled into the nearest car park to have a closer
listen
to the engine, then suddenly the engine let out a loud screech from
it's
exhaust - I turned the engine off immediately. Hoping the engine
wasn't seized I pushed on the kickstart to see if the engine would
turn.
Luckily it did. Not taking any more chances I took the bike home
from there on a trailer (Thanks Peter).
Taking the barrels off revealed a broken piston ring, but no damage
to the bore. I replaced the pistons with oversize Wiseco ones and
got the barrels bored and honed. After assembling the engine I
decided
to replace the seal on the gear pedal, which involved removing the side
cover from the engine. Everything seemed to be fine until I was
riding
the bike and the temp gauge went sky high!! I stopped the bike
and
left it for a while. I returned to the bike to see a green oily
slime
vomitting from the rear of the motor (where the chain comes out).
The slime had also lubricated the rear tyre. Why? When I
removed
the side cover I accidently must have damaged the O-ring that seals the
liquid cooling from the transmission oil. Result - lime
milkshakes!!
I repaired that problem and the bike runs well now, but it's out of
registration.
The Z500 was a bit
of a wreck when I bought it, and it had blue wheels!!
I bought this bike from Junko after it had been crashed. I
replaced
the bent forks & frame and resprayed it. This was the bike I
got my "Open licence" on. It had a 4 into 1 exhaust that sounded
terrific and I added the fairing and luggage rack to make the bike more
comfortable and useful. Once again, this Kawasaki was reliable
with
the only problems being related to lack of maintenance (ie. NO WATER in
the battery). This bike was heavy at around 194 kgs but felt
lighter
than the Honda CB250 to ride. Power wasn't bad at 52 hp, but
after
buying the BMW the Zed didn't get ridden much so I sold it in 1997.
This was a Suzuki
DR250 Enduro (sporting a front disc) it was too high
for me and too heavy. I bought this bike so I could go off road
riding,
sounded like fun, but this bike was exhausting to ride in the
bush.
I decided to sell it after I purchased the much more nimble DT 175.
I sold the DT late in '97. After owning the DR250 the DT-175 felt like a bicycle! It was so light (118 kgs) and a real joy to ride - but I was a little paranoid with 2 strokes after my experiences with the RZ250R. The DT-175 was a great learner's bike because it was very light and if you crashed you usually only broke the clutch or brake levers : )
The BM
is my everyday bike. The old workhorse. It feels more
like a 250 to ride, due to it's low centre of gravity. It weighs
around 185 kgs and puts out about 50 hp, not a high performer, but it
gets
you there. After owning the Z500 I wanted a bike that was EASY to
work on. The BM certainly is that. The carbies hang off the
engine, the tappets are easy to adjust and the tank can be taken off in
seconds. It's not everybody's cup of tea - it is quite different
to ride from Japanese bikes of the same era. It shakes and
wobbles
all over the road, doesn't handle well (even with new Koni shocks), is
low on power, but (surprisingly) it feels very safe to ride.
This is
one of the two GSX 250s I bought - As you can see it needs a fair
bit of work - One day... one day...
The
oldest bike I own is this 1937 BSA M20. As you can probably guess,
it's not working yet. It may be a while until it runs, but I bought it
because I thought it would be nice to own an old bike.
This
is what an M20 should look like.
I sold the Virago in Dec '97 -
Mechanically it was a very strong bike and
it handled well (for a cruiser), but I didn't like the riding
position.
I was used to a "touring/sports" position and "cruising" wasn't my
scene.
I found I'd get a numb bum after about 1 hour and at 100kms the wind
was
blasting on to my upright body, trying to rip my arms off.
As a bike for around town, the Virago was great. It felt light
(only 182kg) and with the standard pipes it was very quiet (probably
too
quiet as all I could hear was tappet noise).
Sold in Japan (an other places?) as the XV400 it was bored out an extra
135cc (why 135?...) and marketed in Australia as the XV535.
After selling the
Z500 I missed the sound of a Kawasaki inline 4, so I
bought this GPz 750 in pretty good condition in December 1997. At
217 kg it feels heavy and doesn't handle well, even compared to the
BMW!!
But with 80 hp it's as much fun to ride as the RZ. I finally
decided
it was too big and heavy and sold it in August 2002.
Not long after I bought the GPz 750 this GPz 550 appeared at an attractive price. This makes a good partner to the GPz 750 and although it's not as powerful (with only 61 hp) it's lighter (193 kgs) and has a lower centre of gravity so it handles quite well. It is probably a better bike to ride, but I haven't ridden it much yet, so time will tell...
I'd like to buy a Katana GSX750, but I can't decided between the
original
Katana, styled by Hans Muth (who also did the BMW R65LS) or the later,
pop-up headlight version. I was in High School when these bikes
came
out and remember seeing them new, they looked fast even when they were
parked.
Original Katana
Another bike I'd like (along with a lot of other people) is a Brough
Superior SS100.
These
bikes were known as "the Rolls Royce of motorcycles" when creator
George Brough marketed them in the 1920s-40s. Unfortunately these
bikes are becoming more expensive with age.
T.E.Lawrence was killed whilst riding his Brough Superior in 1935.
The movie "Lawrence of Arabia" opens with T.E.Lawrence cleaning his
Brough Superior.
He then rides off for the last time.