Some of My Previous Bikes

I thought I would post some of my favorite previous bikes. Others please post your favorite previous rides.

FZ6
Loved this bike and a friend owns it now. Custom exhaust sounded wicked.



FZ1
Heavily modded.


V-Strom
The best looking VStrom I've ever seen considering how ugly they are.

Honda ST1300A - nice tourer, but just too heavy for me in the end.

Kawasaki Concours - my previous tourer to the Honda above.

Yamaha RD400 (2-stroke!) - Actually my brother's bike but I rode it for the day. Very light.

My first Motorcycle A '66 Suzuki 250cc


A '69 Triumph 500cc Scrambler at Ft. Riley, Ks.


'71 Honda CB500 on top of Mt. Evans in Colorado.
It had one of the very early Windjammer Fairings on it.


'74 BMW R90/6 that I toured all over the country on in the mid '70's, totaled when I was rear ended the day after Christmas in 1976.
Replaced with a '77 R75/7 that I owned for 15 years, then had a 12 year period without a bike..


'04 Moto Guzzi Breva 750, I'd still have this one if it wasn't for that car that pulled out in front of me 5 years ago.

Also had A couple other Suzuki's and another Moto Guzzi (still have) and a Burgman 650.

In the beginning there was a Honda Mini Trail 50, soon traded for this Mini Trail 70.


After a Honda 175 Scrambler I bought this Kawasaki 175 and modded it as we did in the day for enduro riding (take off lights and turn signals and fit an expansion chamber exhaust). Note the duct tape sealing my blue jeans to my army surplus boots and my surplus jacket. The guy next to me on the Honda 250 ended up owning the Honda dealership in my hometown for 35 years.


I didn't ride while raising my kids but started again in 2005. This was one of the keepers of the numerous bikes I went through the first few years riding again. I put 40,000 miles on this 81 BMW R100 and traded it for the NC700X in 2012.


I had a ball for a couple of years with the Honda Passport 70. Although not a Mini Trail 70 it was a direct time machine back to my youth. It was directly related to the 50cc Super Cub I lusted for in 1969 when I got the Mini Trail 50. In the background is my ST1300 which I still love to ride. Sochiro Honda brought us a long way.

Those are some sweet looking rides. Here's my list from the last decade.

1999 Honda Valkyrie Interstate


2001 Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird


2003 Honda VTX1800C Heavily customized - Hey, I was going through a "Phase".

silverhound said:

Those are some sweet looking rides. Here's my list from the last decade.

1999 Honda Valkyrie Interstate

2001 Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird

2003 Honda VTX1800C Heavily customized - Hey, I was going through a "Phase".

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A Blackbird is high on my list of bucket bikes. I came close to buying one several years ago.

dduelin said:

A Blackbird is high on my list of bucket bikes. I came close to buying one several years ago.

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I sold it because I didn't want to to become my "bucket bike". Just crazy fast and smooth. Was always finding myself in the triple digits with no effort. I simply didn't have the sense or will power to consistently ride it in a responsible manner. It's the only bike I have ever sold that I truly miss. It was like a hot young redhead that you just knew would break your heart and ruin your life.

That an amazing list of bikes. Love it, keep them coming.

Z900 street fighter - nearly back together!

GSXR1100 - probably my favourite bike ever

KTM 990 Adventure in the Alps

My Sunday fun bike

My new Adventure

silverhound said:

I sold it because I didn't want to to become my "bucket bike". Just crazy fast and smooth. Was always finding myself in the triple digits with no effort. I simply didn't have the sense or will power to consistently ride it in a responsible manner. It's the only bike I have ever sold that I truly miss. It was like a hot young redhead that you just knew would break your heart and ruin your life.

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I didn't elaborate but I feel I would be the same way. I'm afraid I'd lose my license or my health on a Blackbird. It's already to easy to double just about any posted US speed limit on the ST but tripling it in yet less time would be a bit much.

In the 70's when I rode, I had an 73 Honda CB350 and a 74 Honda CB360 (I believe those are the correct models); however, I have no pictures of them.
In 2007, when I got back into riding after 30+ year hiatus, I bought a 2006 Suzuki gz250. I put 11,000+ miles on that little bike in 6 months, including a 1200 mile bike trip over a weekend and a 5 day 2500 mile bike trip. Sold the little bike in 2008.


At the end of the 2500 mile bike trip, I started looking for another low price, medium size cruiser; In October 2007, I bought a new 2007 Suzuki C50 Boulevard-now has 77,000+ miles, still have it in the garage, most everything is still OEM except the tires and front disk pads.


In 2009, I bought a new BMW G650gs (single) dual sport, I kept the bike for 4 years, rode it for 36,000+ miles, only reason I traded it in; I got tired of listening to a thumper.


In the fall of 2011, I bought a 2009 new Kawasaki KLX250SF, which I keep in storage in Florida. I know it is a thumper, however, it is a sweet sounding little bike and I only ride it about 10-12 days a year (2-3 days per quarter). I still have less than 3000 miles on it but I do enjoy riding the little bike, except for the killer 2x4 seat; we think our stock nc700x seats are bad-they are a lounge chair compared to the little KLX seat;


In 2013, since I got tired of listening to the noisy bmw thumper, I decided to trade it in for a Honda NC700x; my weekend/vacation bike;
Right after I brought it home:


After thousands of miles on the bike:



So, I have bought 5 bikes since 2007 (4 of them new, the only used one was the little gz250). Still own 3 of them; 2 I have in Indiana with me and the little KLX is in storage in Florida.

This was a fun bike fore me.

Good post idea! I'd have to go digging through shoe boxes of photos to find actual shots of my first three bikes, but here are some I found online.

First two were old beat up bikes that had sat neglected in the family barn for years that my Step Dad rebuilt.

197? Yamaha RD60:



and a 70's Honda Trail 90:



Rode those for years on the property, until I suckered my parents into letting me buy a streetbike my junior year of highschool...

The Mighty Honda Rebel 250:



On the face of it, a nice, sensible bike for a kid. I rode that thing everywhere in highschool, including right into a mailbox while racing a buddy through a neighborhood as one does when they're 17.... broke my L2 vertebrae and got to spend the summer in a body cast/brace thing. Turns out having any bike while being an immature teen is probably a bit of a recipe for disaster.

Needless to say, the mailbox fiasco wasn't an impressive feat to my parents, so that was it for bikes until I went off to college

I found this 1994 Suzuki GS500 on CL for $400 that was a total mess. Needed everything gone through, would barely run, certainly not road ready. So, with every spare penny I could come up with, I slowly fixed it up, had a friend paint it, and turned into a pretty slick bike for running around campus and weekend adventures.

clean 019 by treybrad, on Flickr

Sold it when I graduated, needing the money. The guy who bought it from me promptly totaled it within a month, which was depressing. Oh well.

Got a job, decided it was time for another bike, found a SV650 from a guy in Tulsa and bought a one way plane ticket a rode it home.

clean SV 007 by treybrad, on Flickr

(roommate's GS500 in the background)

Really liked it, and was totally happy with it for a year or so until the Bandit 1250 came out, and I knew I had to have it. Traded it in on a brand spankin' new Bandit in 2007.

bandit 001 by treybrad, on Flickr

Loved that bike. Put 60k miles on it and made lots of memories travelling anytime I could. Was the bike that really cemented my interest and passion in bikes.

Meanwhile, I got the dual sport bug and started buying and selling little DS bikes thinking I was missing out on something.

1994 TW200:

TW200 027 by treybrad, on Flickr

2002 DRZ400-E:

TAR 033 by treybrad, on Flickr

2008 Yamaha WR250R:

2012-08-27_17-26-38_483 by treybrad, on Flickr

I liked dual sports. I liked being high, I liked the long suspension, and I liked the light weight. Commute on the DS, trips on the Bandit, I thought I had it made in motorbike heaven but.... if I'm honest, there's just not many places in TX to ride. Almost all property is private, and getting away to a place like my picture (in Colorado) that was truly off road and necessitated a DS bike like these was just too rare of an occurrence to justify keeping one.

So, that led me to the NC in 2012. Traded in the Bandit and sold the WRR to see if I could combine two bikes into one, as I think many here have tried.

IMAG0325 by treybrad, on Flickr

Not even remotely in the same ballpark as the WRR for offroad ability, but it works just fine on the unpaved roads around here I actually get to ride. Lighter weight and taller than the Bandit is great on the commute. Not to mention I get the same gas mileage as the WRR did while being 95% as highway capable as the Bandit was.

For me right now, I think it's the perfect bike. 2 years and 40k miles into it, I can't see myself getting rid of the NC anytime soon. It's not terribly exciting, but it just makes too damn much sense to get away from.

trey

Loving the pictures and stories! Keep them coming.

Some of mine over the years

What the heck is the camo bike? Never seen rims like that before?

Ruggybuggy said:

What the heck is the camo bike? Never seen rims like that before?

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Heh, heh It was one of the versions of my 1981 and 1982 Yamaha RD350LC's. The wheels were just the stockers that I made some polycarbonate disc covers for, and bolted on.

Same bikes with different bodywork sets on, depending-







Mixed some of those Yamaha suspension components wheel, brakes, lower triple clamp, 1/2 steering stem, etc., with my CB400T/CB450T's into a hybrid bike "Jaws" I later raced at our local track Westwood

L.B.S. said:

Heh, heh It was one of the versions of my 1981 and 1982 Yamaha RD350LC's. The wheels were just the stockers that I made some polycarbonate disc covers for, and bolted on.

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I get jealous when I see someone who has been able to maintain so many pictures over the years. I can barely provide one picture of each bike I've had and you seem to have a ton of pics. I appreciate your listing them.

I didn't have a camera or phone for the bikes i had in the 80s.here is the vstar i traded for the 700x.

SergeantChuck said:

I get jealous when I see someone who has been able to maintain so many pictures over the years. I can barely provide one picture of each bike I've had and you seem to have a ton of pics. I appreciate your listing them.

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That my issue. I've been riding since I was 10 years old and I just don't have any picture of my first bikes. Heck some of them I don't even remember but my first street bike was a '72 Honda CB350.