First bike TY50 used to run about the fields when I was about 15. RD250 when I was 16 mainly used on private and farm roads. First road legal bike. MT5 Passed my test on one of these. H100 My uncle sold me one of these at a bargain price when I was about 26. Yamaha XJ600 Time to get serious a few years later, ZZR1000. A heavy lump of a bike, didn’t have it long it got nicked. First Blackbird, again didn’t have it long as an oncoming taxi decided to take a right turn without seeing me. Second Blackbird my actual bike in the picture, had it for 14 years Awesome bike, wish I had kept it. And curren bike.
Ooh an RD250 never had one never driven one. Did go pillion when very young on one and fancied one ever since. Plus I love the smell of 2 stroke ...ummmmm
OK here goes, took me ages to compile this lot..... Fond memories though. Shame alot of them weren't in the digital age. Can't believe I haven't got actual pictures of some of my past bikes!
Apologies no pics but bikes were 1997 zx6r then zx6r under seat pipe version than one on the first Yamaha R6 then a GSXR 600 then. GSXR 1000 k4 then GSXR 1000 K5 ( great bike) ....onto a Ducati 848 then 2014 FIreblade HRC kepted for awhile as working in Saudi then 2018 Honda sp.......ride it like a 600 don't get out of 3rd much high revs and carry corner speed ....
I started on a peugeot speed fighter. I can still remember the first night I got it home, sat on it in the back garden thinking how grown up I was Same colours as this one. It didnt last long, we realised it had problems so much to my disappointment it was swapped for a totally sun faded piaggio typhoon. It was almost pink Not doing anything for my street cred, this was swapped for a Gilera DNA. Not just any DNA though, this was the fastest 'bike' in our group with a mallossi kit and other bits and pieces. I absolutely loved it, a mate had a blue one and we genuinely thought we were GP riders! I used it for work which was at the Nissan factory through the Tyne tunnel and on night shifts some times. There was only so many times I could overheat it before the crank went on it and it sat in bits on the garage floor for ages whilst I moved on to having a car to be more comfortable commuting. It wasnt till years later I bought an RS125 on ebay. I didnt know I'd bought a bike till I got a message from the seller asking when I could pick it up Must have got home from a night out and jumped on ebay just as the auction was finishing! It cost me a bomb. The crank seals were kaput and I stripped it right back, had the crank reworked with bearings, new piston and anything else it needed. All with the help of a Haynes manual and some really helpful forum members. I remember my dad kicking off at me when I told him I'd took the engine out and was going to rebuild it I got him outside the first time I started it back up, I wasnt expecting it to work and he definitely wasnt. Stood there he was looking all smug dying to laugh, it started in seconds of pressing the button and sounded properly crisp Just pulled this picture off the rs125 forum I was on. I later added some aprilia decals etc, these were the freshly painted fairings. Just before this was completed I had passed my test on a big bike. Stupidly I traded the aprilia in for next to nothing to get me on a zx6r. I was so desperate to have a big bike but I should have advertised it privately looking back. Anyways, I cherished this thing. Sketchy start and I genuinely thought I wasnt capable of riding it. Turns out the maxxis tyres which were on were totally useless, they were absolutely solid and like plastic. I thought it was too much of a bike for me but had some 2ct Michelins put on and it was night and day even for the novice that I was. This was my 636. I was lucky to fall into a riding group of some really experienced riders. They brought me up to speed really quickly, it wasnt the safest method and looking back it could have gone very wrong a number of times but I made it through unscathed. I put loads of miles in riding solo to get any extra experiance I could and after not too long I was mostly with them through any tighter technical parts but any straights and they lost me on their 1000cc. I had convinced myself that I HAD to have a 1000 and this would make the difference. I was wrong of course and still lacked experiance and know how. If anything it made me slower but I knew once I had time to settle on it I would be ok. Think it's been 5 years on it now, it's done everything I have asked of it and more. Allowed me to learn as a rider yet still scare me and remind me how much I have to learn. I'm so glad I chose the blade.
@PauloHRC - nice selection of bikes dude! Couldn't help be drawn to the Racefit Growler 2 on your old blade... Did you run this with a baffle?? Any ideas on the db level? I'm presuming it should be a little bit quieter than the small Growler and black edition?
Hey @Frazzle...... Yeah at the time I bought it, it was the only Racefit the came with a Baffle as standard. The baffle doesn't do much if I'm honest, I wrapped my baffle in exhaust wadding and secured it with stainless steel tie raps an then had it noise tested at an Oulton Park track day. From memory I think it was around 109db....with the baffle!!!! The limit is 102db If you're looking at doing track days your best using the standard exhaust.......if you want something loud and obnoxious... . Get a Racefit
Here we go.... These are my first bikes but none of them are my actual photos - but they are the exact bikes.. First one to get to school, to work in the holidays and round to mates houses to smoke B&H ...! Not very cool ! Traded it for a knackered version of this Suzuki TS100 which I seized and re-bored and was written off crashed by a mate ! Earning money and bought a lovely CB250 RS Deluxe - took it to the TT. Broke my leg on it coming wide out of a corner hit a car - 'kin hurt sat on the pavement waiting for an ambulance Went to Portugal and ended up working there - bought a Casal 125 Cross exactly like this one - great fun of the dirt roads in the Algarve - it eas worn out when I got it and I trashed it completely - mostly trying to keep up with a mate who had a Yamaha YZ 125 Work bike and the only Kawasaki I have ever owned - the KMX200 Then a beak of about 5 years ........
All the following pictures are of my actual bikes Yamaha XT660 - yes way, no more messing about with little two strokes - loved it - pure hooligan-tastic ! Wasn't very good for touring, so bought the new model Suzuki V-Strom 650 complete with requisite Arai Tour-X lid !! A bit slow but ok, so speed it up a little with the Triumph Tiger 800....now we are getting there ... Something a bit more sporty may be required when the new Honda VFR800 came out ....
All still a bit slow, so ditched the luggage requirement and went for my first 1000cc Really arrived with the grown ups now - Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade - cruise missile - rode it all over Europe - loved it. Many pictures of it but still like this one.. Loved that Fireblade, but the future is Super Nakeds ? - Suzuki GSX-S1000F - really liked that bike, just a shame it ran so rough at low speeds - it had a GSXR motor in it for heavens sake !! Then came the Yamaha MT10-SP a real treat another league to the Suzuki. The best bike I have ever had - want for nothing with that. Took it all over Europe... Still like the crouched position of a sports bike - so it had to be an Yamaha R1 after that crossplane crank motor experience with the MT 10 Really wanted one of these when they first came out in 2015 - got there in the end There she is ...... Sorry it has been rather long......
ok so.. suzuki ap50, yamaha rd200, honda 250, honda vfr 400, cbr929 fireblade, ducati 748R, yamaha r6 race bike, 2 x cbr1000rr 05 (one for road, one for track), ducati 1198R corsa, ducati 1199s tricolore.......
.... ducati hypermotard 821, ducati scrambler icon, cbr1000rr sp, ducati 1299R. final edition, ducati V4 speciale.
