What Was Your Favorite Bike?

[Mr Orange]

This is easy. The bike I sold to buy my Spyder. An 04 Aprilia Tuono Racing. It was a limited production run bike of only 200. I think mine was #186. It came from the factory with a race parts kits. The link below will tell more about that. It was a very fun bike but one that if I'd kept it I would have got into trouble at some point. It was just so easy to go really fast without even thinking about it. I bought in 09 from a collector who had done very little with it. I proceeded to put on the miles. I bought it with 2082 miles and sold it a year later with 10285 on it.
Aprilia Tuono racer

[THEREALTRIKKY]

Mr. Orange, I'll bow to your tastes! I'm an old sport bike racer who still is "in love" with the breed of bikes. That bike is a beautiful "crossover" between a full fairing sport bike, and the "naked bikes" that are so popular in Europe. She's a beautiful bike, can't say I blame you for missing it!

[THEREALTRIKKY]

Ok, a "new" question here... Do/did you name your motorcycles, or simply refer to it as him/her? I've always "refused" to name my vehicles; nothing worse than being awakened in the middle of the night by a very upset other half asking who's (insert name here) because you're dreaming about a vehicle! But, as I'm a guy, ALL of mine are "girls"...

[trooper113]

Two....my 2nd year Kaw 500 triple...scary fast.

My Kaw 650 4....KZ650SR......great bike.

T113

[DTR 11TG]

If I had to chose just 1 bike, I think my favorite would have to be my 2nd XR-750 Flat Tracker. I loved to race that bike, the power & handling was just great and it was just a handful of fun. I have had so many incredible race bikes over the years, from flat trackers, scrambles, TT, motocross and even a couple of road racers, but the XR-750 had to be on top and if I would have added some lights & brakes on one of them it would make a real terror on the street. It is fun to 'what if' about bikes I've had! pepper

[Tony T of I V E]

Hmm , My favorite? I haven't been riding long but in my short stint I would have to say my 2003 Harley Anniversary Road King. Silver/Black. Overall nice bike. ( Sorry Ruby )

My FIRST Bike was a Benelli 125 Sprite. First bike I rode and first bike I crashed ... Nothing serious tho.


Have a wundermus Day

Tony T of I V E

[Nana]

My favorite will always be my '95 yellow & white Fat Boy. I first had a 450 Honda Rebel, then a beautiful Sportster Hugger and had ridden all over the eastern US on those. But my dream was to have a Softtail -- and a Fat Boy in particular -- once our kids were through college and the bills eased up.

For our 20th wedding anniversary Mike surprised me with that gorgeous Fat Boy (despite the bills!), and made that dream come true.

The bikes before and since have been just as good and I've loved riding all of them, but that one will always be special because it was such a special gift.

[Lakeman]

Well my first was a Sears Allstate (Vespa) scooter around 1959, and another would be my KX-450 Kawasaki motorcross bike that only weighed 215 LBs. That thing would fly!

[pcombe]

I have to laugh when i see the sears vespa!
We had a motorcycle scrap yard on the farm, there were all kinds of bikes out there we kept fixed up by parts off of others. my dad was a pretty fair wrench in his time!
Small honda and yamaha step through 50s and 80s, 100 & 125s I remember a couple Rex Gerelli, honda 350 dreams and i think a 450 scrambler.
later on 750 kawasaki (fast), a 900 came along later. A bultaco?
a 500 triumph. 1972 Suzuki 750 (water buffallo) that i chopped and rode for about 12 yrs.
A 650 Jawa, a 1959 Ariel square four, An Indian cheif (cant remember the year?) Lots of old Harley parts
Dad and my uncle was always dealing in something!

My first bike was an old trail tote goat that my dad chopped out just using junk parts and perhaps a jack handle or two?
I thought i was (" the bees knees") Right daddy-o!
He had a 56 pan with a side car.
My sister and i would follow mom and dad up and down the dirt farm roads where we lived.

My grandma named my 89 tour glide ( wolf in sheeps clothing) when i first got it 24 yrs. ago,
She was 70 yrs. old at the time.
I put her on the back and did a trip from Wyoming to minniapolis with her.
She's no longer with us but she was a game old bird
Good memories:
Thanks

[clint44]

I've probably owned over 100 bikes in the last 50 years but if I had to pick a favorite,it would be my 1979 Honda CBX. Bought it new and owned it for 25 years,the longest I've ever owned any vehicle. It inspired me to open my own shop,H&H Custom,a very successful sideline business building custom bikes,cars,and even aircraft that lasted for almost 27 years. In 1986,I took over as National Director of the struggling International CBX Owners Association,with only 222 members. When I retired from that position in 1997,membership was over 4,000. Made many hundreds of friends during those years and rode that bike over 100K miles,in over 40 states. I sold that CBX to a long-time friend in Tennessee,who still owns it to this day. It was an amazing machine.

[consitter]

Hard to pick. I loved my 1984 Honda Elite 150 scooter. It's top speed was about 59 mph, but I rode it to town (10 miles on US 23 when it was 2 lane) anyhow. Traded it in the next year on a Honda Rebel, and although I liked the Rebel, I wished I had kept the scooter.

[J.T.M.]

My first was a 1966 SS106 Sears. The wife an I rode that thing every where. 40 years later came my favorite a 99 yamaha 650 Vstar Classic we called Baby. She was silver with black flames. I could put that thing in 4th gear and ride all day without shifting unless I had to stop. I traded it in on a 2010 Ultra Classic new that became my all time favorite when I had the Hannigan Transformer kit installed.

[rhino 2]

Well it was my Sv 650 [99]-- But slowly i'm feeling my 15 Gunner might bump it down to #2..
The only fly in the ointment is even though the Gunner has well over twice the CC's [Air cooled engine] its not quite as powerful.. But the Sv was 16 years ago, And i was more powerful back then also..

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Like most of us here II'm guessing, I've had a favorite in every phase of my riding history.

Favorite Harley touring bike: 2007 Ultra Classic, 103 kit, 255 Cams, Dyno'd 102 HP and 109 ft torque. Pic taken at Sturges 2007.



Favorite Goldwing: 2004 White Lots of extra chrome, walnut dash, chrome wheels, what a machine. If I knew then what I know now, I would of kept this one and put a Hannigan trike kit on it, and would still be riding it now. But then I'd of never met the Fat Bottom Girl ...



Favorite ride of my whole life, 1965 Sportster, Paco Hard Tail frame, 16 over springer, itty bitty bicycle tire up front. King/Queen seat (golf ball mounted in the passenger seat under the foam. Shoulder height Apes, 1.8 gal coffin tank. 20 coats of black iron paint and everything else was chrome. Great bike when I was 20 something, probably kill me now. On trips, anything more than 200-250 miles a day with a kidney belt resulted in urinating blood. But it looked kewl and had great pickup ... if ya know what I mean. I used to believe God made motorcycles black, people painted them other colors ... Ahhh those were the days ... the bad days. In 1975 and 1976 I rode it to Sturges from Norfolk, Va. I was in the Navy, and took 30 days leave. Used about 24-25 days getting there and back. 5 or 6 days partying ... people ask me what it was like back then, and I tell them all I remember was that it was drunk.

[booman04]

While my 97 Gold Wing was the "best" bike I owned, my favorite was a Honda CB900 I bought in 93 (fuzzy on the year,late 80's. Did thousands of vibration free, smooth miles in the Nevada desert! That said my present bike is a close second. (Rocket 3 tourer).

Mike

[Tin Man 2]

My 1st street bike was a 1974/75 Yamaha RD 350 in Orange. I just love a hot 2 stroke when it comes up on the pipe. I fooled alot of bigger bikes with that little smoker. I've had several 2 strokes through the years and just restored a 1971 Suzuki T 250 Hustler high pipe scrambler. None of them are as fast as I remember my 1st one.LOL

[Sully]

BMW 1200CLC. Heated grips, & Seat, Cruse, CD & XM. Nice road trip bike.

[knob]

How about a favorite dirt bike and a favorite street bike? 1978 Suzuki RM100 which I rode on one wheel most of the time. Pretty sure it would get me hurt these days. The 1984 Honda Nighthawk S was one of the best designed bikes I have seen. Super smooth and mechanically ahead of its time.

~

[KeithsBMW]

Norton Commando 850. Favorite in 1975 and still my favorite now. Also have a BMW K1600 Trike, 2015 Indian Scout. Previously owned Kawasaki Ninja 900, Suzuki GS1100, and several Hondas.

[CrystalPistol]

My first motorcycle was a 1970 Norton 750 Commando "Fastback" ....



.... I learned to ride a MC on it, it served me well, I traded it in 1975 on a still new '74 Triumph Trident.



I played with the Trident some, changed exhaust every now and again, sometimes added some stop light grunt with a different sprocket, some tuning .... it would scream.



Even with stock quiet pipeset, that sprocket woke it up.



I bought a custom exhaust fromViking Exhaust in late '90s, use Dunstall Decibals on it since ... no more 3 to 1. All original paint, etc otherwise ..... still runs like a champ, one top end job .... Boyer ign, Typanium Reg/Rec, 19" rear wheel is in basement hanging up ... I guess this would be my favorite.

Below a couple years ago at McCormick Farm.



Still bellows the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard from a motorcycle, .... from any motorcycle.





In 1995 I bought a GL1200A and in 2004, a '97 GL1500SE Trike.

Oooops ....

forgot this one ..... Kawasaki 900 Z-1 with longer adj swing arm, Morris mags, intake / exhaust / cams / etc .... it was "scary fast" ..... and an "ill handling beast" (it was seen a few times at the local dragstrip with some crazy fool whose street name was "Delaware Payne" before I got it, it was fast with a road race slick and w-bars).

I got rid of it before it got rid of me.



No regrets about selling the Kaw .....
..... but I do wish I had kept the Norton closer.