Here’s mine, in order of ownership. I’d love to read about others’ experiences.
Back in the late '90s I got my first anything with an engine, a fairly clapped out 50cc Yamaha Spy 2-stroke scooter. I was 16 and it was affordable transportation, but it lit the spark of interest in two-wheeled fun.
Then around 2002 I was in college and working part time, I sold the scooter and got a 1997 Yamaha Virago 125. My first ‘real bike’, with a thunderous 10 horsepower.
A couple of years later I graduated college and wound up getting a car to go to work in, as I lived in Ireland where it rains more often than not, and I could not afford nor have the space to keep the bike along with the car, so the Virago was sold.
Several years of 4-wheeled life pass by, then we arrive at 2014. During the previous 10 years I have moved to the US with my job, got married, and so forth. Now I’m old enough and financially solvent enough to afford a bike as well as a car and a place to live, and I go get my motorcycle endorsement (again, I essentially had to start over when I moved countries) and buy my first (and only) brand new bike - a white 2014 Suzuki v-Strom 650. I lived in Idaho at the time, which provided plenty of access to mountain roads and stuff to ride around on, it was a good fit. I kept the 'Strom until 2018 (I had recently moved to the flat midwest), and then started bike-hopping more.
I traded it in for a used and cheap (because they were very unpopular and wideley considered to be ugly) Honda CTX1300. I wanted to try something with a V4, and the OEM panniers and stuff were very attractive to me. I kept the CTX for just under a year, though. I just didn’t fall in love with it. It was very comfortable and would be an excellent machine to ride across America in. Think of it as Goldwing lite. It felt a little bit too ‘dad’ for me at the time. Also it weighed like 725 lbs.
At the end of the season I traded again, this time getting myself onto a 2016 Yamaha XSR900. That bike was awesome. It had a torquey triple that could get going silly fast, with retro-influenced style. I rode the XSR for several years, and did some simple bolt-on mods like an improved LED headlight (the stock halogen was garbage), nice exhaust, better seat, etc.
I sold the XSR in spring of 2023 and bought a well-used 2014 BMW F800GT. It was a drop of about 30 horsepower from the XSR, but came with a lot of practicality, with OEM bags and stuff. However, this was another bike that I just didn’t connect with, and I traded it in spring of 2024.
I replaced the BMW with a 2018 Triumph Tiger 1200 XRx with only 2,500 miles on it. It came with the expensive OEM panniers and is the first bike I’ve had with factory heated grips and seat. It also has gobs of power with that big triple, something I missed from the XSR. It doesn’t get up and go quite like the XSR considering the extra weight and higher center of gravity, but it has more than enough power to keep me happy now. It also is a single-sided swingarm, shaft-drive setup which I think is pretty cool.
I still have that Triumph today, but a few weeks ago I acquired another bike - the 1975 Honda CB750F super sport pictured here. It has 34,000 miles and change on the odometer, but who knows how accurate that is. The state of Illinois doesn’t require odometer readings for anything vintage. This is my first inline four bike, and I’ve been enjoying riding it around. It makes the 2018 Triumph feel like an absolute rocketship. I haven’t hard carbs since that late '90s Virago!
The CB had 35-year-old hard-as-rock dry-rotted tires on it, but otherwise it ran pretty great. I’ve replaced the tires (that was a real pain in the ass, I don’t think I want spoked wheels again on a future bike), and have tweaked a few things to make it run even better. Next job on the list is new brake pads and steel-braided lines. The front brake lines appear to be original from 1975 and they’re spanked. Also, the front brake light switch is kaput. That’s plumbed into the brake lines so I’ll replace that when I do the lines.
It certainly helps to have a community of vintage bike nerds in the area to give advice, most shops do not want to work on anything this old.
Not the most exciting history here. My brother had owned bikes for years, but I never bothered getting one. In 2008 I changed my mind and bought a Suzuki GZ125 for £500, and did my CBT (Compulsory Basic Training). It took me a while to build my confidence, but I loved riding.
After four years, I thought it was time to upgrade. I had a running joke with a friend who ran a pub, saying that I’d give him £50 for his old bike that had been sitting in his garden for about six years. He said one day that he’d sell it for £200, so I said yes. It was a Suzuki GSX600F from 2000, and I spent several months getting it back on the road with help from my tame mechanic friend.
I still ride the same bike now, and do the majority of the maintenance myself, but have bought a 1994 FZR600. I got it really cheap as it needed work, but I haven’t got around to doing anything with it yet.
At the moment I’ve got the three bikes in the garage, with the 125 and the FZR both needing some work, and the plan is to fix up and sell all three to get something that my kid can come out on, and stay safe and comfortable :)
A friend who rides, races, and restores Ducatis tried to teach me how to put a motorcycle in gear in his driveway on a gentle hill, and a cop drove past and told me I needed a license to even get on it.
Fuck that guy. I was on private property and how else are you supposed to learn?
In the US it’s just like getting your regular license. A written test first which gets you a permit to ride (restrictions on that depending on the state you are in, like no riding after dark, no highways, no passengers, etc).
Then you take the road test (or take a class) which gets the full endorsement added to your license.
But yeah I would think on private property you should have been safe.
First motorcycle experience was actually a manual-trans quad when I was 16 or so. Learned about hand clutches and foot shifting. First actual motorcycle experience was my buddy’s 80s-era Nijna 250. I took a few girls out on dates with that bike. Also took a quick ride on a CBR600 (F2 or something… early carbureted model) and realized that fast bikes were not for me. My right wrist does not have a return spring…
Fast forward to 2022, my gf at the time (now wife) reveals that she owns a 2007 Honda Metropolitan that she and her ex-husband bought brand new, and offers it to me since it didn’t run after having sat for 9 years in her parents’ garage. I happily took it home and got it running that day, promptly found out it was essentially the same thing as it’s Honda Ruckus sibling, which has a huuuuuuge aftermarket, then fell into that rabbit hole. It’s now lowered, stretched (Honda Ruckus swingarm is a few inches longer), and has a couple go-“fast” goodies enabling a top speed of 52MPH. Not bad for a 49cc originally limited to 38MPH. I commute on it regularly (when it’s warm out), and every once in a while, take it out to the local bike night with one of my buddies, who also happens to own a Ruckus.
Since my wife and I got married, my FIL has been bugging me about getting his old dirtbike in the shed running again. Being the curious tinkering fuck that I am, I took him up on it last year. Went out to the shed, pulled out all the wood and other things covering the bike, revealing a mostly-intact 1980 Honda XR500. It was in rough shape. However, after giving everything a good once-over with a pressure washer, cleaning out the very-stuck carb, and shooting some starting fluid down it’s throat, she fired right up and ran on 16 year-old gasoline.
I’ve been poking at the XR500 periodically, cleaning it up and replacing broken bits, and adding lights to get it street legal. Still working on that last part, but she runs great now.
Age 17, got a Honda NF75 step-through moped. Saved up and bought a Honda CB250N Super Dream, and passed my test. Eventually bought a brand new Yamaha RD250LC before finishing up with a Honda CBX550 F2.
Bought my one and only bike around 12 years ago. Second generation Kawasaki Ex500. $3000 at the time, and only 3k miles. I was driving close to 2 hours a day to college and work, and it was great.
Rode it in winter because my job at the time didn’t charge bikes for use in the parking garage. Slipped on ice, banged up a turn signal and bar end. Easy fix. Stopped riding it in winter, though…
Driving home one night, I got cut off by a truck and ended up clipping his rear tail light. Bent my finger in a way it shouldn’t, bent a handle and mounting bracket for the handle, but didn’t go down. That was a fun ride the rest of the way home.
5 or 6 years ago now, coming home from work, ended up hitting a deer that crossed right when I was coming by. Wasn’t going exceptionally fast, but kinda froze up. I had already rattle-canned the remaining fairings (never did have lowers) and the tank with truck bed liner, but that crash destroyed the front end and the cracks that were there from my previous escapades. Ended up getting a cheap aftermarket gauge cluster and a universal headlight. I no longer have a wind screen on it. I guess I was trying to go for cheap street fighter.
I still ride that bike. I’ve got around 40k miles on it now, a little more, I think. Done all the work on it myself. Carbs, forks, oils, head clearance. The only thing I don’t do is change the tire. I usually take them off and into a repair place for that. I really enjoy that little bike. Almost bought another to use it for parts but decided against it.
Ouch! Impressive that you stuck with the same bike after all of that.
Combination of being cheap and wanting to learn. It’s been a very good experience, all things considered.
- 1975 Honda CB125s: rescued as a pair from Grandpa’s garage with 853 miles on it and near 30yo tags. I put 4k miles on that little thing in the early 00s. With a +1 front sprocket on it still topped out just over 50mph in 5th gear. Got a good laugh from the guy doing the endorsement exam when I had to shift twice to keep accelerating in the short little run.
- 1983 CB1000 Custom: with the high/low sub-transmission (a 4cyl CB engine with a left hand output to a right side shaft like a GL) for 10 gears (in reality a glorified 6)! When I got it, the input shaft bearing was toasted and barely held gears. Learned a lot splitting the cases and replacing it myself. Probably did real damage to myself lifting the engine without a hoist.
- 2010 Ducati Multistrada S Sport: with all the carbon bits. I got it used with just over 20k on it for a steal. Absolute dream bike. 150hp, adjustable suspension and fuel/throttle mapping. More than I’ll ever need. About time to do the valve adjustment again. And new tires again…
Those CB900s/1000s from that era are such oddballs, lol.
I had a '78 CX500 with the same paint scheme as your 750. Mine was a V-twin… the “Mini Guzzi” is the term people threw around a lot. Yours is in great shape.
Someone before me put a lot of work into keeping it mechanically sound. It had an obviously-new front master cylinder and fuel petcock on it when I got it, and it runs great, so the engine has been taken care of. It just had those ancient tires and spanked brake pads and lines to deal with. I think that if I polished up the aluminum surfaces on the engine it would really look great.
First time on a bike was about 15, was my brothers 500cc two stroke single cylinder thumper. Ran into a wall, lasted about 90 seconds.
At around 35 I got a kawasaki 650cc, didnt know how to ride, and had to call my brother for lessons over the cellphone to learn enough to get it home. Got very very lucky in a high side crash a few weeks later, was able to walk away bad bruised and bloodied but not broken.
Then I got smart and went to take the three day DOT class.
Bought a Chinese newstar 200cc dirt bike and actually learned to ride.
Moved on to another 650 kawasaki, then fell in love with my other brother Darrell’s Harley VRod, and am on my third, a muscle, a Nightrod, and now back on a muscle.
I had a pretty short stint. Got my M1 license and CMX250 back in 2018. Rode it almost every day to work which was wild because the thing could barely max out at 80mph. Had a lot of fun with it but ended up selling it in 2020 because its insurance cost the same as the bike (about $1500/year). Haven’t really ridden since then because I’m kinda house poor at the moment. I’m still eyeing getting a CMX500 or even a Kawasaki Vulcan S though.
Rode it almost every day to work which was wild because the thing could barely max out at 80mph.
laughs in 49cc commuter
To be fair I was usually in a highway where cars would routinely buzz past me at 80+mph.
Yeah that would do it. I commute on a 50mph rural highway. If I can catch a draft, the little thing will hit 55 easily. On it’s own though, it’ll still tickle 50.
78 Batavus Regency Couple of motorized bicycles 72 Yamaha U7E Chinese crate scooter Indian AMI-50 79 GS425 2000 Suzuki Intruder 1400 2007 Rocket III 85 Yamaha Riva 125
i bought one. then another. took brc. sold #2 after rebuilding #1. still riding #1. '85 nighthawk mfer.
