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Re: [ST] RE: Previous Bikes
- Subject: Re: [ST] RE: Previous Bikes
- From: "Howlin' Dawg" <martinthebike@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 08:59:16 +0100
198? Suzuki GT200-X5 Two stroke twin. Light weight and fast for its size. I
bought it as a Pile of parts and had to strip and rebuild it before I could
ride. This bike lasted me through my college years, carried me and various
pillions all over the country in a cloud of blue smoke and ate three
crankshafts while I owned it. I could never have sold it but got tired of
rebuilding it and gave it to a friend.
197? Yamaha YB100 Two stroke single. Bought this as an apalling pile of poo
for £145. Spent a few quid on turning it into a cafe racer (penniless
student remember) and thought my girlfriend how to ride it. She used that
bike for two years as a daily commuter with me occasionally thrashing it
around the twisty country lanes near where I lived at the time. Eventually
gave it to a friend in exchange for his help with moving house (he had a
van). He promptly siezed it by adding two stroke oil into the fuel tank as
well as the oil tank.
19?? Kawasaki KH250 Two stroke triple. Mwahahaha. What a noise! Somewhere
around this time there was also a Yamaha 550 shaft drive twin which never
did run. I eventually chopped it up and grafted the bodywork onto the
GT200-X5. Amazingly it looked really, really good. Unfortunately I don't
have any pictures of this hybrid. Swopped the Yammy remains and knackered
Kwaker for a crate of Jack Daniels.
Moto Guzzi California III, Cream and Brown paint, foot boards, huge bars. It
wouldn't even fit down the side of my house to get it into the garage. I
felt rediculous on such a big machine.
Kawasaki GPX 250 F-8 Ninja. My first new bike. 100 MPH, 80 MPG. Tiny and
light. Myself and the same girlfriend bought one each and toured extensively
on them. I sold mine after one year with 24K miles on the clock for £500
less than I bough it for.
1979 Moto Guzzi V50II. I loved this from the moment I saw it, despite the
rust and orange peel respray. I eventually decided I liked it so much that
It was taken off the roads and was treated to a ground up, no expense spared
restoration. After the restoration it ran flawlessly for 30K miles in my
hands. Eventually sold because I'd become used to bigger bikes but it stayed
in the garage until 2002. I really wish I'd kept this one :O(
Suzuki 600 Bandit. When the first bandits showed up on the dealers floors I
was hooked and had to have one. At last some real performance. at least
that's what I thought. Fitted a givi screen, topbox, renegade can, dynojet
kit and a K&N. This was an everyday commuter, two up tourer, took me out for
my first trackday and sounded wonderful with the throttle pinned to the
stop. Eventually I outgrew the suspension and it was time for some mods or a
change. Then.....
Suzuki released the TL1000S. My jaw hit the floor. My wallet opened and I
made the most expensive purchase of my young life. Within five miles of
collecting it in Dublins city centre I hated it. It kept stalling and my
body ached from the contortions the bars forced me into. When I got it home
my girlfriend (still the same one) hated it too, convinced I would kill
myself on the thing. I was devastated. What had I done. Later that evening I
decided to take the instrument of torture out for another run on quieter
roads. I returned pumped with adrenaline and wearing a grin that wouldn't go
away. It was treated to a vast array of goodies, both performance and
cosmetic but was also prone to the well documented quality control issues
the TL was famous for. Strangely I always found the handling to be excellent
if not quite GSXR750 standards. Sold it to a mate who turned out to be a
git.
In 1999 I started looking around for a bike that my Girfriend and I could
once again share. The V50 was physically too small for two riders and
luggage and she refused to get onto the TL again after one too many
wheelies. I had heard about the new Sprint ST but Triumphs are a rare breed
in Ireland and test rides are a thing of myth. You buy before you ride!!! I
joined this list searching for more information and eventually arranged to
meet up with Belgian lister Marc De Vries (you still here Marc?) when he
visited Ireland. Marc and I met, chatted and then he offered to let me try
his ST. So we swapped bikes and within ten miles I knew this was the perfect
bike for me. A few weeks later a shiney new Red ST appeared in the driveway.
The TL then departed to be replaced with a Guzzi 1100 Sport. It sounded
fantastic through its Raceco and Renegade exhaust system and it looked like
absolutely nothing else on the roads. It was a great fun bike even if it was
totally outclassed by it's jap contemporaries. This bike more than any other
I've owned required a huge effort to get the best out of it. It most
definitely made me a better rider. Eventually sold it to a guy who crashed
it on his way home from collecting it from me. :O(
Then there was a brief dalliance with an Aprilia Futura. Man that bike
impressed me. Out of the box it was an improvement over the ST in so many
ways. However by this time my ST had been modded to suit me and the Futura
wasn't up to the job of besting the tweaked triumph so it was sold to my
brother in law.
Then the V50 disappeared to my 21 year old, vertically challanged cousin. He
was delighted to find a 'real bike' that he could actually flat foot. It
went to make room for a 2002 Speed triple. I spent a fortune tweaking what I
thought was my dream bike to make it just perfect but somehow it never quite
got under my skin the way the others did. Sold it just before Christmas
2004.
Also at that time I sold my 1999 ST and bought a 2004 ST. I had been
looking around for a fresh mount and there was nothing to tempt me away from
the ST. When I heard about the '05 I was intrigued but when I saw the specs
and pictures I realised that it probably wasn't the agile two up tourer that
I wanted, it was more of a comfy solo sports bike with accomadation for an
occasional pillion. Pillion comfort is very high on my list of priorities as
my wife (yes, still the same girl) loves biking almost as much as I do. At
the moment the ST is the only bike in my garage. It will be joined by
something else this summer. I did consider the Rocket III (WOW) but will
probably get another Guzzi. They're addictive you know :O)
Howlin'
Ireland
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