A passion for bikes is inborn l think so.

[Kwasaki]

The reason for this thread is l've been riding bikes all my life so to speak,  one of the first things l did retiring in Thailand was buy a motorbike,  my wife understood that because my wife was in England with me for 2.1/2 years, so the truck that followed was 2nd.  

 

Someone said to me today you ride big motorbikes,  you too old,  that upset me but l understand because they do not have the same passion for motorbikes as l do.

 

l have so many stories from when l can first remember as a 3 year old kid,  the first was sitting in the road outside our house in Sudbury Town, Wembley, UK. with my Dad servicing his 500 Rudge.

 

My Versys 650 l will keep now no matter how old l get,  even if it gets to when l can only look at her,  l am aware of my limitations before the health and safety brigade weigh in,  my wife calls her my mia noi.   

 

I wondered how many here think the same about needing a bike when they came here and there passion for motorbikes. ?

[ktm jeff]

My first memories didnt involve a Rudge , but did involve Castrol R. My dad bought 2 go-carts from the manager of TJ filters in Plymouth , back to Birmingham , both on the roof of the car !. Ive loved engines ever since. Never was good enought to turn pro , but ive riden trials , enduro , moto-cross , motards and road/track bikes. I still ride sports bikes and enduro/greenlaners in England , and off-road in Chiang Mai. My main reason for taking early retirement in 2011 was to spend more time riding with an eye to move full time to Thailand around 2020. Ive just turned 52 last month and while i know im "older" i refuse , point blank , to be old - ever.  My girlfriend also calls my bike my mia noi/wife. Some people will never know , or dont wish to know , the thrill that biking gives. I smile to myself , like a dog with his head out of a car window , knowing they will never feal "THIS" sensation.  Keep riding my young friend , even when it can be only in your head.

[Kwasaki]

34 minutes ago, ktm jeff said:

Keep riding my young friend , even when it can be only in your head.

Great post, memories are so special with dads,  it reminds me of my young son saying hey dad you remember when l was caught doing a wheelie up our road and you found out but you never said anything.  

[akirasan]

A motorbike was one of the first things I bought when I moved here.  But I don't know where my interest came from.  My older brothers always owned classic cars and V8s.

Now I have the problem that I don't want only one bike.  I'd like a cruiser to relax on and an off road bike to take advantage of some of the dirt roads around here too.

[canthai55]

1968 legally on the road. Off road before.

This Forum is filled with ...

Guys who rode a Triumph for 2 days in 1960 - it ran well - Triumphs are the best.

Guys who never rode a bike in their life before coming here.

My Father after WW2 had an Indian 45. He said that you could tell the experienced riders - the studs on their leather jackets were wore down from sliding on the pavement.

Some of us are so Old Skool that we were around when they built it. Like our bikes - no catalogs to buy parts, no custom shops. Want it - make it.

And therein lies the great divide.

 

[thaiguzzi]

1976 legally on the road. 16 years old and limited to a 50cc moped.

Green behind the ears, knew nothing except drinking, fighting, and... that a powered 2 wheeler with an engine was a helluva lot of fun and i could get to places my bicycle could'nt.

Have never had a year without a motorcycle. 

They were my life, are my life and always will be my life.

[Kwasaki]

5 hours ago, akirasan said:

A motorbike was one of the first things I bought when I moved here.  But I don't know where my interest came from.  My older brothers always owned classic cars and V8s.

Now I have the problem that I don't want only one bike.  I'd like a cruiser to relax on and an off road bike to take advantage of some of the dirt roads around here too.

Yeah motorbikes are collectibles my UK 92 blade l kept until retiring Thailand 2005 it had become a classic by then.

You remind me of my second wife,  l had accumulated 7 bikes and was servicing the Z650 in the front room which l got through the patio doors.

To cut a story she said it's either me or the bikes that have to go, she was packed and gone that evening.  

[Neilly]

3 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

1976 legally on the road. 16 years old and limited to a 50cc moped.

Green behind the ears, knew nothing except drinking, fighting, and... that a powered 2 wheeler with an engine was a helluva lot of fun and i could get to places my bicycle could'nt.

Have never had a year without a motorcycle. 

They were my life, are my life and always will be my life.

We must be the same age then...I can still remember the summers of 76 and 77...76 I was on my Gilera moped and then 77 I had a Suzuki GT250...longest I've been without a bike since then was a year

[AllanB]

Heavily discouraged by my parents, I bought my first bike age 14, a Villiers 50 2 gears no clutch cable, for £2. Wow, all that speed (30mph) and no peddling. Kept it at my friends house and rode it around an old factory site, dodging the police on the way there and back. After a year, got bored with that and sold it for £2. Then age 17 bought my first car and bikes became a thing of the past.

 

Aged 40 bought a Aprilia 350 trails bike and mucked about on that, but my then wife didn't want our son to take to bikes, twisted my arm and sold that. Then nothing again..

 

Arrived in Thailand 10 years ago saw everyone on bikes and straight away bought a 100 Honda Wave bottom of the range and only a few £100...What an easy way too get around town.

 

Then bought a Phantom and took my my first road trip, crappy bike, but got me thinking.........

 

So we did the Top Gear trip in Vietnam, fantastic and the bug was getting stronger, now I have a new trip in my head every week, have to convince the Mrs now.

 

However, I think had I stayed in the UK, I wouldn't be into bikes today at all. We bought a Vespa 125GTS, pretty bike, in the far north of Norfolk and planned to ride it down to Portsmouth, ferry to Northern Spain and ride on down to Portugal where we live.

 

The UK part was horrible, lousy weather, heavy traffic, no enjoyment whatsoever. The part down through Spain an Portugal was really great and we have a done few tours around here too.

 

Maybe there was a in-built passion, but it was conditioned out of me. The upside is that I am still alive, which, given my antics as a youth, wouldn't be the case had I been a biker back then.

[soihok]

I have been riding bikes since I was 17.

Passed my bike test before the car test.

It was my father that, unintentionally, kick started my passion for bikes. That was 35 years ago.

Always had a bike in my life since. As I had been living various countries since leaving the UK about 25 years ago, I have always seemed to have to kiss them goodbye when moving on. I hope that doesn't happen back home in Thailand though.

Had mainly Japanese Bikes (several GSXR's), a VMax and currently an MT-09 and an R3, but also had a Triumph Street Triple R and from next week a Ducati Hypermotard.

I used to club race a Suzuki GT250X7 as well as a Suzuki GS1000 back in the UK.

Wouldn't want to be without a bike.

I ride everyday - Rain or Shine / Night and Day 

[thaiguzzi]

2 hours ago, Neilly said:

We must be the same age then...I can still remember the summers of 76 and 77...76 I was on my Gilera moped and then 77 I had a Suzuki GT250...longest I've been without a bike since then was a year

Yep, indeed.

Marvelous summers, but made up for it with proper winters - my motorcycles were my only transport. Did'nt take my car test till i was 28, and that was only out of neccessity, as i had my own business by then (motorcycle business...) and needed a van.

'76-77, yep the FS1E lasted long enough until i pestered my Dad to up the money owed and trade it in for a Fantic GT. Very similar to your Garelli (sure it was a Garelli rather than a Gilera). Top of the 50cc 50mph club they were. First proper accident on that Fantic, car's fault doing a u turn over a hump back bridge, hospital for a quick visit, bike sold as accident damaged and by the time his insurance paid out i had turned17...

Back in those glory UK days everyone could ride a legit 2T 250 on their learner plates on their 17th birthday. And do 100mph.
GT250 - great bike.

[ben2talk]

I moved away to study in Fleetwood - a bleak spot. I never forgot riding on the back of a cousin's Vespa in a caravan park when I was 11 - but my family hated bikes. They weren't poor, low class people. We had some nice cars, when I moved away we had a nice V8 vanden-plas rover and my uncle had a Jensen Interceptor.

 

Then I met a guy 155cm tall with a GSX100. He couldn't put a foot down without sliding off the seat. Plus the other guys around at the time - Suzuki GT380 triple and lots of other 2-strokes. The smell of the 2-stroke oil stuck with me but I had to wait until I was 21 before I got enough money...

 

Hard to forget the feeling - not like a car at all. I rode around the streets from Fleetwood to Blackpool for hours and hours just for the hell of it. Then the police took my licence - after a couple of stops (L plate stickers coming off after a couple of hours, then plastic L plates snapping off with the blustery winds... police were always ready to jump on you) and I traded in for a single (250RS).

 

As with Guzzi - it was a pretty unhealthy and insane passion. When my girlfriend left me and moved away to start up her own Chiropody practice, I bought a box of chocolates and then rode from Blackpool to Hastings - overnight, and with temperatures down to -10 celcius. Insane, but when it's your only form of transport you would never admit to it not being the only way to travel... Fieldsheer gloves cost me 50 quid and kept my fingers from freezing, but I had icicles in my beard.

 

I ended up with a Honda CB550K1 which was faster than it should be... and I just kept it running until there was no more hope of reviving it when I found a CB550F with deep blue metalflake paint in a guy's garage with 25000 miles on the clock. That kept me happy until I came here.

 

In Thailand it was economics - Honda CBR400 until a taxi did a left turn from lane 3. Then a '92 GSX-R followed by a 2002 GSX-R. Repairs and spare parts, coupled with stupid monthy fuel bills and no access to expressways means that it just doesn't work well in the city here... fuel costs went up sharply and we picked up a 1.2 Yaris that gets 17km/l and makes much more sense to go anywhere over 10km in the city. Admittedly you can't thrust past 200km/h on a U-turn bridge or whatever, but I'd pretty much stopped doing that when I started taking my son out on the bike anyways... then winds were limited to 100km/h so in the end I gave up and bought a PCX. I really enjoy it, though the ride quality is nasty and it has no redeeming qualities other than practicality and zero financial input (180 to fill up with E20 after riding 300km - full services come in at 200 baht...).

 

But we're still on 2 wheels... I got a great big poncho that means I can still use the bike to go to school and ride through floods when all the other bikes are hiding under bridges from the rain

 

Insanity comes with the territory. 

GSX-R750-fast.flv

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, soihok said:

Had mainly Japanese Bikes (several GSXR's), a VMax and currently an MT-09 and an R3, but also had a Triumph Street Triple R and from next week a Ducati Hypermotard.

As of now one of the best bikes brought out after Blades and R1's is the GSXR1000 so simple so fast and the Triumph speed triple is up there too.

Also in my book any biker although l'm not keen on the looks of it,  you haven't lived until experience a ride on a Suz Busa.

Best thing also is when my grand kids ask me to tell them a story at bedtime, l'd talk about bikes it worked a treat. 

 

[DILLIGAD]

I started with a Suzuki GT185 ( got £20 discount cos uncle worked for SuzukiGB with a certain Mr Sheene) then KH250 that came a cropper in an oil spill. All uncles & dad had British bikes so that's what drew me to them also. Had 2 Bonnie's & a '61 Tigercub Scrambler.

In between bikes At The mo, but hope it doesn't last too much longer! Climbing the walls!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[guzzi850m2]

I am also a bike guy,  biker or whatever you want to call it, started at 15 on mopeds, trying hard to make it as fast as possible (illegal off-course).

A bike is the ultimative road vehicle in my opinion, leaning in in the corners, superior acceleration making them a blast to ride making it impossible for me to stop riding/loving them. 

Real bike riders will always stop and help a fellow bike rider if he is stranded at the curb or worse, a brotherhood you will never see among cage drivers.

The day I will have to sell my big bike due to old age will be a very sad day, I hope I can keep on riding for many more years to come.

[ben2talk]

I moved away to study in Fleetwood - a bleak spot. I never forgot riding on the back of a cousin's Vespa in a caravan park when I was 11 - but my family hated bikes. They weren't poor, low class people. We had some nice cars, when I moved away we had a nice V8 vanden-plas rover and my uncle had a Jensen Interceptor.
 
Then I met a guy 155cm tall with a GSX100. He couldn't put a foot down without sliding off the seat. Plus the other guys around at the time - Suzuki GT380 triple and lots of other 2-strokes. The smell of the 2-stroke oil stuck with me but I had to wait until I was 21 before I got enough money...
 
Hard to forget the feeling - not like a car at all. I rode around the streets from Fleetwood to Blackpool for hours and hours just for the hell of it. Then the police took my licence - after a couple of stops (L plate stickers coming off after a couple of hours, then plastic L plates snapping off with the blustery winds... police were always ready to jump on you) and I traded in for a single (250RS).
 
As with Guzzi - it was a pretty exclusive, rather unhealthy and insane passion. Take the bike in rain and snow - be the real biker. When my girlfriend left me and moved away to start up her own Chiropody practice, I bought a box of chocolates and then rode from Blackpool to Hastings - overnight, and with temperatures down to -10 celcius. Insane, but when it's your only form of transport you would never admit to it not being the only way to travel... Fieldsheer gloves cost me 50 quid and kept my fingers from freezing, but I had icicles in my beard.
 
I ended up with a Honda CB550K1 which was faster than it should be... and I just kept it running until there was no more hope of reviving it when I found a CB550F with deep blue metalflake paint in a guy's garage with 25000 miles on the clock. That kept me happy until I came here.
 
In Thailand it was economics - Honda CBR400 until a taxi did a left turn from lane 3. Then a '92 GSX-R followed by a 2002 GSX-R. Repairs and spare parts, coupled with stupid monthy fuel bills and no access to expressways means that it just doesn't work well in the city here... fuel costs went up sharply and we picked up a 1.2 Yaris that gets 17km/l and makes much more sense to go anywhere over 10km in the city. Admittedly you can't thrust past 200km/h on a U-turn bridge or whatever, but I'd pretty much stopped doing that when I started taking my son out on the bike anyways... then winds were limited to 100km/h so in the end I gave up and bought a PCX. I really enjoy it, though the ride quality is nasty and it has no redeeming qualities other than practicality and zero financial input (180 to fill up with E20 after riding 300km - full services come in at 200 baht...).
 
But we're still on 2 wheels... I got a great big poncho that means I can still use the bike to go to school and ride through floods when all the other bikes are hiding under bridges from the rain [emoji6]
 
Insanity comes with the territory. 

GSX-R750-fast.flv

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[Neilly]

2 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Very similar to your Garelli (sure it was a Garelli rather than a Gilera). Top of the 50cc 50mph club they were.

It was definitely a Gilera...it had the RS barrel and would just about hit 50mph if there wasn't a hill or head wind LOL 

 

After I passed my test I traded the GT250 in for a Yam RD350, I loved that bike and kept it for about three years until the RD350LC came along...the first road legal nutters tool...I had two of them...gawd knows how I'm still here after two LC's

[DILLIGAD]

I seem to remember a trip down to Hayling Island with a nice warm layer of snow on the front and black biker gear showing from the rear

The good 'of days in the '70's

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thaiguzzi]

49 minutes ago, Neilly said:

It was definitely a Gilera...it had the RS barrel and would just about hit 50mph if there wasn't a hill or head wind LOL 

 

After I passed my test I traded the GT250 in for a Yam RD350, I loved that bike and kept it for about three years until the RD350LC came along...the first road legal nutters tool...I had two of them...gawd knows how I'm still here after two LC's

Well bugger me, it is a Gilera.

My RD 350 was the best bike i owned till i bought my Triumph. Much better than the RD400 that replaced it. And better looking too.

[ben2talk]

I am also a bike guy,  biker or whatever you want to call it, started at 15 on mopeds, trying hard to make it as fast as possible (illegal off-course).
A bike is the ultimative road vehicle in my opinion, leaning in in the corners, superior acceleration making them a blast to ride making it impossible for me to stop riding/loving them. 
Real bike riders will always stop and help a fellow bike rider if he is stranded at the curb or worse, a brotherhood you will never see among cage drivers.
The day I will have to sell my big bike due to old age will be a very sad day, I hope I can keep on riding for many more years to come.

The old days, everyone nodded.... Once I saw a guy pushing his bike, stopped and helped him get it parked safe then take him home about 20 miles away. Never met again but never forgotten.


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[Damrongsak]

I like bikes and was briefly a mechanic at a Suzuki dealership back around 1973, during the gas shortage.  Haven't owned but a few.  The last was a Suzuki 125 enduro in 1977-79 when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand.  My two brothers did a bit of motocross racing.  I like to ride off road.  When I get back to Thailand, I'll pick up a few small bikes, as I never cared for heavy bikes. Maybe a Kawa KLX150 and a Yama Exciter 150. A genuine trials bike would be a blast to play around on. 

 

My Thai brother-in-law was a motorcycle mechanic for years, and had his own small shop.  First in Loei then later in Khon Kaen. He credits me with his interest in bikes, as he was just a kid when I was there.  One farang in Loei only trusted him to work on his Honda Gold Wing.

[CMKiwi]

Back in the eighties the RD350 was a bike that you needed to know how to control.  Too many idiots thought they could ride anything.

 

But that bike had some kick to the inexperienced.  Once you got use to its quirks and figured out its power band range then it's was a fun bike.

 

I once made a mistake of being a pillion passenger with a guy who had no idea how to ride let alone control an RD350.  Never again.

[canthai55]

12 hours ago, DILLIGAD said:

I seem to remember a trip down to Hayling Island with a nice warm layer of snow on the front and black biker gear showing from the rear

The good 'of days in the '70's

Bought my first HD 1974. Iron Head, mag, kick only. Lived on Vancouver Island.

February was craving some sun ... lets ride to Cali

Took the Red Ball ferry to Port Angeles, WA and hugged to coast to stay away from the snow. Rained the whole way until Nor Cal.

Took newspapers, wrapped around legs with tape. Snow skiing goggles and gloves, wool socks in garbage bags in cowboy boots.

Had blue lips the whole way.

20 years old -  great trip.

[soihok]

10 hours ago, CMKiwi said:

Back in the eighties the RD350 was a bike that you needed to know how to control.  Too many idiots thought they could ride anything.

 

But that bike had some kick to the inexperienced.  Once you got use to its quirks and figured out its power band range then it's was a fun bike.

 

I once made a mistake of being a pillion passenger with a guy who had no idea how to ride let alone control an RD350.  Never again.

I never had the money to buy an LC, really wanted one but was really skint.

I tore up the streets on a Suzuki X7 (Microns spannies + Terry Beckett ported Barrels and skimmed Head), in my youth. The neighbours loved me ..lol.

Longed for a 250 Gamma when they were launched, but again, no money no honey.

[CMKiwi]

Jeez thats bring up the long lost past..... I remember the X7.  Was a nice looking bike in its day.  Here's one for you....

 

The Suzuki RE5.   A local bike dealer in my very small home town back in NZ had one on display.  Every morning on the way to school Id see him polishing the bike, Im surprised he didnt polish the paint off.

 

Unfortunately they didnt last long due to rotor wear and expense

[soihok]

When I was 17 there used to be a weekly bike auction in a town called Worksop, near Sheffield - I used to go there and just dream about owning a bike - had zero money though (first bike was a Suzuki GT50 bought from that auction for 60 quid by my Dad, it was the slowest bike in the world).

I remember there bikes like Suzuki GT750 and Kawasaki KH250 up for auction.

It was nice to dream........but even nicer now to say that dream has become a reality now that I have the resources to go for it 

[thaiguzzi]

13 hours ago, CMKiwi said:

Back in the eighties the RD350 was a bike that you needed to know how to control.  Too many idiots thought they could ride anything.

 

But that bike had some kick to the inexperienced.  Once you got use to its quirks and figured out its power band range then it's was a fun bike.

 

I once made a mistake of being a pillion passenger with a guy who had no idea how to ride let alone control an RD350.  Never again.

I think you're on about the water cooled RD 350 LC.

I'd already moved on to 4 strokes by the time they came out. To this day, i have never owned a motorcycle with a thermostat, radiator and fan...

I had the air cooled RD, drum rear brake, beautiful teardrop tank, replaced by the "coffin tank" air cooled RD 400, with disc brakes front and rear. Both bikes were easy to ride, torquey without a vicious power band. Possibly why they were best sellers in the UK market, especially the 250 versions.

[ben2talk]

The GT250 was the only real 'powerband' bike I had - brought me close to death a few times before I chopped it in for a Honda Superdream (the 400 wasn't bad - unlike the piggy 250).

 

This was my first 550 four - the 550F. It was good for up to 110, but the 550K that I bought later was a fair bit quicker and topped out at maybe 115.

 

It's all in the riding, I was racing the likes of Kawasaki's new GPX750 with it's ridiculous high revving (11000 rpm) motor and still getting back to the pub first.

[Motard]

Passed my test Spring 1960,seldom without a bike since.Rode Trials till 65 years old,still have a Sonic but realy like the Yam Filano

we have,both quick enough for Samui Chris 75

[AllanB]

1 hour ago, soihok said:

When I was 17 there used to be a weekly bike auction in a town called Worksop, near Sheffield - I used to go there and just dream about owning a bike - had zero money though (first bike was a Suzuki GT50 bought from that auction for 60 quid by my Dad, it was the slowest bike in the world).

I remember there bikes like Suzuki GT750 and Kawasaki KH250 up for auction.

It was nice to dream........but even nicer now to say that dream has become a reality now that I have the resources to go for it 

a Suzuki GT50 bought from that auction for 60 quid by my Dad, it was the slowest bike in the world). No flies on your dad then....buying you a "slow" bike. Mine kept pushing me into cars, a 70 quid Fiat 600 as it turned out, we could have had a race! I recall my mother dragging me out of a shop, after she saw me ogling a very shiny new petrol blue BSA Bantam 175.

 

It got me away from bikes, but into travelling...haven't stopped since, except now I have added bikes to exercise my "itchy feet".

 

I am not really into bikes for what they are (polish and show, yawn), but more as to whether they will get me from A to B...and onto C,B,E,F,G, etc...and arrive in one piece. Travelling on a bike you just see more..... I think that is why I enjoyed VN so much despite being on a crappy Honda Wave 100.