A passion for bikes is inborn l think so.

[Kwasaki]

 

2 hours 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 

Good old Dad's err,  l was 13/15 and skint but working evenings to save for a bike, l had an old moped given to me by Dad's friend which l trashed riding around in the fields and woods but carried on with a NSU 150 scoot a friend lent me.

Had a bit of road before the woods so that was the first thing l got nicked on by plod, underage, no licence, no L plates, no insurance, no road-tax.

 

Anyway 16th birthday dad turns up on 600 Panther with sidecar, kicking that over was nearly thrown over handle bar time if it back fired when trying to start it, even with the valve lifter fully open.

Passed my test later borrowing my mates 175 bantam,  tried the Panther solo but it was a heavy beast and wanted to take a different line to the one l was trying.

 

Sold it and bought a s/h Triumph 500 great bike and so the string bikes followed.

 

Good stories and memories here. 

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by Kwasaki

[soihok]

Me in the 80's in pre-crash mode on a GS1000 racing at Mallory Park.

 

[Neilly]

4 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

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

Yeah, chalk and cheese...I went from a RD350B to a RD350LC. I had the first one in the town I lived in and had been saving like crazy from the moment I first saw it mentioned in MCN. On the first ones the fueling was all to hell and wouldn't pull into the power band without you dropping a gear, if you messed up and dropped two by accident the front wheel would go skywards instantly...and if you hit the front brakes a bit hard the back wheel went skywards...I was in love with that bike the moment I rode it out of the dealers

 

After the Yam 350's I went on to XS1100 Yam's...these had some quirky handling characteristics to say the least, but after getting used to LC's not a problem LOL

 

  

[kaorop]

41 years and counting

Dirtbikes since 15, many years racing MX, some road, I had to much road rage as 17 yr old commuting to 80ks to work and back, so I did very little, till I came to T'land. Had trials bikes and done enduro, minimal track work.

Many years ago even had a Suzuki Thailand and local dealer backed race team and turned a Suzuki Raider and a Honda Cr125 into one of the best Super cup bikes around. (pictured)

 

Now with to many bikes, not enough space, nor money, some have to go, firstly my best bang for buck bike/s my NSR 150 SP (built 1 out of 2 and have a complete rat bike for spares) (pictured)

 

Besides the fun of riding, I quite enjoy getting to places very few people get to. (last pic Prasea Dam)

 

Some great stories here, cheers and keep biking

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by kaorop

[Damrongsak]

On 7/20/2017 at 11:43 AM, CMKiwi said:

Back in the eighties the RD350 was a bike that you needed to know how to control.  ...

The production road race versions in 250cc and 350cc were apparently pretty scary according to some friends who raced them.  I think the later 350cc versions produced 70+ HP and weighed around 115 kg.

 

Probably worst of all was the TZ750 flat track bike ridden by Kenny Roberts.  He won his first race out on it in a drag race on the last straightaway.  It was then banned from further racing.  It was essentially two 350's and had about 130 HP.  Afterward he said “They don't pay me enough to ride that thing!" and he was #1 at the time.  

[CMKiwi]

Good stories and love to hear more....but back to the OP.  These are being made in India, and I wonder if we will ever see them here.

 

Honda XRE300 nice looking simple ADV bike

 

 

[soihok]

My new Ducati Hypermotard 939 is ready for collection in Korat.....

 

Edited July 22, 2017 by soihok

[thaiguzzi]

Summer of '79...

Same bike as in my other thread, re my38 y/o Triumph birthday/anniversary.

 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, CMKiwi said:

Good stories and love to hear more....but back to the OP.  These are being made in India, and I wonder if we will ever see them here.

 

Honda XRE300 nice looking simple ADV bike

 

 

OK but don't much like under 500's,  although my first Thailand bike was a CB400SF,  long stories about that.  

[Kwasaki]

51 minutes ago, soihok said:

My new Ducati Hypermotard 939 is ready for collection in Korat.....

 

You have said already, when can l pick it up for ya. 

[Kwasaki]

15 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Summer of '79...

Same bike as in my other thread, re my38 y/o Triumph birthday/anniversary.

 

Cool look,  did you missed the mods and rockers days then ? 

 

Rocker l was in my fashion,  my mum was always threatening to pack my bags,  long hair,  rarely taken off leather jacket,  jeans which were for wiping oil off hands & army boots.

 

Never took drugs other than Weights cigs & beer,  steered clear of the fighting unless set upon by mods,  a time when l took up Judo and went on to other self-defense stuff.  

 

 

 

[CMKiwi]

1 hour ago, soihok said:

My new Ducati Hypermotard 939 is ready for collection in Korat.....

 

 

Yes, the Hypermotards always look sweet.  Id love for Tonys Big Bikes in Chiang Mai to get one in his rental line up.  I rent it just for a day and do a quick trip up to Mai Sai border and back to see if I would fit one ok.

 

I like off road but since Ive been in Thailand its 95% on the tarmac, hence why I like this style of bike.  Maybe just maybe with the 939s now in the market a few of the older 821 will appear in the secondhand market....Christmas is just around the corner!

[transam]

1964 Honda 250SS....Looked like this but alas only two megas....But the girlfriend did not like where she had to sit...

Sadly I got banned from driving/riding and it got stolen from outside my house.........Four wheel stuff then beckoned from then on...

 

 

 

[Kwasaki]

 

3RC 164 ( RC 166 )  Honda 250 cc 6 thimble size pistons.

There's one for sale if you want one only 18,000,000 baht.

Never liked 2 stokes much,  bought them for my youngest son,  not my thing. 

 

My sons Ducati 916 49cc minimoto.

 

 

[transam]

4 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

 

3RC 164 ( RC 166 )  Honda 250 cc 6 thimble size pistons.

There's one for sale if you want one only 18,000,000 baht.

Never liked 2 stokes much,  bought them for my youngest son,  not my thing. 

 

My sons Ducati 916 49cc minimoto.

 

 

A two stroke.............

[Kwasaki]

23 minutes ago, transam said:

A two stroke.............

Yep l hate the bloody things my son luv's em his had 4 x 2 stoke bikes, courtesy of the old fart 4 stoke luver.

His sorter sensible now has a R1 with tons of gizmo stuff on it from new but still finds stuff to make it go faster.

 

My eldest son still has my old Suk 1200 bandit he won't sell it.

Edited July 22, 2017 by Kwasaki

[transam]

Just now, Kwasaki said:

Yep l hate the bloody things my son luv's em his had 4 x 2 stoke bikes, courtesy of the old fart 4 stoke luver.

His sorter sensible now has a R1 with tons of gizmo stuff on it from new but still finds stuff to make it go faster.

That's OK then, thought you were referring to Honda's...

[Kwasaki]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

That's OK then, thought you were referring to Honda's...

I was the 3RC 164 was a 6 cylinder Honda RC 166 two-stoke engine,  the Honda's founder Takeo Fujisawa hated 2-stokes. 

[transam]

1 minute ago, Kwasaki said:

I was the 3RC 164 was a 6 cylinder Honda RC 166 two-stoke engine,  the Honda's founder Takeo Fujisawa hated 2-stokes. 

4 stroke....

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, transam said:

4 stroke....

Yeah so it is a 4 stoke sounded like a 2 stoke didn't look spec.

 

The only Honda 250 S S in UK l knew of were twins and the S S stood for Super Sport.

Never owned another twin till l came to Thailand,  had serviced some and rode a few.

 

I went to owning 4 pots as soon as l could.

[transam]

11 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah so it is a 4 stoke sounded like a 2 stoke didn't look spec.

 

The only Honda 250 S S in UK l knew of were twins and the S S stood for Super Sport.

Never owned another twin till l came to Thailand,  had serviced some and rode a few.

 

I went to owning 4 pots as soon as l could.

Yep chain driven overhead  cams...Even back then we could buy  tuning stuff for them, had carb ram pipes (manifolds) made up for mine...

[Neilly]

5 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Yep l hate the bloody things my son luv's em his had 4 x 2 stoke bikes, courtesy of the old fart 4 stoke luver.

I never got into 4 strokes until I started doing Enduro racing...oh so much better to have engine braking coming down a mountainside (in Wales on wet grass eeek!)

[Damrongsak]

6 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

... the Honda's founder Takeo Fujisawa hated 2-stokes. 

But Honda got it right with the NSR500. 2-stroke, 500cc V4 with about 200 horsepower.  10 world championships, over 100 race wins.  Amazing engine.

 

More info and a good engine pic:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_NSR500

[CMKiwi]

Now that engine looks like a beast or very close to a rocket....

 

  I wouldn't like to be sitting on it when it takes off, I'd likely fill my pants!

[ben2talk]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

But Honda got it right with the NSR500. 2-stroke, 500cc V4 with about 200 horsepower.  10 world championships, over 100 race wins.  Amazing engine.

 

More info and a good engine pic:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_NSR500

We hate 2-strokes for many reasons.... but up until the 90's it was the way to go fast. That's the only reason the 350's kept going, fuel economy was a joke - but if you kept it burbling in the powerband and treated it gently, nothing would threaten you in the twisties.

As much as you hate them you've got to love them.

 

We're saying this mostly as people who never got close to a V4 like this. I once rode a 500cc twin on Fleetwood Beach - crazy experience (faster than my mate's GSX1100 turbo). My friend had the GT750 - lovely metalflake orange paint, polished to perfection while he waited out the last months of his ban.

 

2 days out it seized - lucky escape and expensive repairs. 2 weeks later it met a tractor. Interestingly it was then that we realised he never did actually wait out the last months of his ban - he got 6 months (Haverigg prison) for that. I learned a valuable lesson there - my behaviour ended up being much worse than his, but I was much more careful about my safety margins.

[Damrongsak]

Good info on the Honda RC166, with engine pics:  https://petrolicious.com/articles/honda-rc166

 

 

[kaorop]

8 hours ago, transam said:

A two stroke.............

I've got many, nowt wrong with 2Ts unless you dont like shifting.

 

11 hours ago, soihok said:

My new Ducati Hypermotard 939 is ready for collection in Korat.....

 

Maybe of interest...VAG might be selling Ducati, lots of interest even from HD

http://www.cyclenews.com/2017/07/article/companies-line-buy-ducati/

[soihok]

Work Horse.
I ride a motorbike everyday.
Rain and shine.
Night and day.

[Bung]

I was just thinking about this yesterday.  One of my earliest memories is of being in kindergarten,  they had a bunch of tricycles we were allowed to play on.  There was one which had a yellow front wheel and I used to bolt over to it to make sure I got it before anyone else.  I was always first around the little track they had in the grounds so yeah,  motorcycling is in my blood! 

[Bung]

Another was when I was 14, my brother had a Yamaha Ty 250 which I would sneak out on and ride in the river bed in town after school.  I was always careful to get it home,  wash the mud off and carefully put back in the shed before he got back from work.  I mentioned this to him only a year ago how I thought  he never realised and I was so sneaky.  Of course he knew,  he just let me do it as I always washed it and put it back....