Past Motorcycles

This page will not include all of the bikes in my past.  Instead, I’ll focus on the ones that have filled my garage since my reentry into motorcycling in 2003.  There have been a few.  Pictures and brief descriptions follow in order of oldest to newest.

2003 Yamaha Road Star Warrior

I bought this bike new in 2003 as my reintroduction to motorcycling.  I had a thing for the Cruiser genre, but I wanted something with a little more performance and the Warrior had it in spades.  Of all of the bikes that I have had in my recent past, this is the one that I regret selling the most.  I don’t often wish that I had a big cruiser, but when the urge hits, this is the one that would scratch the itch.  Wouldn’t mind having another one.

 

2005 Suzuki Hayabusa

Everyone has to own one, right?  I really don’t know why I bought it.  Fastest production motorcycle on the market at the time.  I had no business owning it, yet, it drew me in and kept me entertained (and scared) for a couple of years.  Super-smooth and super-fast, but handled like a pig and braked even worse.  I don’t miss the ‘Busa.

 

2005 Yamaha Road Star Silverado

Still having not completely eradicated the Cruiser bug from my system, I purchased this new Silverado (Road King wanabe) in 2005 at the same time that I owned the ‘Busa.  It was a large ponderous beast that completely cured me of ever venturing into the big, lumbering cruiser club again.  Pretty bike, but not my style.

 

 

2007 Yamaha FJR1300

Ah, the FJR.  I credit this bike with completely changing my expectations from a motorcycle.  Who knew that you could actually go somewhere – far away – on a bike and experience adventures never even thought of previously.  A new paradigm, for sure.  The FJR taught me that what I really wanted out of motorcycling was travel, and I have done quite a bit of it since experiencing that revelation.  The FJR was a great introduction to my new found passion.

2007 Suzuki SV650S

I asked a road-racer friend of mine what would be a good bike to introduce a newbe to track racing, and he immediately suggested the SV.  The SV was a good all-around starter bike, but it had good potential on the track as well, with decent power and suspension, and a sweet v-twin engine.  Plenty of power for a novice, but easily manageable around the course.  I bought a new 2007, and with very few mods, enjoyed a couple of track days and some fun on the local roads.  After a year, I found that I wasn’t riding it very much, so I sold it.  Big mistake.

2008 BMW K1200GT

While on a trip to the North Carolina mountains on my FJR, I happened to spy a new BMW K1200GT at Deal’s Gap.  The bike had just been released and I knew after seeing it that the FJR would be replaced by the Beemer in the not too distant future.  The BMW was so much more advanced than the Yamaha, with features that hadn’t even been thought of in Japan.  It was state of the art.  So, in the spring of 2009 I traded the FJR for a new, leftover 2008 GT.  The addiction to Bavarian motorcycles was established at that point.  Even at the higher price point, no other maker comes close.  I had become a confirmed BMW snob.

2005 Suzuki SV650S

Not long after selling the 2007 SV, I began to regret letting it go.  I decided to find another one, but this time I would find one that I could transform into the track machine that I was hesitant to do with the previous one because it was so new.  A little searching revealed a low mileage 2005 model that had been wrecked.  I checked it out, bought it cheap, and began a complete restoration while modifying it for track duty.  The completed version won the admiration of the folks at SVRider.com, honoring it with “SV of the Month” for December 2009.

The SV was sold when it became evident that a new RC8R was in my immediate future.

2010 KTM RC8R

I absolutely drooled over the press releases and initial review articles about the new RC8 from KTM in 2008.  Such an awesome looking motorcycle and a new, feisty competitor in the V-Twin super sport bike genre that Ducati had previously owned all to itself, save for a few entries from Japan that flared and faded fairly quickly in the past.  The KTM, though, was a real contender and I fantasized about owning one some day.

That day came when I made a pretty good deal on a new 2010 RC8R.  It was an awesome bike.  Loved the v-twin for its low-end torque and the nasty snarl from the exhaust.  The suspension and steering were top of the line, as was the fit & finish and componentry.  Realistically though, I came to terms with the fact that I am not the kind of rider that can fully extract the sporting potential of the bike, and when the K1600GT came into focus for me, I decided to let the KTM go in a trade.  Hopefully, it has gone to a rider much more capable than I am in that arena.

2009 BMW F800GS

The K1200GT was growing long in the tooth for me, and I enjoyed the KLR’s off-road and touring capabilities so much more, so I began to look for a bike that might replace both of them.  Searching Craigslist, I found a seller that had a pristine F800GS for sale.  When I inquired as to why he was selling, he stated that he wanted a 2-up touring bike.  BINGO!  We made a deal: his bike plus cash for my GT.

The GS was a fine dual sport.  Lots of power, good handling and very high-tech, but it never really grew on me.  I found that I really prefered my well-farkled, low-tech KLR for that duty, and when it came time to trade for the new K1600GT, the GS went along with the KTM in that deal.  No regrets.

2008 Yamaha WR250X

After selling the 2005 SV650S, my son convinced be to get a supermoto.  The WR seemed like a good choice, having EFI and upgraded components compared to other bikes that were available in the genre at that time.  It was fun, but underpowered for my taste, so I did a lot of work on it, including a big-bore kit and fully ported head, in order to extract as much power as possible.  After a while I converted it to off-road spec so that I could do some trail riding with friends.  Fully smitten by trail riding, I realized that no matter what I did to the WR, it would never be a great mount for off-roading.  Sold the WR to help finance the purchase of a 2014 KTM 500 EXC.

2008 Kawasaki KLR 650

As funky as this thing was, I loved it.  I still say that if I had to choose a bike to break down on a thousand miles from anywhere, it would be the KLR.  You can fix it with duct tape and bailing wire.

I bought it as a stock bike and farkled it up pretty good.  All of the necessary mods were done, including the “doohickey”, carb work, brakes and shock, but I went way beyond those basic mods, transforming the bike into a capable and dependable long-distance adventure tourer.  Too many improvements to list.  It was a fun bike to own and work on.

When I got the hots for the 500 EXC, the KLR was also sold to enable the purchase.

2012 BMW K1600GT

In April of 2012, I went into the BMW dealer to have the 800GS serviced before a trip.  Before I knew it, I was negotiating price on this new K1600GT.  When I left the dealer, it was on the new GT, having left behind the 800GS and the RC8R in trade.

The GT was a great tourer, with more amenities than I can count.  The 6-cylinder engine provided lots of smooth power and the bike was pretty nimble in spite of tipping the scales at over 700 lbs.  But, there was the weight, which I became intimately aware of when I dropped the fully-loaded GT in a parking lot tip-over mishap on my way back home from a long trip.  The struggle to get the beast back upright by myself made me consider that this was probably not the best bike for me.

That thought was affirmed when I spied the just released, new Yamaha FJ-09 and ultimately purchased one.  Its a much better bike for me and the type of street riding that I do.

So, with the acquisition of the FJ, the GT went on Craigslist and was sold in a few days, after 3 years of ownership.