Your favorite motorcycles

[the Ferret]

Many of us have had multiple if not many motorcycles. It's only natural that some of those bikes would be your favorites.

As far as street bikes go, I have had 6 Harleys, 9 Hondas, 3 Suzukis, 1 Kawasaki, 7 Yamahas, 1 Triumph and 1 BSA ( plus a bunch of dirt bikes...mostly Yamahas)

There are several that stand out in my mind:

77 KZ 1000 B Kawasaki (probably my all time favorite, big, powerful, smooth, beautifully proportioned, ...and much like the CB 1100)
04 and 01 FZ-1 Yamahas (like the bike so much I bought 2 of them..awesome power, brakes and handling, big tank, 6 speed, great solo sport tourer with soft luggage and a tank bag)
81 GS 850 G Suzuki (nice mid size shafty, very comfortable and large fuel capacity)
83 GS 1100 E Suzuki ( brute of a motorcycle for its time)
76 GT 750 Suzuki ( really nice tourer with a Windjammer 3 Fairing, Bates trunk and Eclipse tank bag...and I loved that 2 stroke 3 cylinder burble at idle and wail while accelerating.)

These have been my all time favs. One thing that stands out to me, is they all my favs have inline motors and are mostly liter bikes. I've had singles, twins..both v's and parallel, triples, and fours both inlines and V's.... 2 strokes and 4 strokes, air cooled, and liquid cooled, automatics, 3 speeds 4 speeds,5 speeds, and 6 speeds, electric start and kick start, chain drive, belt drive and shaft drives, carbureted and fuel injected, and I just keep coming back to those big 4 stroke inline 4 liter bikes.

Honorable mentions:

06 Honda ST 1300 ( Simply awesome for long distance travel, but a pia around town where its weight and bulk become a liability)

2000 Honda 750 Nighthawk ( great very low maintenance all arounder with hydraulic valves. Easy to work on when you had to, no epa crap. On the downside it was small, and lacked power and brakes ... Things the CB 11 address)

Havent had the CB 11 long enough to see if it will make the list of all time favs but it certainly has the credentials to do so. Wish it held more gas, but thats a small matter, at 63, I can only ride so far these days anyway before I need to get off and straighten achy parts.

So, of all the bikes you've owned, which have been your favs? And why?

[thumper_imp]

'84 Kawasaki GPz 750 (big, sporty looking, comfortable for long rides, a dashboard full of idiot lights. Long enough that I could put my feet on the rear pegs, lay on the gas tank, and have my helmet under the windshield, totally out of the wind blast--when I was a 150 lb high school kid.)

'86 Honda Elite 150 scooter (not a motorcycle, but a great way for a high school kid to blast around the city. I rode that thing everywhere! Pop-up headlight, digital dash, candy red.)

'00 Honda CBR929RR (beautiful pearl white/red. The bike was much more capable than the scared guy sitting atop it, who had no formal training at the time. I'd buy one today if I could find one in mint condition.)

[HikerToo_imp]

17 lbs even

[the Ferret]

Neat..but that's not a motorcycle lol

[DAC]

Wow, Ferret. I'm in awe. As for me, I've ridden several bikes but only "owned" one - an '03 VFR. How I ended up in my late 40's on this particular bike is a long story. I love it and I'll keep it, but now that I'm 50, something with more upright ergos (like say, oh maybe a CB1100) might be added to the stable.

[the Ferret]

Cant believe out of the couple hundred members here there were only 2 that wanted to talk about favorite past bikes, and one of those has only had one.

[Guth_imp]

Well ferret, in the interest of keeping the thread going, I'll chip in. However, since most of my riding was done on dirt bikes in my youth, I don't have a lot to contribute. (I do have a soft spot for old HondaXR75's and wouldn't mind restoring one some day just for fun.) So, while I am 51 years of age, I've only been riding on the street for the past six years. By default, my favorite street bike would have to be my only street bike, up until three months ago that is: my 1988 Honda Hawk GT. The Hawk is a fantastic little bike that was way abead of its time. Obviously, like most here I'm loving the CB1100, but I'm really looking forward to spending more time with the bike as it crosses the threshold from "new bike" to "old friend". Just like my Hawk GT.

[the Ferret]

The Hawk GT was a neat little bike Guth. I've got a friend who had one who let me ride it. Boogers will hang.

[ChipBeck_imp]

Gentlemen,

When I was 11 years old I bought a brand new Briggs & Stratten 3hp mini bike. Rode the wheels off of it on the street and on the trails. At that age I was the king of the world on that little bike and it was unbelievably fun. At age 13 I bought a Honda Trail 70 4-speed with a manual clutch. Top speed was 46 mph. My dad got license plates for it and I rode it all over central Arizona and never got caught (I obviously had no drivers license). That little bike was bullet proof and I wish I still had it. My first real motorcycle was a Honda SL100. On my 16th birthday I took my riders test on it and was finally legal to ride on the roads. I raced both Enduro's and Desert Races on that bike and it will always be a favorite. My first brand new Harley Davidson Sportster (1978) took me on my first long multi state road trips with good friends. It was a chick magnet and I had a blast on it. Every motorcycle I've owned since then, and it's been a bunch of them, have been attempts to recapture the magic of those first bikes. Some came closer than others.

So I guess for me my favorite bikes are special because of the experiences I had on them and memories associated with them. It wasn't because of their beauty or technical brilliance. Though I've owned many finer machines, those early bikes will always be my favorites. Cheers.

Chip

[the Ferret]

Neat way of looking at it Chip. I cant believe you races enduros and desert rces on an SL 100 although I should cause I raced enduros and motocross on a Yamaha LT 100 lol

My first street bike was a new 1965 50 cc Aermacchi badged Harley Davidson 2 stroke single with the 3 speed shifter in the left grip. It would run 55 mph flat out which is how I ran it most of the time lol. Today Im riding an 1140 cc inline 4 and most of the time I'm still riding around at 55 mph. Go figure. The little bike was a milestone bike for me and holds sentimental value but it certainly wasn't one of my favorites. Italians make quirky motorcycles. I found one at a dealer a couple years ago. They wanted $3400 for it. I think I paid $ 318 brand new for mine.

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