As above have you ever had a great bike, looks good, rides great, reliable etc… but you just don’t fall in love with it?
Or conversly a crap bike that you absolutely adore?
I currently have a Triumph Tiger 800, great bike, does everything I want it to…but it doesn’t give me that fizzz.
On the other hand I drive a Defender, it’s crap, it’s slow, it’s noisy, it’s thirsty, it’s unreliable and it’s expensive to insure and yet I love it to bits and wouldn’t get rid of it for anything (well maybe a vast amount of cash but I’d probably just get another one)
I don’t have one, but I’ve always said the only bike I must have at some point is the c50/70/90 with the round headlight… much of it is nostalgia as my parents had one when I was a kid and I spent a lot of time on the pillion seat.
So far all three bikes I’ve had have fallen neither in the ‘great’ or ‘crap’ bike… And I liked all three on different days
My last Daytona 675 definitely falls into the former category.
It was one one the very last 675s available new and I spent literally £thousands pimping it with styling accessories and upgrades. It was a stunning looking bike, handled beautifully and was about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned.
Did I love it? Yes. Did I love riding it? Not at all. I don’t know what it was about it but I just never clicked with it, despite having the suspension set up etc. I ended up px’ing her for what a lot of people (including myself) consider a lower spec bike which I’m loads happier with.
Apparently it’s gone to someone who’s going to track her and abuse her like I never could.
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I have been luck in thast over nearly 50 years of riding I have owned and ridden some special biles including prototypes built for the Police such as the Aston Martin GTR1000 and the Norton/Yamaha hybrid XS1100.
I loved my 3 blackbirds. I enjoyed my old GSXR1100WP and I enjoyed my CBR1000’s, but to this day, the one I still miss the most is -
Even in 1982 (which mine was and 6 month old when I brought it, it was not the fastest (about 140 top end) it wasn’t the sportiest, but it was the most comfortable with the best fairing and mirrors and a real mile muncher and dead easy to work n.
I still regret not buying back the salvage in 1986 when a numpty ran into me, but after 100,000 miles I got the same price as I paid for it a few years earlier and brought my very first ever new bike the CBX750
For me. The bike I loved was a Honda CD 200 Benly. It had electric start and kick start and the poor thing got awful abuse.With the pair of us regularly sliding down the road.It always came off better than me and was ready for more.
The bike I thought I would love was a Ducati 851. A friend had one and he let me borrow it to see if I liked it as I was thinking of getting a Ducati.
I just couldn’t get comfortable on it and just kept seizing up and being in pain.
For me it was the 2013 RSV4 APRC. I absolutely loved how this bike looked, handled and sounded. I did trackdays on it, rode it around Europe and had a blast on the roads. To this date I have no idea why I sold it. It was so much better than me. Even when I ham-fisted a corner, it would see us through it. Simply the best chassis I’ve ever tried.
I sold it for a Superduke 1290 R. I have no idea why. That bike was really good but it was no RSV4. So really this is more of a “The one that got away” post.
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