Paging those with more than one bike

I've been contemplating the Chateau stable, and trying to draw up what
Alan Clark used to call a "cull list" (when he realised he had too many
SOCs and had to let some go).

Thought occurred to me: if you had to keep one, just one, which would it
be?

First thought was that most are small capacity and therefore not up to a
lot of my riding. I mean, I have a daily 80-mile commute, for a start.

Has to be the Ducati. Still the overall favourite, but it could never be
an "only bike". It's a bitch in town, for a start

The Trophy, then. Comfy, lots of space, luggage capacity, immense grunt,
fun. Driveable in heavy traffic.

But.... heavy, thirsty (the car's more economical), expensive to
maintain......

In the end, I came down to the 400 Four. A bit worrying, that.

How about you? And why?

 

Probably the Ducati I have ordered. Or the 400 Four. But if it could
be a bike I don't own, it would be a Gixxer Thou K5 in black, I think.

 

Very, very easy. The Guzzi.

 

Well, my original thought was the Pan - does everything I need and then
some, even does the job as a car replacement, but...

Probably the Morini - even if I'm an old duffer who's taken up roots in
thecomfy chair, I can still hang it over a fireplace and admire it. And if
I sold it, I'd never ever get another one - I don't think that any of the
other two I know about would be for sale, ever.

 

I'd be inclined to keep my Bandit, as I've owned it for the last 7
years. But this would not allways be the best option. Another option
would be to sell the lot and buy a good smallish bike in between the
Bandit and the CG125, maybe a single cylinder machine.

 

The Bird does everything but I prefer the Yamaha
tough choice, I guess sell em both and buy the new VFR1200
should it ever materialise?

 

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 07:49:34 +0100,

Well, given that I only have two bikes and one has pedals this only
loosely applies to me.

But, I'd keep the mountain bike if I could only have one. Costs less
to run which would probably be important if I was in a situation where
I needed to get rid of bikes. And ultimately I think I get more
pleasure out of riding it. Probably because it's something I can do
extremely well, unlike the motorcycle.

 

The Tiger without a doubt - it's a scarily accomplished all-rounder.

The Fantic's obviously better off-road, & still gives me the biggest
grins of any bike I've ever ridden (which is why I've kept it for 22
years), but the absurdly peaky power delivery, vibrations & near total
lack of brakes make it a pita on the road.

The MV's sublime on the open road, but a nightmare in town, too
uncomfortable for touring, & only has a single seat. Its off-road
ability is also a tad lacking.

 

well, the RGV and 7R are 1/2 Blaney's so I won't count those. And the
'blade and the R65 are both going to be sold soonish. So, none of them.

 

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 07:49:34 +0100,

Not too difficult for me - the turbo is just for a bit of nostalgia.
The ZX7RR is for racing, and I've always said that if it came down to
a choice between racing and riding on the road, it'd be the racing
that would stop, no question.

So, the gixxer stays.

(Tho, of course, if I packed in racing and sold the other bikes, I
could afford a new ZX10R.......)

 

The 600. It's mad.

 

Timo Geusch wrote:

I didn't think that your 125 actually ran?

I was thinking of keeping one bike for all reasons, as it were, rather
than as an ornament, but actually, I'd make an exception in the case of
your 125 because it is utterly, utterly beautiful.

 

Hey, I'm not giving the fucker away! It was just an intellectual
exercise for TOG.

Anyway, there's an established queue for my bikes already around here,
I think.

 

The Older Gentleman wrote

Of all the bikes I have owned the one that best fitted my transport
needs and was an absolute hoot to ride was the GPz 305.

Why? Mainly because I was doing 300 miles a week commuting into central
London and another 100 or so miles at the weekend zooming around fairly
locally doing "stuff" and it was piss easy to do it on a littlish bike
with a bit to spare just in case like. More than Half an hour on a
motorway was absolute hell though as it started to run out of puff much
over 90.

 

The mere thought is heresy ! However I guess my solution would be the
fairly expensive one of turning over the single one you're allowed
quickly (keep one for 6 months, then sell it for something else). I'd
probably keep the Raptor a bit, but something like the new 1050 Sprint
would be an all rounder you could keep a while.

I don't think I could do it though, even if I was flat broke, I'm sure
I'd end up with a shed full of rubbish old bikes and/or cars.

JL

 

That would be one way. In fact, it's what I do with a lot of SOBs, and
if you're canny it doesn't cost anything either. As for the Trumf -
yes, yes. I had a good mooch around one the other day and thought it
was definitely 'me'. Damn thing even has a centre stand.

I know what you mean..... Thank Christ I don't have an affinity for
SOCs or I'd really be in trouble.

 

That's probably the one thing you couldn't do - no race series ever
seemed to allow turbos in, even at club level. And it really is a
very wobbly old bus, tho I know you're used to them.

And anyway, if anyone is going to race the fucker, I am

"I trained it, I'm going to eat it".

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, The Older

The BlingMobile, with no question at all. I've never owned a bike with
such a huge grin-factor.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets
and Ducati Race Engineer.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

The Older Gentleman says...

No question, I'd ask MattG for my old CB250RS back.

 

Champ says...

You can take me having the gixer out of your will now. I bought my own
cos I was fed up waiting for you to die.