Featured Which bikes did you consider before deciding on your current one?

I do love Ducatis too. Something about the character that really gets under your skin. Congrats on the new bike.

 

Chosing is made a bit easier for me. I don't really like new bikes, my legs are too short for an adventure type bike, i'm not a sportsbike person, i need it to be comfy for a pillion, comfy for my knackerd wrists,i like to do long runs and find a top box very useful. I really only like Kawasaki's and Triumph's (and maybe a couple of Yamaha's) so it narrows it all down easily. I suppose the downside is finding one that i like the sound of when it's been narrowed down that much.

 

I persuaded my missus to let me get back into biking by saying we could get a bike that we could get out and about on as we did before we had our twins and I had my last bike written off, so o started looking at triumph sprints, nice comfy bike and good for 2 up. Any ways, bloke pulls into the carpark on a Thruxton and I've gone!!! I buy one , the missus says she's not going on the back of that! so now I've got a tiger aswell!!!

 

After 16 years out of biking and with a dodgy back and knees I wasn't looking for anything too sporty, I've always loved the aprilia falco sl1000 and my last bike was a honda vtr. So it was a sport tourer v twin I was looking for ,but after looking for 2 month nothing come up within a hundred miles of me.
So I decided to look at other alternatives, I had a look at speed triples and street triples and although they where very nice I thought the lack of wind protection would bug me on long trips. Then there was a benelli tre-k which at first I thought was quite ugly but after sitting on it and looking at it properly they are a stunning bike and get a very good write up. But my heart was still after the falco.
So when one came up in Bradford I set off next day to have a look. They had just got it in the day before so hadn't prep it but it wasn't the best condition.
Then I saw it another bike I had always loved the look of but dismissed it as I thought they where too sporty for my ageing body. A beautiful daytona 650 and the seating position wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, more relaxed the the aprilia. So I bought it there and then and have had it now for three months, and at first I was regretting not getting the benelli or my bream bike the falco but after having a good few long rides on it have have to say it is a fantastic bike. Very happy

 

Hmm, when I bought the Street, I wasn't even looking to buy one, I had my head set on getting a KTM 950sm or a Superduke. I went and tried the SM and it was fun, bonkers fun. The only real issue for me was stopping, my short little legs struggled. Oh, the ridiculous tank range both KTMs had was also a major factor.

I ended up going to the Scottish bike show and sat on the Street and I felt comfortable straight away. Two weeks later I got a test ride and fell in love with the engine. The bike was bought after a second test ride with the gaffer on the back and she told me I had to buy the bike within five minutes.

I hadn't looked at another bike till the Yamaha Tracer came out. But once I tried it I couldn't justify buying it as there was No love. Yeah it's a good bike but it's not Street Triple R.

 

I had decided on a steel-framed sprint, trident or daytona , knowing it was going to get chopped up. All I had to do was choose between a 900 or a 1200. I road tested a jellymould 1200 trophy when they first came out, but always had a soft spot for the triples' unique exhaust tone.

Having been told there wasn't much between them in terms of performance I was actually intending to get a triple. Ultimately I was unsuccessful in so many eBay auctions for triples I bought a trophy 1200 from a classified ad. As the saying goes, there's no substitute for cubes, and combined with the weight lost by ditching all the bodywork it's turned out faster than the XJR1300 it replaced. Also it's abusively loud at the moment thanks to the straight through pipes so I still got a unique exhaust tone out of it

 

Was going for a 1050 tiger, but sorry just didn't excite me. Then set my heart on a KTM 990 SMT, but couldn't find one at the right price or offering decent trade in on the gixxer. Then really couldn't decide.

Found a very nice low mileage GSX1400 at local dealer, went down to buy, but had been sold previous night on ebay, not happy. Had cleaned the bike up ready for trade in, so was in new bike mood.

Spent a week of my holidays trawling the net looking for inspiration and found a very tidy very low mileage and underpriced America. Dealer offered good trade in, so off we went, test ride and jobs done.

 

This is the first time I've spent time really looking and not rushing in to things. Really fancied something I could chop about again if I felt the urge I have just had standard for the last few years (I miss my old chop). Had thought xs650, bonnie, sportster, enfield etc but then someone put the idea of a rocket 3 in my head. tried the rocket and the sporty - hated the Harley (used to have a streetbob but got rid coz i couldn't throw it around as much as I'd like), rocket 3 was phenomenal power but didn't love it. Saw that HO on here has a Bonnie for sale so went and test rode one at Two wheels Edinburgh. Unfortunately they also sent me out on a street twin. If I'd just ridden the Bonnie, HO's bike would now be in my garage, but I loved the street twin although felt it was a little small, preferred the size of the Bonnie, so now I'm trying to decide whether I get a new Bonnie or something cheap that I can scratch my custom itch with by ratting to mad max 2 standards and get a Bonnie next year (have said I won't buy another new bike after the ball ache with the Harley).

 

I considered sticking with my Jawa 350 Classic but was looking for something to replace my Guzzi V7 which had been written off.
I then considered a Bonneville for a short while but I had one in 2008 for about three years and absolutely loved it (more so than the Rocket III I had for two years). I didn't go for another Bonneville because I dont believe one can re-live the experience.
It came down to the fact that I rally wanted a Triumph and I love the 865 engine. Just as when I chose the Bonneville Black SE, I picked the only bike in the range that I fancied the look of. I fancied a low seat and have always liked a more vintage style of riding position (upright).
I have had my Speedmaster, with a few accessories, for just over a year now. It seems to be quite an adaptable bike. I like it's comparative simplicity.
Should I need to do any two up touring, a slightly larger set of saddle bags and an America seat for pillion comfort with a rack and backrest perhaps, would do the trick.
I still admire those fully loaded MZ 250's and Jawa's though but I'll try and let my Ural outfit continue to fulfil that sort of thing.

 

BMW s1000rr and a old barn find bonneville

 

Had a C prefix BMW R80RT from new and went round the clock on it. Would have fallen in lust with another of the same if I could have found one at the right price. So I got a Honda Pan 1100, nice, but my bad back made it a bugger in the car park. Saw the Speedmaster, nice and comfy for my old bones and only had to top up the trade with 500 notes. Happy as pig in $#1te now.

 

Nearly got a Ducati Monster 600.
Still think it's a nice bike with tons of custom potential...

 

Had bought a Sprint GT SE as my last bike ( tended to buy sport tourers as good everyday bikes)
Sadly needed the money so had to sell the Sprint.
Money situation improved so went bike shopping.
The only problem I had with the sprint was it was just too tall.
So started looking at lower bikes. I had seen the Thunderbird Night Storm last year at the Wales Motorbike show and liked the way it looked.
So was able to test ride a 2011 Thunderbird 1600 at my local dealers.
Got a good price on it , added a few extras and now I have a Thunderbird

 

Before I brought my speed triple I had a 2008 fireblade which was a fantastic motorcycle but it had to go to save my licence !!!!
I wanted a Ducati monster the dealer I called said they had one in stock come over he said ,so I did the following weekend only to be told it wasn't ready to be test ridden so I walked away ,he didn't get the sale
I then went over to another dealer who had a triumph speed triple ,ktm super duke and a Honda cb100r
Which he let me test ride back to back
The ktm was a brilliant motorcycle but I think I would lose my licence ,the Honda was the best at everything but just a bit bland and the triumph well that's why I brought one and I am still very happy with it , I think this will be in my garage for a long time

 

z1000 is what i wanted but in the real world the 1050 speed was the better bike so thats what i got