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Motorcycles? I see a pattern!

Aviator

Well Known Member
Hi folks, you know, when I check all the photos of builders, one thing stands out. I see a lot of builders with a motorcycle parked somewhere.
Care to share what your ride is/ maybe some pics of them.
I think there is a pattern. The rush factor. :)
To start, I have a Suz Bandit 1200, fully opened.
b12Close1.JPG
 
Too Many

I started riding at 6 years old. Here is the order. Honda 70, Kaw 175, HondaCSR 250r, Kaw ZX7, Kaw ZX9 finished with a Harley Fat boy.
THe ZX7 ended my riding career. High sided racing and got a foot peg through the calf when it finially caught me and landed right on top of me! OUCH!!! One week in the hospital. Sold all of them. Done
 
Guilty as charged!

My current ride is a 2004 Ducati Monster S4R that I keep telling my wife is for sale. I guess I should tell someone other than her if I actually intend on selling it...

aaa.sized.jpg


I've wanted to fly just about as long as I've wanted a motorcycle, too bad I can't afford to keep the bike while building.

--Ken
 
Bikes

Tony, was just reading about this guy going off on you at a time when you needed encouragement and help. I apologize. No I am not him. Hope you are well now.
Well, I have had those nasty incidents where mother nature and I had to come too close for comfort. I have had my face stitched up good, my arms straightened out, blood drawn from my knees, etc. But that never took me away from "flying on 2 wheels".
Amazing how many builders have bikes. :cool:
 
I have been riding on and off for over 35 years. My current ride is a Harley FXD Super Glide, gonna sell it for more airplane parts down the road if I run out of money....
 
>>I guess I should tell someone other than her if I actually intend on selling it...<<
Sweet!!!!
You are right, just tell her. Its not your fault that nobody wants a "Duc"
:)
 
REX Nut

Guilty also.

I've been riding for 22 years. Been coast to coast twice doing the iron butt thing.

Sold my second Concours last year and all I have left is my ZRX1200.


Wilkie
 
It comes with the territory, I'm a numbers guy and since we've been shipping RV's its been 1 in a hundred. I guess that we need them to make the rest of look better! RV'er are a great group I look forward to talking on the phone with builders every day. Pays the bills too.



Aviator said:
Tony, was just reading about this guy going off on you at a time when you needed encouragement and help. I apologize. No I am not him. Hope you are well now.
Well, I have had those nasty incidents where mother nature and I had to come too close for comfort. I have had my face stitched up good, my arms straightened out, blood drawn from my knees, etc. But that never took me away from "flying on 2 wheels".
Amazing how many builders have bikes. :cool:
 
Guilty. Repeat offender, in fact :)

Current ride is a Concours. It's just become way too dangerous in my area of California....too many whackos. I'm planning to sell the bike, finish the plane, move back to the east coast, and maybe settle down with a nice Fat Boy.

I also have the problem that I haven't told anyone but Ellen that I'm selling it. Maybe I'll create an auction on my website so that we can list all the things our spouses want us to sell and make them happy. I won't charge a commision...just a $1 listing fee and my solemn promise to reject any and all bids.
 
I started riding at 16 years old. Here is the order. 1962 Harley Duo-glide (Stolen after one year) Yamaha 125, Hodaka 125, BSA 441 Victor, Kaw Mach 3, Honda CB 400, Series of Moto guzzi 750 850 etc, Honda Gl 1000, BMW K900, currently 750 Honda Shadow.
I used to be certified as a Motor Cycle Safety Foundation Instructor teaching novice/beginners and experts.
The most dangerous times to ride are when you are a beginner and when you think you are good.
I always wear a full coverage helmet.
If you have a ten dollar head wear a ten dollar helmet.

RV 6 Finish
N 495AB
KEOS
 
I wish I would have bought a Bandit or the other tamed down Suzuki model GSX 1100 rather than the new GSXR750 back in '91. too much press. on the arms except on the racetrack or in the mountains.

What's a ZRX ? Kawi?

I have the following; the 2 strokes with dead batteries.

2004 BMW R1150RT Titan Grey
1994 BMW K 75S canary yellow
1987 Suzuki RG500(4 cyl. 2 stroke) Walter Wolf edition
1989 Honda NSR250RR only legal in Holland
1990 Yamaha YSR50 blk and silver

others owned a hundred years ago
'69 Honda trail 90
'73 Yamaha RD350
'77 Yamaha RD 400
'73 Honda Elsinore 250
'80 Suzuki RS? can't recall 125

great picts-- need more!

edit-- forgot my Cushman scooter.
(bought a BMW RT and a WW prop after reading Randy's website-- man, that guy has cost me alot. :) )
 
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Also guilty

Started riding motorized two wheelers as a 13 year old paper boy delivering papers on a vespa. Now I ride a 2003 fat boy and a 2001 Super Glide which is *really* for sale.

I also have a 1971 Triumph Trophy 500 that I bought new in England and will restore after I complete the restoration of my 1973 MGB which I also bought new. I guess the MGB could be the subject of another thread.
 
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mark manda said:
...

I have the following; the 2 strokes with dead batteries.

...

1987 Suzuki RG500(4 cyl. 2 stroke) Walter Wolf edition

Droooool... I have this soft spot in my heart for 2 strokes. I've wanted to take an RG500 motor up to about 150 hp and put 'er in a modern frame with modern wheels and suspension for ohhh, about as long as I can remember.

Yet another "project" in a very very long list.

--Ken
 
Several... but not at the moment

...though not as many as some here. I miss my motorcycle terribly. The Gixxer was best. If money was no object I'd have one tomorrow (c'mon lotto!). Right now though, it would spend more time in the shed than on the road (or track). :-( www.preou.com
 
My last ride was a 1990 H-D Fat Boy, sold only to keep a promise (no debt for any hobby.) My first ride was a "Taka" that always seemed to have vise grips instead of OEM clutch/brake handles. My next ride? Got it narrowed down to a slim dozen...

Mark
RV-8, Finish Kit
 
Memories

Man all of this talk about motorcycles brings back some great memories. The smell of leather, the smell of racing gas (ZX7 with a Muzzy pipe), Cracking the throttle in first up on the back tire shifting into 2nd with just a crack of the throttle no clutch and glancing down a the Speedo doing a cool 100 mph. Going out to my favorite twisty road and burning up the knee pucks, on the gas at the apex carrying the front wheel until the next shift point. Tucked down on the tank and laughing my a** off !!! Coming up to a stop light and doing a stoppie (nose wheelie) looking over at the older couple in the car next to me, the expression on their faces :eek: PRICELESS!!! :D To Quote BIll Hartman "Good Times"
 
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motorcycles

Two Honda Shadow Spirits fill the bill...1 each for flatlands and nc mtns, to ride the Blue Ridge Pkway. Close to flying when you see those views. The 'less expensive' hobby.
 
Kenneth said:
Droooool... I have this soft spot in my heart for 2 strokes. I've wanted to take an RG500 motor up to about 150 hp and put 'er in a modern frame with modern wheels and suspension for ohhh, about as long as I can remember.

Yet another "project" in a very very long list.

--Ken
ken-- you'd like it. I have the orginal parts but I have Tommy Crawford chambers, Gold Katana wheels and brakes, a Fox shock and the battery box uner the gas tank.
 
4 so far...

I've had a dirt bike, 2 Harleys, and now a Yamaha FZ1 (which is close to my perfect bike: great riding position and holds its own on the street).

My second Harley got totaled when a moving truck decided to run a stop sign. Oh yeah, I was totaled for a little while, too. My mother was aghast when I bought the Yamaha. Some things you just can't give up....
 
Me too!

I've been riding for the last 35 years. Yeah I'm getting older, I turn 50 on the 31st of this month. :eek: Decided it was time to quit racing dirt bikes and do something more grown up, like buld an airplane!

Here is a photo of my son's and my bikes at the end of the road in Alaska in the summer of 2004. We rode 9000 miles in 15 days.

alaskaeor04.jpg


I currently have the following in the garage:

KTM 950 Adventure
Suzuki DL1000
Kawasaki ZX6
Honda CRF250X
Yamaha YZ125

Sold thes in the fairly recent past:
KTM300EXC
KTM200EXC
Suzuki DL650
2 BMW F650GS Dakars
Honda 996 Superhawk
Kawasaki KDX200

Prior to that there have been about 40 other bkes also. :eek: (Don't bring this up with my wife please.) She actually has started to like the airplane as it has caused the above bikes to be sold to buy airplane parts. :cool:

I do like the bikes but since I have started building the airplane has taken precedence.
 
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You betcha!

I started riding in 1969, right after I got my drivers license. My first was a sweet little Honda CB125SS; a '68 model, I believe. Next was a '72 Honda Motosport 250, then a couple wrecked Kawasaki Mach III 500s which I rebuilt into a single, nearly unridable streak of lightning. Then came the 2-wheeled love of my life: a 1975 Kawasaki Z1. That one carried me all over the U.S., and I still have it. Then there was an '83 Honda VT-500 Ascot. Now, I have the Z1 and a couple 1989 Honda GB500s. I love motorcycles!

Ben R.
RV-9A #90217
Fuselage
 
I started riding about 1961 when I was 13. My first bike was a Harley 165 2 stroke. Through the years I have owned quite a few bikes and enjoyed them very much. I was in the Honda motorcycle business for about 15 years. Willy G wouldn't let me have a Harley Dealership because at the time they couldn't even service the dealers they had. The only bike I have left is a BSA 500 CC single factory motocross bike. The only thing more dangerous than riding it is kick starting it. My father started riding in 1936 when in the navy and rode his Harley from San Diego to West Virginia to meet his ship. Most of the roads were dirt roads back then. I asked him how he kept the chain on the bike and he said he would wash it out daily when he could find a stream or a stock watering tank. Motorcycles have been in my life since I was very little.
 
One hobby at a time, planes for now

I did the road racing thing for a number of years. Quite when I started building the RV. I find it hard to do more than one hobby at a time. All the traveling to race tracks really sucked up what little spare time I had.

The big problem I face now is that Willow Springs is just 20 minutes down the road from where I just moved. It takes a lot of self control to not drive by the track. I'n fact I try not to fly over the track on my morning flights. I know if I go there on Sunday for a track day I'll have a new race bike on Monday.

Fortuantely I work at a test track and get to drive as fast and hard as I want every day, so I get a bit of the speed fix during my day job. You people who race motorcycles know that cars just come up short on the race track when it comes to the thrill of speed.
 
I remember the first time I rode my new GSXR at Willow Spring's big course.

A bunch of Porsche guys rented the track during the week so they let me join them.

I went out and came back in in three laps. My buddy walked out and said, "What's wrong?" "I'M TIRED ALREADy!"

nothing like cresting the top of turn seven--going thru all the close ratio gears and hanging on for dear life in that big sweeper with the decreasing radius turn onto the straightaway.

(I won two races out there but it was in a car. 935)

hey cam, how can we hook up a bunch of those Hertz sensors you work with all the time to our airplanes to compare smoothness of eng/prop combos? sorry Off topic)
 
200 years ago

Sold my BMW Cruiser to help fund my IO-360. Had some fabulous rides down Victoria's Grat Ocean Road on it in company with my son on his Ducat Monster.
Like Mark M. 100 years ago it was 1960's AJS, Matchy, BSA and the Jawa.
Pete.
 
Been riding 30 years. Have owned and raced both on and off road bikes. Think I been thru a couple of dozen bikes so far. Gave up road bikes due to the danger and started flying many years ago. Safer??
I recently bought a RMZ450 to blow the cobwebs away in my head. Once a biker ,always a biker.
 
Started riding at age 11 on a Suzuki 50CC. At the age of 17, a friend and I rode to Florida from Indiana. He was on a 450 Honda and I rode a 350 Honda some 2500 miles in two weeks in the summer of 1971. Talk about growing up that summer what an experience. Some of my best memories have been riding motorcycles.
At age, 52 still ride a 2003 Honda VTX1300.
Squeak
 
heyyyyyy

2003 Heritage Classic - the only thing that would make me give it up is if I had to decide between it and finishing my 7A. But then how would I get to the hangar? I tell my wife it is saving us money. After all it gets twice the MPG of my truck! Let's not go into any more analysis than that... you should see my justification for building a plane. ;)

Stewart
fuse 7A
 
Guilty as Well

Current beast is a 94 Ducati 900ss. Bought it when it was 2 years old with 2000 miles on it & put another 2 on it in the next 2 months! Taken me all over Europe, last trip was to NW Scotland, rained every day & it was one of the best trips I have ever had, even when its bad its good!

Photo is myself (left) & friend on the way back from the Koln bike show a few years ago, 120 up the Meuse Valley, what a scream. Just shipped it home to Oz where its in my brothers garage keeping his 2003 Daytona company. Other brother rides a 20 yr old GPZ 900

Stephen
RV7 N570Z (Reserved)
tipping the fuse any day now



ardennewithmartin9hl.jpg
 
First bike back in high school was a used Honda 350, got it in trade for
a '66 Mustang with a blown motor.
Sold my VTX 1800 a while back and picked up a new KLR 650.

Doing a Baja Adventure ride with some others on the 24th through the 27th.
Come ride with us. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125004

My KLR now sits in my defunct RV-7A factory (garage).
Img_0198.jpg
 
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Motorcycles

Neat bikes!
I've noticed this pattern also.
This is my current bike (2001 Honda 929, Erion race cams, fuel management computer, steering damper, Micron Serpent exhaust and ram air - made from my scrap aluminum pile!)

My son & I took a 7200 mile coast to coast trip (starting in Jax, Fl), a couple years ago. I was 60 at the time and thought I'd be in traction after the first day, but.....it was okay!

9298mx.jpg


RCLewis Jr
Jax, Fl
RV8QB
AEIO390, Catto
Wiring
 
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And a little racing.

Started riding in 73 when 2 of my friends and I went to the local Honda dealer and bought our CB 350's. 27 years later I rebuilt it, put in a big bore kit, clip-on bars and 1/2 race fairing and went Vintage road racing for 3 years, another great community of fellow enthusiasts. I later added to the collection a 1976 CB 400/4 which I'm now going to rebuild, a 1983 CB 750 SC (Nighthawk) which I've since traded off as well as a few thousand miles on my brothers 1977 Honda GL 1000.
As you can tell I'm a Honda kinda guy. :)
 
Guilty

Yeah I built the Red one two years ago harley street
stalker, the green one road king classic.. I sold the
green one (divorce) and then started the RV9a
doing the baffling (yeah good name for it) should
be done in the am.. getting closer..

Danny..

 
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Another One

Here are some pictures of me on my Gixxer 1000 at Deals Gap a couple of years ago. I sold the bike when I bought my Whirlwind Propeller. I found riding this bike to be an exercise in self control....which I was losing. My constant influx of tickets was a problem. But the rush was like no other. The bike I had prior to this one (ZRX-1200) was probably a better match for my temperment.



 
You guys are crazy!

I rode MX as a kid in the 70s and 80s, made a "comeback" in the 90s, and decided that racing against 16 year olds was not a good path to a long life. However, it was very cool to ride MX in Europe - that's always been a dream. The problem is they didn't have any "over 30" or other "over XX" classes, just different displacement classes - so I had to race against aspiring world champions. It was pretty ugly! The other racers called me "Papi" - French for Grampa.

Here's me trying to look cool next to my last scooter in '98:

f008ph776dk.jpg


This was my first street bike. Even though I rode it like a paranoid 90 year old, I still had enough close calls to decide to sell it a few years ago when the kids started popping out.
 
Motorcycles

Been riding for (more than I care to admit), but not as much any more nowadays, due to building RV10. Nearly every pilot I know has or is riding a motorcycle. It simply spells a freedom hard to explain. Experience includes,AMA national number 86 (road racing), retired from racing in 1978. AMA life member.
BTW, AMA American Motorctcle Assoc. came before the other AMA :)
Presently driving an MZ with sidecar, airport bike with sidecar, still have my last race bike, and the first bike that "infected" me to bikes over 60 years ago. my dad's 1937 Moto Guzzi Falcone. It sits in the house.
T88
RV10
 
Wolf Schmulf... Mark.

mark manda said:
ken-- you'd like it. I have the orginal parts but I have Tommy Crawford chambers, Gold Katana wheels and brakes, a Fox shock and the battery box uner the gas tank.

RG500? Bah! :D

RZ500? Yah!

roz04ad1.jpg


Seriously Mark, The GP 2 strokes need to get together..
We did for the last couple of years north of Atlanta in the mountains. The riding was freakin' awesum. No curve left untouched.

xxgrp1.jpg


This year it is the weekend of May 13. Please come. Fly the RV and you can ride my bike. Whatever, get here any way you can. We share rides for various reasons. There are other west coasters that come and ride the spare bikes. It's a hoot.

See: Lance Gamma for more details.

Oh yeah, my other bikes are a pair of /5 BMW's
All the dirt bikes are gone now. Sold to make room for the RV.
 
RV's are the Harleys of the Air

Without question, I believe RV's are the Harleys of the air.

Love motorcycles and did the dirt bike thing when younger. After 30 years of police work I saw the results of too many MC accidents. And as all you riders know, it is rarely the MC fault. Todays drivers are just too crazy.

As much as I'd love to get a Harley someday, I prefer not getting coloring books for Christmas for the rest of my life.

Riders, be damn careful.
 
mark manda said:
hey cam, how can we hook up a bunch of those Hertz sensors you work with all the time to our airplanes to compare smoothness of eng/prop combos? sorry Off topic)


I've been wanting to do that. The vehicle dynamic stuff I use is pretty low frequency but the NVH group has the perfect setup. Probelm is I'm in a bit of a pissing match with the NVH manager right now.

I'll let everyone know if I get a chance to take some data. We have the perfect setup for figuring out where all those vibs come from. Maybe we could even put to rest some of prop wars.
 
I'd love to show a picture, but this hobby cost me my wonderful Ducati 996. I sure hope its worth it because I sure do miss that bike!!! I do have my dads old 1980 GS550L, it gets me on a bike but its sure not a Ducati.
 
love them bikes

Like many, grew up riding and racing (motocross,TT, Flattrack,ice), rode and sold too many to list but Ive owned about every yamaha YZ built. my latest which I also just sold but loved was a KTM 400 EXC. Looking at the Harley Road King Custom. any ride reports?
pat
 
Started riding in early 70's on a 65 Honda 150 dream. Had the throttle stick several times :eek:

Rode a Honda CB450 next then a yamah 400 BMX.

Bought a Yamaha 850 Special in Japan and rode there for 3 years. Anything over 750 is not perf=mitted in Japan so the Base PX classified it as an "import" so I could register it. I was the BIG BOY there with an 850.

Ride a 97 Kawasaki 1500 Vulcan Classic now and hope to retain it through the build. I do need to find other garage accommodations for it when I hang the engine and emapannage. Not enough room in Dodge City for the two of em.

Jekyll
FedEx just delivered my FWF! More toys, more inventorying and more parts to store until needed.
 
Airplanes and motorcycles rule!

2bikes1ml.jpg
I think the whole freedom/G-force/wind-in-the-face thing is in the blood of most aviation types. I started riding at 10 yrs. old, and flying at 12...cant get enough of either at 45. Though my "crotch rocket" days are on hold, I am enjoying the laid-back Harley life. Lots of great riding and flying in the Carolinas...doesnt take much to wheel the old Softail past the T-Crate or RV for a spin!The little chopper is my 13 yr. old sons' neighborhood ride.
 
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I have also noticed this over many years - most of my flying buddies are into bikes as well.
I have been riding for 36 years, starting off with a basket-case Triumph TT100 when I was still at school. A couple of years later I bought a Yamaha 125 to go road racing, progressing through a 315 Suzuki, RD 250 Yamaha, TR500 Suzuki, TZ250 Yamaha and ex-works RR250 Aermacchi-Harley.

Then I mostly rode other peoples bikes ranging from Moto-Guzzi, BMW, Triumph, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, but for the past 15 years I have concentrated on Historic racing with a couple of hot-rod Harleys with an occassional outing on a Norton Manx and Aermacchi 350, and managed to scam a ride on the factory NR750 Honda before they banned oval pistons.

My partner and I ride regularly - Suzuki SV1000 and tricked-up Buell respectively. I guess its in the blood - my father both rode and flew (Chipmunks and Tiger Moths)
We are moving to a new airpark in about 3 months, and ALL the current residents have motorcycles !

Cheers
Martin in Oz
RV6 - 230 hrs
 
Top Gun!

Harvey said:
We are moving to a new airpark in about 3 months, and ALL the current residents have motorcycles !
Wow. It'll be just like Top Gun; screaming along at the runway edge next to an RV6 taking off/landing :D
 
Hi Jeff,

I guess I should have mentioned that the Airpark strip is grass.....

Martin in Oz
 
Fathers day present

Neat post. My current ride is a BMW K1200LTC that was placed in the garage by the dealer at the request of my bride as a Fathers Day present a couple of years back. Like many who graduated to airplanes on the list I've been riding since the age of 5 or so. There's nothing like a great dirt ride, or a day of hillclimbing to make the worlds problems go away. The street has its beauty too, especially a ride to the coast on a nice winding road. A perfect day would involve both a motorcycle and an airplane. Ah, a nice spring day and this will soon become a reality again.
 
ADV rider too

I've been riding continuously since I was 8. I'm 35 now. Current ride is an '05 Triumph Tiger that has accrued over 10k miles in less than a year. I've done some desert racing and am a huge fan of road racing track days, but since the project started I mostly commute and do some sport-touring. I notice Walter is also an ADVrider. My handle is Speed3guy. Any more ADVriders out there?
31459773-M.jpg

http://www.advrider.com
 
gearheads unite!

Yah, got me too. R1200GS.

DirtyBird.jpg


Started at 15, half partner in a Suzuki 80. Put 50K miles on a Honda 175 scrambler.

In '83, I had one too many close calls with grandma turning left in front of me, debris on the road, etc., and sold my '81 Honda 750. Started flying, 'cause I thought it would be safer.

Lately, I realize I know more dead pilots than dead motorcycle riders, so I bought the BMW and started riding again.

ADVrider screen name DirtyBird. Thinking about Baja with Walter.

John Huft
RV8 "Nuisance"
 
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