First big bike

[gymwitch]

What was your first big bike and would you recommended it or not and why ?

[Sir Fallsalot]

Just now, gymwitch said:

What was your first big bike and would you recommended it or not and why ?

At the age of 16 i foolishly swapped my DT175 for a Honda CB400N thinking i'd get a better deal trading it in for a 125 to do my test on that was my first big bike it used to do 80mph in second but could only pull 90 in top i was like an idiot on it  would i recommend it fuck no it was damn ugly and no dream, same as this one 

[Clive]

After a Suzuki GT550 (not that big a bike) my next bike bike was a Honda VFR750...

Great bike!, fast enough, handled well, so comfy too.

A bit of a pig to do some basic maintenance, I still have scars from changing the spark plugs

Recommend one but it will be around 20+ years old now.

 

[Sir Fallsalot]

6 minutes ago, Clive said:

After a Suzuki GT550 (not that big a bike) my next bike bike was a Honda VFR750...

Great bike!, fast enough, handled well, so comfy too.

A bit of a pig to do some basic maintenance, I still have scars from changing the spark plugs

Recommend one but it will be around 20+ years old now.

 

What year @Clive

 

[Clive]

9 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

What year @Clive

 

The VFR was a 1997 bike, red of course!

[Sir Fallsalot]

25 minutes ago, Clive said:

The VFR was a 1997 bike, red of course!

I had the 1986 first year of the gear driven cams what an over engineered bike i put over 500000 miles on it, It got me into a lot of trouble over the four years i owned it mainly because i was a fucking idiot 

Mine was the same as this and i would definitely recommend one 

EDIT just noticed the wheels are wrong colour they would have been white from the factory and no silver on the tank

Like this one

 

 

[Clive]

2 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

I had the 1996 first year of the gear driven cams what an over engineered bike i put over 500000 miles on it, It got me into a lot of trouble over the four years i owned it mainly because i was a fucking idiot 

Mine was the same as this and i would definitely recommend one 

 

I never took photos of mine, I did not have a camera

https://images.app.goo.gl/MaXMMxPNNVuFzFw29

 It it was this model.

 

[Sir Fallsalot]

Just now, Clive said:

I never took photos of mine, I did not have a camera

https://images.app.goo.gl/MaXMMxPNNVuFzFw29

 It it was this model.

 

I was the same they are all photos i googled 

[XTreme]

First big bike (for those days) was a new GT380J in April 1973.

Love to pick up a classic one......mine was identical to this!

First big bike (by today's standards) was a GT750 in March 1976.

Here's me on the right in Babbacombe, Torquay in the long, hot Summer of 76.

.

Could have been a nice week touring the south of England if I hadn't had my miserable first wife with me!

[Tym]

mid 1970's i had a Suzuki 500 Titan, great bike. More comfortable then anything i have today.

[XTreme]

1 hour ago, Tym said:

mid 1970's i had a Suzuki 500 Titan, great bike. More comfortable then anything i have today.

Very good bike......somewhat overlooked in the UK because of the triples!

[Clive]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

First big bike (for those days) was a new GT380J in April 1973.

Love to pick up a classic one......mine was identical to this!

First big bike (by today's standards) was a GT750 in March 1976.

Here's me on the right in Babbacombe, Torquay in the long, hot Summer of 76.

.

Could have been a nice week touring the south of England if I hadn't had my miserable first wife with me!

I had 2 GT550,s........a 1974 red one.

And a 1978 blue one.

Sad I know, but can remember both bikes reg number.

[XTreme]

Just now, Clive said:

I had 2 GT550,s........a 1974 red one.

And a 1978 black one.

Sad I know, but can remember both bikes reg number.

I can remember a lot of the 70's registrations.....but nothing after!

[boboneleg]

The first big bike I had was a XT500, it could be a pig to start if it was hot and was a heavy beast for trail riding.  Nowadays you'd be paying upwards of £5,000 for a good one, but bikes are sooooooooooooooo  much better now.

[skyrider]

my first one was an RD250E followed by a GS550E 

[Clive]

A few photos of my bike are on my FB page.

@Xtreme can see them, but you others can't!

[skyrider]

1 minute ago, Clive said:

A few photos of my bike are on my FB page.

@Xtreme can see them, but you others can't!

nice

[Clive]

My Honda CBR1000f is on there too.

What a barge!.....comfy though!

It is the only bike I could not get on the centre stand, tooooo heavy!

Maybe that's why I have a dodgy back now with trying to use the stand!.

[MooN]

i passed my test on a heavily customised Honda CM125 ( the gutless wonder),

 sold it cos of moving to France and after saving up for a while over here bought a yamaha Xj 650

 just like this one 'cept mine had 4 into one pipes I loved it so much that after winding it up to 130,000km I sold it on ( and saw it a year later with a paint job and 60,000 km less on the odo...) and bought an xj900

 

same as this but without the luggage or the lower engine bars. same colour and same screen but mine was never that clean of course...

 

 would I recommend either of them. They're so outdated now that they can't compare to modern bikes. They were both utterly bomb proof mechanically I bought the 650 with 60,000 km on the clock and wound it up to 130,000km in 3 years basic maintenance was all it got except for replacing the carb inlet pipes which had become porous. the 900 had 40, 000km on it when I bought it and i sold it with 98,000km  3 years later having done 2 uk return trips, Alsace, the jura, the alps and mont blanc on top of being my only everyday transport. I could ride it all day and the longer I stayed on it, the better it fitted me.  If someone found a clean one I would absolutely recommand it as a tourer. 

[Swagman]

3 hours ago, Clive said:

A few photos of my bike are on my FB page.

@Xtreme can see them, but you others can't!

No you blocked us when you flounced.

[Swagman]

First big bike xj900, this one, and under the cove on the right my next one, zzr1100, I would recommend both.

[Clive]

12 minutes ago, Swagman said:

No you blocked us when you flounced.

Let's just say.....someone else started the ball rolling!,

[Buckster]

6 hours ago, XTreme said:

First big bike (for those days) was a new GT380J in April 1973.

Love to pick up a classic one......mine was identical to this!

First big bike (by today's standards) was a GT750 in March 1976.

Here's me on the right in Babbacombe, Torquay in the long, hot Summer of 76.

.

Could have been a nice week touring the south of England if I hadn't had my miserable first wife with me!

Are you next to the ugly bird or are you the ugly bird?

[gymwitch]

18 hours ago, Mawsley said:

I’m taking big bike to mean anything after passing my test larger than 125cc…and first to mean all

Tiger Alpine 1200 - no, too top heavy, too large

XT600E - yes, they’re brilliant

GSX1400 - absolutely, they’re mental and the sexiest machine ever

XJ900S - totally, I’ve had three, best all-rounder ever made

XJ900F - no, skinny tyres and rust prone

XJ600S - no, underpowered nonsense

GPz900 - yes if you can afford constant insurance hikes because of theft

GPZ500 - see XJ600

ER5 - yes, it’s the bike the XJ6 should’ve been

Guzzi Cali & Cali Vintage - no, Guzzis are never better than in theory

FLHTCU - no, bikes for men who like and seek the approbation of other gutlords

Triumph Tiger 900 - the start and end of the good new Tigers

R90S - favourite bike I’ve owned

CJ250T - no, absolute pile of shite

GSX250 - no, a bit pointless these days

Wow !!! Quite a list you have there

[Pedro]

First bike and big bike, Transalp 650, I would totally recommend one, had great fun on mine. There might be better bikes to ride today, and more frugal too, but the Transalp is oldschool dependable.