Best bike you've owned and why...

[Ian]

H1. Spent my best years with my mates on it, went to the isle of man with my soon to be wife on it, raced it, sprinted it. It never blew up but I spent a lot of hours rebuilding numerous times. I really should get it back on the road but it's a triggers broom and the frame and engine numbers changed so many times.

It was replaced with a ZX7R (the Sprint in between was never a replacement) which I love but it can be hard work in heavy traffic.

But then the VFR is so much easier, it just does everything at the turn of a key.

[Dodgy69]

Fizzy...coz I was 16. In modern times I'd probably say the MT09 or the 2018 Tracer 900. The Tracer did everything very well.

[Bigjawa]

R1150GS.
I've got a much faster bike in the K12R, a mote comfortable bike in my 1150RT, but I've never had a bike that can do so many things so well as the GS.

If I had bought ine back in the early 00s, I probably wouldn't have bought another bike. If it blew up tomorrow, If take the engine out of the RT and put it into it.

[Taipan]

I could give several answers to this but whenever the question arises I always think of my rotax engined CCM R30. Modified it with a pumper carb and a mid range cam and it was an absolute hoot. I'm no quick rider but I rode the tits off of this. I could not get on it without riding like a complete twat! Popped (bad) wheelies everywhere, ran it on 2nd hand race wets and even got the pegs down in the rain and even failed to stop for the PO PO a couple of times. I've probably owned better bikes, but none made me grin as much as that one did!

[KungFooBob]

Yo Mama.

[Sunny]

2010 Street Triple 675

For so many reasons. Mostly just pure joy.

Haven't tried the 765 version yet, but there's a chance there's one in my future. Though the current toy Duke makes me smile a lot, tbf.

[Pirahna]

rotax engined CCM R30

I rode the Rotax and Suzuki R30's back to back. I thought the Rotax was a donkey but regret not buying the Suzuki.

[Taipan]

rotax engined CCM R30

I rode the Rotax and Suzuki R30's back to back. I thought the Rotax was a donkey but regret not buying the Suzuki.

I had the 710cc Suzuki engined R30 later on, but, even though it was incredibly grunty, I owned it in a different era and it just didnt register the same way with me?

[MrLongbeard]

I never got on with the Rotax lump, it was a smidge agricultural for me at the time, but had a right old hoot on the 2 Suzuki 644's I did have

[Beancounter]

My first TDM850. I was commuting 20k miles a year with a pillion so it was the sensible choice meaning I hated it to start with and it took a good 18 months to love it. It burned a litre of oil every 1,000 miles, fuel consumption was mid-30s because of worn emulsion tubes which only improved to high 40s with Factory Pro replacements and it still ran rich (@Rockburner said it was a lovely smell for the few times he was riding behind me), the headlight was woeful and the wet weather mis-fire a major PITA.... but nobody expected anything of you. This was 20 years ago when most commuting bikes in London were sports bikes so a TDM almost went 'unseen'.

I bought it with 23k miles on it and added another 100k over seven years before I killed it. In that time it had commuted, toured, trackdayed and crashed. Aside from running out of petrol because I got the reserve pipe mixed with the main it never left me stranded.

My 1150GSA is a very close second.

[Count Steer]

As a result of this massive international survey it becomes clear from the results that the R1150GS is the besterest bike evah.

🏍

[Jody]

Difficult question, I suppose I'd have to say my Superduke though. It's the bike that got me into trackdays, I got to be he fastest guy at the Superduke forum meets and it was first,and probably only brand new bike.

[cheb]

They've mostly been the best bike ever in their own way but three stand out:

CB125S. Freeeeedom
R100GS. Modification, bodging, repairing
TDR250. A cracking engine in a bike that I fitted.

[Couchy]

As a result of this massive international survey it becomes clear from the results that the R1150GS is the besterest bike evah.

🏍

The 1150GS I built just after lockdown with 17’s and aftermarket suspension was very good tbh

[Noggin]

As Mango said, how do you define 'best' ??

I bloody loved my Blackbird(s) - I rode them like a sportsbike cos I didn't know any different at the time!! Way too much power for a newbie and I'm lucky that I was old enough to have a smidge of restraint and also that I met someone that really helped me learn how to ride on the road in a 'too' fast way but the safest possible for too fast!! I did day trips, commuting in all weather, rallies, touring and trackdays - it's the bike I learned how to ride on so in someways it's always going to be the best !! But, due to living somewhere with soooo many mountain hairpins and me not being very physically capable now, whilst I'd LOVE to replace it (especially give the distance I need to travel to go see certain friends!!) I know that physically I can't (or almost certainly can't) manage it on the mountain hairpins now

The TL1000s and the 04 ZX10r were both my dream bikes from very young and before I had a licence. I'd have either again in a moment because they made me smile soooo much!! I didn't tour on either of them but for commuting and Sundays, and trackdays, they were AWESOME. Sadly millions of percent more capable than me, but damn they were fun . I'd have either agin now. I nearly bought a 97 TLs from the TLs specialist guy I know back over there, but it's virtually impossible to register it here now until it's 30 years since they were last made. I was actually pretty devasted about that as the model he was selling was perfect in every way and the price was achievable, but I can't wait another 3 years to register it here - already have a Ducati I'm counting down the time for !!

The 390 Duke is the only bike I could ride to it's limit, and did regularly Bloody hell that was a hoot. Sooooo sloooow compared to everything else I'd ever ridden and it was impossible to keep up with my riding buddy on his ZX9r. But DAMN it made me laugh Out one day with my buddy and one of his mates and when I caught up with them (they'd stopped for the mate to have a cig !!) I commented that I thought there was something wrong with the Duke as when I came out of corners I felt that I didn't have 'proper steering', it didn't feel bad, just weird. My buddy's mate howled with laughter and said - it's cos your front wheel is either off the ground or barely in contact as you're coming out of the corners!! Once we'd all stopped howling with laughter at me, I was quite proud, I'd never had a bike I could accelerate to that limit and it was awesome!! I tracked it a few times much to the confusion and amusement of some people at the same tracks !! It was brilliant except I was always peeved at the lack of straight line speed I would have another, but not as my only bike as distance riding wasn't great, although over here at least it would be closer to the speed limits !! - but as a second to hoon about on it'd be great

Sadly I hated the 690 I tried as I'd thought that would be a good upgrade, but we didn't suit each other (There were a ZZR600 and a small front wheel Blade too but neither ticked many boxes for mee when I look back!)


So, I'm still not certain I can say which was actually best!

[Skub]

Aside from how a bike rides,if you can't enjoy looking at it,then you've bought the wrong bike. This is probably the prime reason I'll never own one of those beemer GS abortions. There's no two lumps of it hanging the one road. Aesthetically fuglified.

[Count Steer]

Aside from how a bike rides,if you can't enjoy looking at it,then you've bought the wrong bike. This is probably the prime reason I'll never own one of those beemer GS abortions. There's no two lumps of it hanging the one road. Aesthetically fuglified.

I usually think of it as 'function and form' - to a large extent fast bikes look fast even when they aren't moving*. 'Ugly' bikes look like they deal with 'ugly' stuff. Dakar bikes aren't necessarily pretty but they look functional ie like they'll do what they're designed to do.

So I think the GS is 'ugly' like a knuckleduster is 'ugly'...sort of brutal rather than aesthetically pleasing but made to do a job.

*some of the powerful naked bikes don't quite fit but most of them you wouldn't want to be on at the top end of their performance range.

[Bigjawa]

Best looking GS were the original R80G/S, the 1100 was better looking with the single big light rather than the squinty ones that came after.

[Pirahna]

Best looking GS were the original R80G/S, the 1100 was better looking with the single big light rather than the squinty ones that came after.

How about the 2025 R12

[Count Steer]

Best looking GS were the original R80G/S, the 1100 was better looking with the single big light rather than the squinty ones that came after.

How about the 2025 R12

Wow! That's gone back a few years in the design archive!