revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Reading the "r1 was still... " etc... It made me think.

What's the best bike you owned and why..
I really struggle with this answer because some of them were amazing in their day, but i wouldn't necessarily want to ride one today.

But the stand-out for me has to be this thing
DSC00874 (2) by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It changed me from a Sportsbike rider into a naked bike rider in a heartbeat and started a biking love affair with KTM that lasted a decade where i didn't own anything else. It was raw, brutal, fun, flighty, just everything in a bike all at once.

The bike that most suited my needs* was the R1150GS. My veritable Swiss Army knife bike.

I suppose, technically, the best was the K1200GT and I liked it, a lot, but - offered the choice - I'd have the GS back in a heartbeat.



* Touring (2+luggage), commuting and exploring routes that a little off-road capability came in handy.

Probably my 250LC.
I hooned about on it,commuted on it,thrashed it,crashed it a few times,rebuilt it more than once,Proddy raced it & crashed it some more,went to the Bol D'or on it,did a few cheeky laps of Circuit Paul Ricard
It wasn't so expensive that it was precious,it was just right for me at the time in my life.
I'd buy another one if I could get one for the right money but they go for daft money these days & I'd probably get a bit precious about it.

Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I commuted on it, toured on it with throw over luggage and generally loved riding it. Never had any issues; looked and sounded great. Wish I had kept the bike.

Measured purely in riding pleasure I would go with the Duke 390, the only KTM I have ever owned. Not practical, top speed not spectacular, nowhere for luggage - hence the horrible oxford bag, not happy trickling through slow moving traffic, didn't really want to pull top gear below 70 MPH.

But every journey put a smile on your face which lasted all day. I had long since stopped riding as if I was on track, but from time to time the boots touched down like nothing else I have ever ridden. A bike with exuberant personality which couldn't be ignored!

A lot of it will be due to happy memories of the bike, I expect, but mine was a 1986 Cagiva WMX125 & it was objectively brilliant!

Cagiva won the GP World Championship the year before and the following year's production bike was supposedly a 'works replica'. I reckon it was a major leap over the Japanese 125s at the time. Easily more powerful and it really moved things on in terms of seating position, details like removable rear sub-frame etc. Also had an Ohlins shock as standard.

In 97 or 98 my brother & I pulled it out of the garage, put fresh fluids in and took it to an AMCA meet on a day licence - it won all three races..!

Loved it & have loads of happy memories - yet about the only photo I have of it is this of my Mum & I on a windy bit of Wigan wasteland from when I was running it in.

The one I've got, because it's the one I get to ride, it's been faultless, well no that's not true, it did throw one error code once, but that was cleared in the car park from my phone.
It's just always ready to go, easy to just get on with the ride.

PXL_20220415_111011543 by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

Buckaroo wrote: Fri May 23, 2025 8:51 am Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I commuted on it, toured on it with throw over luggage and generally loved riding it. Never had any issues; looked and sounded great. Wish I had kept the bike.

Yep, mine has to run a very close 2nd, there's just something about the sound of a triple

It would be a toss up between my GS1150 adv, KTM 950 super moto or purely for who I met and the shit and giggles riding it, Buell M2 converted to a Buell M1

My problem is how do you describe 'best'? Is it best looking, most reliable, does the most things well, the most fun/biggest shits 'n giggles, if you only had one bike is that it? etc. etc. It all depends what your priorities are at any one time. So here's my bestest(s):

Best looking/drop dead gorgeous: Ducati 888 SP3. 30+ years on, nothing has beaten it yet. And it was an absolute joy to ride.
Most reliable/dependable: Honda VFR750F. If you absolutely needed to get somewhere in any weather, that was the one.
Does the most things well: Aprilia Falco. Scratching, touring, commuting, two up or solo, the Falco does it all with panache.
The most fun/biggest giggles: KTM Duke 690 R. It just has to be, nothing comes close to the grins this bike gives.
You're only allowed one bike? Too close to call between Duke and Falco. As I get older and do less miles, probably the Duke.

As said, a difficult question. Each bike I've had (not as many as some...) has had it's influences on my riding and probably was, at the time, the best. Well, apart from the Yamaha YB100 i did my 2nd and 3rd test on, that was genuinely a pile of shite.

mangocrazy wrote: Fri May 23, 2025 10:07 am probably the Duke.

See, it was easy in the end

I don't have the most salubrious of bike history but it is quite varied.

I can discount the MZ125, GPz305 and CB400f as they all had flaws and weren't very exciting.

Then came the Duke 390r - great fun to ride if you were pushing it a bit but just wouldn't cruise about so I ended up getting tired on it after a couple of hours. I wish they made them when I was younger, I guess they are the modern day LC, I should have bought a TDR250 instead of a stupid GPz305

The Griso was sublime on smooth flowy stuff, just a joyful place to be, the sound, the power delivery, accurate and stable. But, anything with bumps or poor surface and it got upset quickly. I would proabably still have it if my hips let me sit on it comfortably but it's now wallowing in someone else's shed without an MOT I wish I had found one when I was younger.

The Sprint is so much nicer to ride than I ever expected it to be, does all the things the Griso does and copes better with the rough roads, just doesn't look anywhere near as DDG. The engine is undoubtedly the star but it steers and stops very nicely for such a big old girl. It's just not what I would call nimble.

The Himmy, well it's odd. It's not very fast, the brakes could be better but I swear point it at a bumpy tight B road or unclassified road and it can hustle, it's opened up so many more roads to me that I avoided on other bikes because I never felt confident of staying upright or not being bucked off unless I was trundling. Riding the quieter roads away from the traffic is so much less frustrating too.

So right now, it's the Himmy , the Triumph is Sorn as I Just can't see me picking it over the Himmy for commuting on or riding locally. Now if I can find time and fitness for a run through France it might be a different matter but I'm still not sure

(Do I smell of wee )

For the older me it was my BMW S1000XR , it did everything with ease, nothing ever niggled me
when i rode it.
A younger me it was my R6 , great track day bike , comfy on road and 15500 revs of fun.

Buckaroo wrote: Fri May 23, 2025 8:51 am Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I commuted on it, toured on it with throw over luggage and generally loved riding it. Never had any issues; looked and sounded great. Wish I had kept the bike.

I had a test ride on a 1050 not long after they came out and I loved it. Unfortunately I couldn't afford one at the time but I bought a 2006 model some years later. I bought a 2010 model a few years ago and still have it.

The best bike I ever owned was the first one. Without that 1973 CB250K I wouldn't have had any of the bikes that followed it.

Oh so many bikes,but if I was to negate any nostalgic associations,then by far the most competent and wild was the 04 ZX10R. Sadly,I could only ride it one way and the bike overpowered my good intentions every time. I just couldn't behave and after 14 years of relying on my guardian angel I decided the fear factor was becoming stronger than the fun factor,so it was time to move it on.

I'll never again own a motorcycle as wild,lightweight,with no rider aids,not even ABS. There was more than a little regret that my time with the bike had passed. It had the true spirit of a Kawasaki.

This current GSXR1000 is amazing.
Toured on it. Scratched on it. Nipped to the shops.

And rode it to Portimao and Jerez. Completely standard it was great on track

And even on Portimao's super long straight, nothing overtook me on the 3 days on track
202 gee gees provide ample performance

I’ve no idea tbh, they’ve all pretty much been tools for a job some good at it and others not so. Best one though ?, either my RD350YPVS or my KTM525EXC supermoto. Mainly because of where I went and what I did rather than the bike

My current 2020 Honda CB1000R, feels as powerful as the 98 R1 I had (but that was 25 years ago), but it's smoother and easier to ride and has a better riding position, if it had the seat of my 1982 Z1170R and a bigger fuel tank it would be perfect.

The best by a country mile, VFR800. Does everything, and I have no idea why Honda stopped developing and modernizing it.

Tours, hoons, bimbles, even been off-road. Main reason I no longer have it is my advancing age and the weight of the beast.

I've been through a lot of bikes over the years but very few stand out, and as Couchy says, mainly for the places I went and things I did.

My MK1 Guzzi Le Mans was good. It's one of the few bikes I've owned for fun, I kept it at my parents house and I reckon my dad put more miles on it than I did.