revtothelimit - motorbike forum

10 years ago today I was riding my Harley! Haters going to hate, but I loved that bike! Just such a unique brand to ride and you are never in any doubt what you're riding as the sound is so recognisable. A lot of good memories from that bike. You ever gone a bit left field with your bike buying choices?

I don't have a picture of mine but ones of these...



1996 FZR400RR 4DX. The 4DX was the official UK model, not a grey import, it had the bigger mirrors and indicators along with a single piece tail lamp.

Looking back through rose tinted spectacles,my 250LC.Here's a crappy photo of it on track at Circuit Paul Ricard.



Lots of happy memories & experiences with that bike

Very recent past but this big old beauty



Again, a unique type of bike, ditch pump motor, sports bike suspension, wheelbase of an oil tanker, shouldn't really work but it did on the flowy stuff.

All the bikes I'd had before this were small, low power, lightweights so this was a whole new experience. Even though it was only 80hp it was easily double that of anything else I'd ridden, and twice the weight.

I've had sellers remorse ever since but not being able to ride it for health reasons was quite frustrating.

I've had several that have, erm, divided opinion.

The oddest one though was probably a Panther 650 single (without sidecar ) - that cost me £5. I did look into buying one not too long ago. They never became collectors items and those that were around weren't silly money. Quite a few in Australia for some reason. Delivery costs would probably have been more than the bike.

Relatively thirsty, long stroke, single, not exactly world-beating build quality, an absolute ritual to start, power? it had some, not a lot. Loved it.

Aprilia Dorsoduro 750



I swapped a 2004 R1 for this. 70 mile range, ethanol in petrol caused the plastic tank to deform, obnoxiously loud but huge fun to ride. Such a shame about the range, it was the one thing I couldn't forgive.

Left of field for me was definitely the R90S. I'm not exactly a BMW rider stereotype. I wouldn't say it was my absolute all time favourite,that award goes to my ZX10R,but it was a loveable old thing in it's own way. I think if I'd more garage space I'd buy it back.

In 1982 I had these 2. The Kettle was fun on the road and the LC was amazing fun to race.
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Ditchfinder wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 9:44 am Very recent past but this big old beauty



Again, a unique type of bike, ditch pump motor, sports bike suspension, wheelbase of an oil tanker, shouldn't really work but it did on the flowy stuff.

All the bikes I'd had before this were small, low power, lightweights so this was a whole new experience. Even though it was only 80hp it was easily double that of anything else I'd ridden, and twice the weight.

I've had sellers remorse ever since but not being able to ride it for health reasons was quite frustrating.

I was soooooooo tempted when you had it up for sale!!

Reviled in the popular press (i.e. MCN) as being dangerously unstable, I had one of the early 'full fat' models and it was a great bike with a stonking motor. Dubbed the 'Widowmaker', on standard tyres and suspension it was definitely a bit more slappy and understeery than previous bikes I've owned but once I'd swapped the 6" rear rim and 190/50 tyre for a 5.5" rim and a 180/55 tyre it improved immensely. It was the first bike I'd ever done a sub 2 minute lap of Oulton Park on, and I loved it to bits. It had to go when I was out of work for 15 months and really needed to eat.

Taipan wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 11:49 am I was soooooooo tempted when you had it up for sale!!

I would have lent it to you for a year for the cost of the train tickets to deliver it and fetch it back.

It wouldn't have liked living outside and if you've got dodgy hips and knees like me then pre-ride painkillers would have become the norm. It's currently blatting about that there London.

Until it became unreliable due to charging problems, the 929 I had from new to about 40k was a great bike. Used it for everything and loved it.

Ditchfinder wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 12:12 pm

Taipan wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 11:49 am I was soooooooo tempted when you had it up for sale!!

I would have lent it to you for a year for the cost of the train tickets to deliver it and fetch it back.

It wouldn't have liked living outside and if you've got dodgy hips and knees like me then pre-ride painkillers would have become the norm. It's currently blatting about that there London.

Thanks for the thought. Skeletal problems was the reason I didn't, but I kept thinking of it as a second bike for occasional rides. One minute I talked myself into it, the next, out of it!

Taipan wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 11:49 am
I was soooooooo tempted when you had it up for sale!!

Same

My other Favourite bike isn't from my past but currrently SORN'd in the conservatory,it's my Gen 2 SV650S.
Having thought about it,both the LC & SV are similar in that they're both good,fun bikes,fast enough to have fun on & enjoy,not so expensive that they're 'Precious' or so feature laden that they've become 2 wheel 'white goods'.



The best way that I can sum it up is that if they still sold the 250LC or the Gen 2 SV650 I'd be down the shop placing my order this weekend

Bustaspoke wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 12:36 pm My other Favourite bike isn't from my past but currrently SORN'd in the conservatory,it's my Gen 2 SV650S.
Having thought about it,both the LC & SV are similar in that they're both good,fun bikes,fast enough to have fun on & enjoy,not so expensive that they're 'Precious' or so feature laden that they've become 2 wheel 'white goods'.



The best way that I can sum it up is that if they still sold the 250LC or the Gen 2 SV650 I'd be down the shop placing my order this weekend

Always loved the SV! I think I had 4 of them in total!

I did everything on it. Commuted, touring, Sunday rides. Took it to Le Mans (twice) and Monza. Sounded incredible with the BOS cans and open air box.

Significant because it was the first, at 18, and it made a great noise. Mine was exactly like that, colour, extras, etc. The smoke screen came at no charge. Had to scrap it when I ran out of money and it needed a new barrel. 6 guineas, (£6 6s - £6 30p) and I didn’t have it.

Owned for about 12 years, and it had (iirc)54,000 on the clock when i sold it on. (It had 7k when i bought it i think).

Did everything: Commuting, Touring, Trackdays, and despite the racing crouch and thin seat wasn't uncomfortable.

Probably taught me more about how to ride a bike fast than any other bike I've owned.

Hmmm, either my first RD350 YPVS (an 84 LC2) or my first GSXR750 (1985), but given I had them both at the same time, it could be more about where my life was then rather than the bikes themselves.