What biking days stand out most in your mind ?

[weeksy]

If someone asked you to think about about most memorable days, what are they. They can be riding related, or purchasing related, mods... whatever.

For me
First day i collected my Ducati 916. It was bought in primer grey bitsa fairings, no headlight and no MOT, but i took it down the bypass on the way back from Oxford and it was a complete revelation ! It was just epic.... That day, i'll never ever forget

Mallory Park, 1st race podium. Epic battles all day with a guy on a ZX7R and another on a gsxr750, ended up doing OK i thought.

Collecting my first brand new bike. KTM950SMR, rode over to Kent on whatever bike i was riding, i can't actually recall what it was. But coming back on my brand new 0 miles KTM950smr was epic... The roads may have been no more than 'ok' it was even slightly wet at times... but, it was still a brand new bike.

They're 3 that stand out and memories i won't forget....

What say you ?

[KungFooBob]

A days epic riding around the French Alps. Non-stop kneed down nine tenths riding. I pointed out to my mate he was leaving massive black lines come out of the corners, he said I was too, we high fived!

Riding back to the camp site, passing lake Annecy, I just parked up, struggled out of my sweaty leathers and jumped in the lake. The whole holiday was pretty epic.

The time I got into 4th on the back wheel of the R6 (on the A66), that was the longest fastest wheelie I've ever managed.

Le Mans in 2001 (maybe 2), I was very very drunk, for three days, but the atmosphere in the campsite and the fact we got adopted into a group of French Goths just made it special.

[Rockburner]

Long, fast days of riding in France (FlashTours): empty roads, fellow fast, safe riders and having a ball.

Test riding the Rockster

Classic bike Club runs doing back roads on Dad's Matchless or Vincent on hot summer days.

Days spent in the garage fettling bikes, rebuilding the Ducati or maintaining the Rocksters, or fettling the classics with my Dad. Will always remember the great big grin that lit up his face when we fired up something loud like Baldrick (the HRD).

The VD Tours, tazing around the Scottish Borders on a ZXR400 with Abel, Animal, Windy et al.

The 'Hacks' Tours to Devon were epic, hilarious fun too. Lots of good memories

[asmethurst99]

Last day in France and a ride back to our F1 hotel in the evening sunshine - not fast just a beautiful ride through the Normandy countryside.
Wales back to London on a soggy Monday morning on the A 40- even the rain didn't spoil it.

[Potter]

A long time ago now, when we were young and carefree, I bought my first Ducati (on finance) and arranged to collect it at 2pm on the Saturday.
Got up early, wife made us breakfast, then her single mate came over to visit and what started out as a joke turned into an actual threesome. Afterwards we all showered, then I got them to drop me off at the shop, they went for lunch in town and I spent the rest of the day riding my new bike around the countryside in glorious sunshine.

I've had loads of good bike days, but that stands out if I had to pick one.

[Noggin]

I have a few awesome memories of riding with other people. Some track stuff, most road and some holiday stuff

But there is one day (morning) that 100% stands out and that was one of the last times I rode with my riding buddy. We were supposed to "take it steady" due to an operation he'd had to remove a tumour under his right arm (but he did always say that - with no success!). He said he might not have the strength in his right arm to ride hard.

I was happy to agree to the 'taking it steady' as I always did!!

On the approach to Chepstow a group overtook us with quite bad manners and I knew what was coming. We stopped at lights and when I pulled up beside Steve he put his visor up and said "we're going whichever way they do", flipped the visor down and rode on to get his own back! We took the turn they did onto one of his favourite roads and within two corners he'd passed all 6. (Took me a smidge longer cos someone blocked the girlie on the baby Duke ). The rest of the ride continued in a very 'not steady' but very fun way! Totally NOT steady, very fast, lots of fun!

When we got to the cafe we were both laughing like a pair of kids!! (He did have to go and put an extra dressing on the wound cos it had leaked somewhat - down his sleeve into his glove ) An awesome memory that I think of often - poignant as yesterday was the 5 years since he died


The next best is weird as I rarely have awesome memories of solo rides. But a couple of weeks after he died, I went to the cafe alone. Set off to ride home in a world of my own. Suddenly realised that two bigger bikes I'd seen at the cafe (a Ducati sports and a SuperDuke) were lining up to over take me. I did exactly what I'd seen Steve do countless times - head down, wrist back and nailed it!!

The Ducati pretty much bailed after Usk and the SuperDuke stayed with me on the straights but only after he'd caught up with me after I lost him in the corners, everytime!!!

At Chepstow I stopped to chat only to see he'd stopped quite a bit further back to wait for his mate! We waved and thumbs upped and then I carried on. Thinking that Steve would have loved seeing that ride

It was made even better by a mate of Steve's chatting with me the following weekend and telling me one of his customers had said he'd been out ridden on that road by a girl on a 690 Duke - Duncan bloody loved telling the guy that it was a girl on a 390 Duke!


My best memories are all based around bikes. It's something I've missed here for the last 4 years. But damn I'm gonna make up for that lack of making memories when I'm back on the road!!

[Bustaspoke]

The one specific day that stands out was way back in1983,first ever race meeting on a chilly day in March at Aintree riding a 250LC.
First practice,first time ever on a track & I can't believe it's legal!! After the session I was sweating even though it was early March & just buzzing from the rush.
Next session I ran out of ground clearance at the corner at the end of the straight & launched it.We straightened things out & after dinner it was the qualifying heat.I took on board the advice I had been given to take it easy & just qualify for the final but after a few laps I decided to up the pace again,this time I lost the front going into the left after the start/finish line...
No trophies,no glory just a few bruises,a beaten up 250LC & a whole lot of memories.
A proper day out.
Another day I remember well was taking the road from Bandol up to Le Castellet Circuit Paul Ricard for the 1986 Bol D'or.
Back in those days "The Bol" was the end of season pilgrimage for bikers from all over Europe,it was mad.
The road up from Bandol is a classic piece of tarmac & amongst other things it's the road that put Frank Williams of F1 fame in a wheelchair.
Before going to the Bol I had heard tales about this road,all the lamp posts having padding on them,a few ambulance's stationed along the road,straw bales eveywhere.I thought the tales were exaggerated until I left Bandol & made my way up there but I saw the parked ambulances,the padded lamp posts & hay bales everywhere,then as I exited one corner I saw a GPZ600 below me stuck in a pine tree!
When I got to the campsite I found out why the place was nicknamed Paul Rockard,someone had to donate me some 6' nails so that I could peg my tent out.I felt like I'd arrived at a holy place for bikers & I had done my pilgrimage.
That's another good memory with my 250LC.
Like everyone else I've lots of good memories with my motorcycling but those two days stand out.
1992 stands out as the best year,I had my FZ750 then,we used to go from West Lancs over to Yorkshire or down to Derbyshire over The Cat & Fiddle or down to North Wales.We rode most Sundays & they were proper full & fun days out.
That year also ended with me at the Bol D'or in September.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I've had a think about this, and I've had a lot of very good biking experiences, but the one stand out thing is early May Bank Holiday in 1992, me and a mate (who's now dead) camped opposite the Square and Compass at Darley Dale, got pissed in the evenings, got up early in the mornings and rode up to Buxton and then down to Matlock Bath, I was on my 1985 GSXR750 and it's the best riding experience I've ever had, it was before speed cameras and the roads were empty, I had the GSXR bouncing off the rev limiter in top on a downhill bit.

It was a truly amazing weekend, and we went back the next year to try and repeat the experience but it wasn't quite as good as that first time.

[Cousin Jack]

Best ever was 1st trip abroad, after a massive 1000 miles of riding experience. (I will ignore experience 40 years before). I had arranged via a web forum to meet up with assorted people riding Triumph Bonnevilles in the Ardennes area. Like all such trips, most of the people cried off in the last few days, so instead of tagging along with half a dozen experienced riders there were only 2 of us from the UK. I duly turned up at the Tunnel, but the other bike failed to show. I caught the train anyway and waited for an hour or so at the filling station near the exit from the Tunnel. The other bike eventually turned up, but he was even less prepared than I was. I had no proper map, just a few print-outs for key bits. He had nothing.

We managed to find the place, met up with people from Germany and Holland, and had a great time. Importantly it made me realise that I could just go and do stuff. Getting lost was an adventure, not a disaster.

Another noteworthy adventure was going on a tour to Austria. The night's hotel was in Austria, we started the day in France and I decided to go exploring by myself. I had done parts of the B500 road but never all of it, so I started in Baden Baden and headed south. When I got to the southern bit I had done the B500 before so I dived off and just explored by myself. After some enjoyable miles I was thoroughly lost, somewhere in the Black Forest on an unclassified road, with signposts to places I had never heard of. I had detailed maps of Austria, but only a map of Europe for the way to get there. After a great deal of faffing about I found myself just short of the M'way border with Switzerland and not much time left before dinner. Going back and along the German shore of Lake Constance (the route I had planned to take) would take forever, the alternative was via Zurich and St Gallen, and the Swiss M'way system which would spit me out into Austria a very few miles from where I was going. That was expensive (80 CHF F IIRC) and a bit congested around Zurich at tea time, but I made it to the hotel in time for dinner. The lesson that time was to get a sat-nav. At least it would know where I was when I got lost.

Another one on an Austria trip was going over a mountain road and finding a big road sign with lots of German on it. I don't do German, and had no clue what it said, so I proceeded carefully, and found myself in the middle of a road building site, with bloody great excavators placing huge boulders as a retaining wall. I managed to sneak through, keeping well clear of their arcs until I was certain that the driver had clocked me. At the other end I met a queue waiting to be escorted through by a convoy system, judging by the queue they may have had to wait for an hour or so. No doubt the sign explained all that in German.

The Norway trip was good too, especially road closures in Germany. They don't do 'Diversion' signs! One such diversion, pointed out by a local, was via via a ploughed field, on a VFR!

[cheb]

The first time we didn't come last when sidecar grasstrack racing. In a way it was better than the first time we came first.

[r1flyguy]

So many memories, none as good as the above.

First was being very confident on a trackdays on my then track ZX9R C1, one particular occasion i wore through my knee sliders and right boot circulating Mallory, I had gerrards sorted right until the afternoon session where i took it too far on a worn front tyre and off into the kitty litter i went. Since then im not half as confident in right handers


Touring the pyrenees with 5 other colleagues from work, it was during the days of handycams Hi8 tapes etc, circa. 2003, the roads discovered were just incredible , ear to ear smiles and thrills, etc, 300+ miles per day different hotels, great tarmac, great bikes great camaraderie. Miss those days and roads so much.
I ended up creating a mini movie of the trip and selling them on ebay to like minded bikers so they had some idea what to do, where to go and what was in Store for them but mainly what they were missing


Most recent was having a test ride on the supercharged Kawasaki H2. I always thought it was dog ugly!!! But when offered the bike for a couple of hours i thought it was worth a free ride.
The instantaneous power was very addictive and the full tank of fuel was gone in no time. I then appeared to appreciate just how good they were and all the little details etc, it took a couple of years before the same shop offer me one of their 2019 models at a great price, it had the grey frame too which i preferred and could not turn it down. Even now I think they are a work of engineering art. Each to their own. It was that first experience of the supercharger that sold me on it.

[G.P]

Ooh, difficult one.
Earliest stand out day for me was riding from the Wirral to Bath on an SS50 when I was 16, seemed like a never ending journey!

Stand out for just brilliant fun:
Mad Sunday at '81 TT, coming down to the creg pub flat out in top on my Honda 400 and being passed like I was standing still by a Jota and a 900SS Darmah. That whole week was just non stop laughs and adrenalin

Doing the Kopu - Hikua road (State Highway 25A as its also known)going to the Coramandel in NZ on my GSX750 on a Friday afternoon late 1988 . a great combination of epic tarmac and epic scenery. I immediately turned round, went all the way back and did it again.

The road that follows the River Lot going west towards Cahors. We'd done the Gorge du Tan and Millau bridge in the morning and were off to my mates parents place, There were 3 of us, one guy just wanted to pootle but IanB and I were in the mood to go for it, and after a wet morning with busy traffic, the change to nice hot tarmac and fantastic open corners with zero traffic was just sensational. It was only about 40 or 50 minutes but I'll never forget it. I think we high fived when we stopped and just sat there smiling, waiting for our mate to catch up. Epic.

[weeksy]

Ooh, difficult one.
Earliest stand out day for me was riding from the Wirral to Bath on an SS50 when I was 16, seemed like a never ending journey!

Stand out for just brilliant fun:
Mad Sunday at '81 TT, coming down to the creg pub flat out in top on my Honda 400 and being passed like I was standing still by a Jota and a 900SS Darmah. That whole week was just non stop laughs and adrenalin

Doing the Kopu - Hikua road (State Highway 25A as its also known)going to the Coramandel in NZ on my GSX750 on a Friday afternoon late 1988 . a great combination of epic tarmac and epic scenery. I immediately turned round, went all the way back and did it again.

The road that follows the River Lot going west towards Cahors. We'd done the Gorge du Tan and Millau bridge in the morning and were off to my mates parents place, There were 3 of us, one guy just wanted to pootle but IanB and I were in the mood to go for it, and after a wet morning with busy traffic, the change to nice hot tarmac and fantastic open corners with zero traffic was just sensational. It was only about 40 or 50 minutes but I'll never forget it. I think we high fived when we stopped and just sat there smiling, waiting for our mate to catch up. Epic.

Oh. I assumed yours would be when you overtook me at Pembrey

[MingtheMerciless]

Track days at Brands GP on the 7R and Mallory on the 9R, rode my socks off (for me) and had a great time at both.

Getting a “how-to-filter” lesson by some French Bikers on the way to Luxembourg.

Opening up the throttle on a test ride of the ZH2…….

[Demannu]

VD NHRO.
How none of us ended up in the clink after that, I'll never know.
Or the TRC Donington track day, hellluva day out

[G.P]

Oh. I assumed yours would be when you overtook me at Pembrey

No mate, overtaking you into that tight left hander at Rockingham was more fun

[cheb]

Another one: On a CCM track day at Three Sisters, I nearly lost the back end on the corner before the viewing area, got my kneedown just and recovered it. One drawback was not having sliders.

[r1flyguy]

Oh. I assumed yours would be when you overtook me at Pembrey

No mate, overtaking you into that tight left hander at Rockingham was more fun

Forgot about Rocky, did car & bike trackdays there, Car felt safer

[Bigyin]

Many to pick from

1st trip abroad to the Bol D Or at Paul Ricard. Rained so heavily they stopped the race during the night .....one and only time they stopped it as far as i know. Me at a couple of courier mates rode there and back flat out on our work bikes to cut down our lost earnings. Straight back to work as soon as we got home

Many of the VD tours with loads of people i barely knew who i now regard as friends and the blast to Wales (invite only for 4 or 5 bikes) ...superb entertainment and social in the evenings

Isle of Man Nov 2005 on zx636's with Abel. 2 days screaming round the Islands empty roads in sunshine. Even a puncture and new tyre couldnt spoil it scrubbing it in at dusk with a dark visor on the mountain course

First time as an F1 sidecar passenger ....... arm pump from holding on for dear life and buzzing when i got off. It got easier on subsequent outings with less death grip

My trip away to Norway in Abels company with all our food, accommodation and clothing on the bikes. 6500 miles in just over 2 weeks. 13 border crossings without my passport and hundreds of miles on dirt and gravel roads that most people would try on a 250 trail bike, not 150 BHP fully loaded ADV bikes on road tyres

1st trackday on the Multistrada last year with this lot. Learned a bit about my riding and will try to be quicker this year

[Horse]

Not a day, but a week

I bought my first bike in about September, simply as commuting transport.

But the following Easter, via bikes, I got to meet a bunch who 40+ years later are still friends. That July, five of us decided to go to Devon for week.

Me, Honda CB175
SteveF, Triumph Tiger 100
Dave, BSA Starfire 250
Then Bob (defunct C15 BSA 250) and SteveE

We arranged to meet after work on Friday. I was heading off to meet the others. 2 miles later I was just about to overtake a Honda Cub, as it did a sharp left turn and cartwheeled across a - luckily - wide grass verge. As I got to him, he was sat amid the bike, clutching his arm. Three bottles of Guiness in the topbox were unharmed. Rider might have had a drink or two beforehand.

Met at Dave's place in Tadley. SteveF was collecting SteveE. We heard the Triumph fire up, and every gearchange, over the entire 2.5 mile journey to us.

The Triumph had just had a new primary chain. Unfortunately, another friend had turned the engine over and one of Steve's fingers went around the front sprocket. So he was wearing a proper motorcycle gauntlet (no 'gloves' back then) on his right hand and a woolly glove to cover the dressing on his finger of the left hand.

And off. No-one rode pillion with Dave. If you did, it was just the once.

An hour and a quarter later we reached Mere, fuel needed. Quick check of the Triumph's chain case. No oil, so top up and a bottle spare. Oh, a chip shop. That quick pit stop was an hour.

Two smokers in the group, so regular fag breaks.we arrived at the camp site above Lee Bay at 4 a.m.

A later check confirmed that the oilcase was empty again, so open gearcase surgery was performed to replace the gasket.

Loads of other stuff that week.

But, the point is that bikes were the catalyst for friends, events and moments.