Best motorcycle you've ever owned, for nicksta43..

Since we're all being negative, here's a positive thread.

What was the best motorcycle you ever owned?

I'll go first:

My 1983 Honda CX650 Eurosport.

Last year and best year for the CX models, unfortunately you guys south of the border didn't get the Eurosport.

If you've ridden a CX500, this is absolutely nothing like that.

It's more like the CX650 Turbo but without the extra weight and more punch off the line.

The Eurosport will beat the Turbo out of the hole but the turbo catches up pretty quick.

The CX650E got all the upgrade goodness in 1983. Triple disc brakes, Pro-link rear suspension, bigger forks with fork brace and TRAC anti-dive. The engine got more compression and an increase in timing. 64hp vs the 500's 48hp.

And it's damn comfortable. 1000km in a day is a toddle.

And it looks like a CB900F with a flying twin shoved in it:

Berk this let's talk about hating lane splitters and throttle blippers

96 Honda Pacific Coast. If you can live with the appearance, the rest of the thing is perfect. Good gas mileage, silent and vibration-free operation even at freeway speeds.

Sure, it won't win a drag race with a sport bike. But it's fast enough and much better in the twisties than your average large cruiser. It racks up the miles with the most minimal of maintenance. And there's that gigantic trunk built in, of course.

People do think it's a scooter, though.

I was looking for a Pacific Coast when I accidently sat on a Road King. I still would like to get one some day. Though they are a bit tall and awkward for me. I've always loved the trunk design of the Pacific Coast.

I would like to try a late model Goldwing, someday. Honda dealers around here are uptight about test rides, though, unlike Harley dealers.

Its probably not correct that we called the Pacific Coast a homobike, Is it?

A very, very good homobike, but still...

I've owned quite a few bikes, but these were a few of my favorites

In reply to Trans_Maro:

Thank you

My first bike was a 1983 Honda 450 I bought for $400 20 years ago. I rode it the first day I bought it and on the second day the engine blew up leaving my cousins house. looked just like this one

Then I didn't have a bike again until last year. And because it hasn't blew up yet I have to say it's better than my first one

You always remember your first...mine was a 1980 CX500. I bought it for $1,000 when it was already 20 years old, and at that price it came with a second CX500 for spares. I rode it for 10 years without a single issue, then sold it for $1,500. Can't beat that! I really loved that old girl..I can't imagine what a CX650 Eurosport would be like considering what a great foundation they started from!

I've had a 1983 Suzuki GS750. Good old buffalo of a bike. Old school tech though.

A 1999 Honda Shadow 600. Good looking bike but with no power and a 4 speed was dangerously slow.

After getting divorced I bought a 1994 Honda Magna 750. Awesome bike, the looks are good, ergonomics are decent and power is MORE than enough. I should have been satisfied with it but....

I wanted a more powerful and sportier bike so I traded the Magna on a 1995 Kawasaki Concours 1000. Buzzy grips, hard on my back ergonomics. Stupidly fast (Ninja 1000 with saddlebags). Had it about 2 weeks before my lack of skill reared its ugly head and I went down. Hard.

Third generation Magna is probably the best do everything bike for short money. Not perfect but darned good. That said, I'm done with bikes. Falling down hurts.

Well I haven't been on 2 wheels for too long but my first bike was better than my second in so many ways.

2009 Yamaha XT250 (Don't let the year fool you, this bike is a relic and will probably run forever with zero maintenance)

The compression was like 9.5-1, it had a simple carb, and an informative gauge cluster. It was easy to ride and powerful enough for up to 60 with comfort, 75 without. It probably used 7 gallons of gas the entire time I owned it and I beat it to death on the trails. Best part, bought it for 2k, rode it for a year, installed new tires ($119 shipped) in there somewhere and sold it for $2500. It was just not setup for someone who is 6'2" and 220 lbs. I SHOULD have resprung it and kept it but I got antsy and bought a Husky 449 with triple the power that needs constant care and attention.

The best one was my '78 GS750E. I rode that thing all over the country and it never let me down.

My 77 Suzuki GS400 (images are not my bikes - they are long gone and I have no photos :

I met at least 9 other guys in town that owned this thing before I did. Not even my brother could kill it. I bought it for $275 and sold it for $250 after 5 years of ownership. How's that for depreciation???

The most fun?

My 77 Yamaha RD 400 - bought it in pieces for $50 and rebuilt it:

I loved my honda cb350 - mainly because it was my first street bike and such a nice little commuter. Loved the triumph daytona 955, but would have liked a speed triple with the daytona engine better - awesome sound, great torque and still revs to 11,000

This would be either my current Buell 1125CR for the pure, E36 M3-eating-grin stupid fast insanity of it. There may be faster bikes, but I have never encountered anything else that delivers its' acceleration in such a brutal and monstrous fashion:

Or maybe my first bike, an old Yamaha XT600, not because it was actually good at anything, but it WOULD.NOT.DIE. No wreck, drowning, vandalism, etc. could kill that tough bastard, and thanks to its' lack of both an electric starter and a compression release, to this day I find pretty much everything super easy to kickstart.

I've been riding on the street since I was 14 and I've got to say the modern stuff is the E36 M3 if you ride a lot (imo of course). My favorite is my BMW k1300s, followed by my old k1200s, followed by my old Yamaha YZF600 that was a very well rounded bike.

Nicksta43 I still have an 82 Honda 450 that looks a lot like the bike you posted. I used to street race that thing when I was in my teens....didn't win much though!

Well, as it sure as hell wasn't the SV650.......its gotta be the 10r. Dead nuts reliable, and the perfect bike to remind you "Be mindful of the throttle, or......I KILL YOU!"

Theres nothing else like a first gen, and there never will be again.

Hands-down it was a VFR-750 that I bought brand new out of the crate fresh from Japan in '96. I rode that damn thing from PHL to Pittsburgh every week for a whole summer. I rode it to the Outer Banks, DC, to work every day I could. It never once broke, faltered or stopped being awesome in 30k miles. I'm still not sure why I sold it.

not "the" first, that was a Suzuki TrailHopper... but I got my license on it so it's the best. The others along the way were just too reliable or fast or comfortable.

This was my favorite bike that I owned. 1988 BMW K100 LT. It was an awesome touring bike that you could toss into a corner and still have some fun with. Not as nimble as my R series I had before this bike but it was a great bike that I enjoyed putting all of the almost 100K miles on.

My 2000 WR400F, hands down. It was reliable, had great suspension and was brutally fast. It made power EVERYWHERE; in second gear I could let it drop down to where you could almost count the power strokes, whack the throttle and it would just LEAP, the power peaked at about 10k RPM which was ~85 MPH in 5th. It never failed to terrify me which made it perfect.

It was just like this one, except I had an ACERBIS 3.3 gallon tank, YZ seat and rear fender instead of the stocker.

It also had an FMF Q series pipe, Renthal 'Button Bend' tall bars, a bar mount hot start, JT steel sprockets and a buddy revalved the forks and shock to my liking. LOVED that bike!

2004 Aprilia Milie Factory.

Technically not the best bike I owned - that would be my CBR929, but the Aprilia was the most "exceptional" bike I have ever owned. It just made you feel special when riding it. I had a Ducati Monster prior to this, so it wasn’t my first Italian bike.

I painted it red, it had the blue OZ wheels as well as Akraprovic exhaust and full Ohlins front and back.

Since then I have had 2 other Ducati monsters and my wife has a Ducati superbike, but the Aprilia was different. Most people who would talk to you about bikes had heard of Ducati, but back then almost no one had heard of or seen a Aprilia.

In the end it was just too hard core for the type of riding that we do. I did a 1500 mile 3 day weekend thru KY, NC, SC, WV, VA, TN and GA including the tail of the dragon. I was hurting so bad that it just wasn’t fun after the first few tanks of gas each day.

2009 Aprilia Tuono Factory

See isn't this a much better thread

78 Suzuki GS 1000L