I don't care whether you've done once round the parking lot or a squillion miles.

What was the best bike you've ever experienced, why - and if you have a pic, please post!

To pick one is very hard. Every bike I've ridden has given me some special memories.

For me probably the two main stand outs have been the CB125TDC and the VFR750.

The CB125 was brilliant because I had just sold the Yam RS125, which was a dog. The CB felt like a refined big bike. It had electric start, twin exhausts, four stroke engine, 12v electrics and felt solid when you rode it. Maybe it just felt so good because the RS had been so awful. I didn't really get to have a full summers worth of riding on it but the few months that I did get, were superb.

The VFR750 has been the bike which has taken me everywhere. For a bike that is 13 years old, its in pretty good condition. I remember the day I saw it in the bike shop, the old XBR had been in for an MOT and I was hanging around waiting for the results. I spotted this big red machine in the window and knew it had to be mine but I didn't really have the cash. In the end, it was the wife that said I should go for it. She took one look at the bike and said, you really want it, don't you. The rest is history.

The bike is great. Its fast, it handles (although the rear shock is pretty tired), and its never let me down when I've been out. It may have protested a few times but its always got me home. When you open it up, the roar of the exhausts is something special. It doesn't really kick you in the pants, it just accelerates hard, all through the rev range.

Its given me memories of trips to Cambridge and Scarborough and also trips up north through Glen Coe with the lad on the back and getting caught in some of the worst rain imaginable. Then stopping at Arrochar for a cup of tea and a sandwich or maybe riding down past Loch Eck. My earlier bikes contented themselves with the occasional trip to Largs but the VFR has really opened up my options.

For me, the VFR has probably been the bike and the good thing is, I still own it.

I've always thought the best bike I've ever had is the one I own at the time. That's probably because I've not really had a bad experience with any of them and have gradually worked my way up through the capacity range until getting to the FJR which is again the best bike I've ever owned. The list has been CG125, GPz305, CB500, CBR600, VFR800 and now FJR1300. As for pics this was the VFR at its shiniest best



This is it after the pillock pulled across me and knocked me off



And the FJR is in my avatar

i've had 15-20 something bikes, so its a hard question to answer, all have made me smile, curse, cry, etc. i have to say the ZZR1100 is the one that does everything for me-its the only one i've had that i'm not thinking of replacing-it handles, is good in traffic, awsome power on tap, comfy,great for pillions,not too expensive to run. its also my avatar so you just have to look to your left m8-paintjob is obsolete now-wait till next year to see the new one.

I really must resize that picture

like everyone else its hard pick and choose, but two stand out against the rest
first was my first "real" bike a Kawasaki KH250b4, i got it new, 6 months before i legally could ride it!!
sorry the pictures crap but its only one i have the fairing thats on it was fitted in the last month of owning it


next would have to be my CX500, i owned it three years, it went thro some massive changes over that time
its the bike i had when i met Ruby, i won't say how and when coz she'll kill me
on its last winter rebuilt it got a nice 2-4 seat, back to standard exhausts(it did have a piper 2-1, which sounded crap and knocked 10mph off the top end!), new paint job in candy apple red, lost its stupid headlamp surround and got seperate clocks/headlamp, lost its rear mudguard and a better front one, drilled discs, drag bars
got it on the road 6 wks later we met the side of mr Fisher's car!
resulting in this.....


then my brother in law borrowed it and the cam chain tensioner broke resulting in the cam chain digging big chunks out of the crank case... i sold it, a mate fixed it but didn't flush the engine, and it never saw the light of day again

erm nightmare choice here, but the two I have sold and miss the most are

... my 1962 Harley Panhead

not mine but look at the gorgeous lines on that engine... dribble (the prettiest and best sounding bike I have owned - sold cos with hydraulic drum brakes every time you left enough braking distance someone overtook into the gap )

..and my 900 Triumph tiger


(the best tourer for europe, especially rural roads in Belgium and Irelands - Sold cos of leg problems that meant I couldnt ride it anymore, mine was a blue one)


I'd have another Panhead tommorow, but it would have to be electric start, but the Tiger is too tall for me these days even though the legs are fixed now.



Best all-rounder, got to be the Raptor,



slick in corners, fast, grin-making, comfortable and stable with camping gear on!




(But then this is someone who considers this....

to be a sports tourer )


None of these are my bikes, but they give the idea.

nice VFR Ian!
has anyone noticed the case of "most haunted"here? i can almost hear Evete Fielding running away screaming from the "orb" near the VFR's back wheel

water on the lens matey water on the lens

Rd 350 lc, kenny Roberts paint.
stan stevens stage 2 tune,
Gorgeous, got rid of it coz a certain lady
talked me into it

Looks almost like the Princess Leia hologram in Star Wars "Help me Ob-Wan..."

Nope I tell a lie it was careless use of Photochop taking out the bottle of motorcycle cleaner.

cd 200 benly that got crashed and made all caff racery with clip ons and homemade tail end. It was a lovely little bike that didnt go very fast at all but felt good doing it.

Probably think it was sh!te now!

Dunno about the best, but I had a go on an original Jota many years ago - the 180 degree crank one, before they civilized them


By God it was scarey. Huge gobs of power and it shook like a Japanese skyscraper. Excellent handling but the suspension meant you came back minus all your filings

That'll be me then!!

Certainly not the best, cos it was an old nail, but the most enjoyable bike I've riden was a CX500. It was the later Eurostyle single-shock one, it was lent to me while my GT was off the road and I really loved the feel and the sound of it. That's why I want to get one for the basis of a trike.

The best bike I've ridden will be the Kawasaki GT550 that I recently dropped on my leg - it's not at all exciting but it really is almost perfect for the job it's designed for - travelling a long way in comfort with lots of luggage and minimum problems. Very comfy seat (never had a sore bum even when I did 650 miles in less than 2 days), hooge fuel tank means no worries abt refulelling, very reliable, doesn't care if it's wet or cold, handles better with loads of luggage than it does without....

I can say without a shadow of a doubt, hand on heart, that the best bike I've ever ridden is a 1997 600 Bandit.




But then that's the only one I've ever ridden really... I can't even remember what the 125 or 250 I had years ago was

Suki, are you Christ's auntie.





or is that the anti-christ.

:tounge:

Two bikes come in as joint favourite for the best bike I've ever ridden. A Honda CBX 750, excellent handling , good performance and nice looks, just like me and a Yamaha XS 400, the DOHC monoshock version. The little Yamaha was pretty rare It's still the only one I've ever seen, the handling was excellent and the performance was good enough for me at the time. I sold the CBX because I spent too much buying it in the first place and the Yamaha because I'd bought it very cheap and then found out how rare they were I got more than twice what I paid for it.

cb200 simply cos it was the first

hammered it to death for about 2 years without even changing the oil ( beyond my technical skills !!)

part-chopped it for me first car when i found out how uncomfortable it is to sha........ermmm, become aquainted , on a bike

yay i got one of those!