So, since I've got nothing better to do than sit and rehab the knee and vape like a maniac, I
started thinking about all the old bikes I've owned. Which ones were dogs and which ones I'd
take back.
First bike. Neighbors 1977 CB350. Rebuilt the carbs and rode it to Lake Tahoe. Sparkly gold open face helmet and blue nylon jacket complete with gardening gloves. I thought I was a real Motorcyclist.
2nd bike 1979 Yamaha XS750 triple. Bought it for $250. It had a loose battery ground wire, but also had
a 3:1 race pipe. Whoohoo ! A heavy pig but the first bike I ever dragraced. ( Very,very slow)
Jumping ahead I ended up working for Yamaha. Bought my first new bikes. 1987 YZ250. (Worst forks ever put on a bike, but stone reliable. I loved that thing) And a XS650 Seca Turbo. Ended up putting an 18" front wheel from a Yamaha Vision on it. Dramatically improved handling and looks. Also had it custom painted to mimic the FJ1100. First bike I ever dragged knee on. Around that time I started road racing on a salvage FZ600
that I fixed up. Not a fast bike but fun.
For street I ended up with 2 VFR 700/750. I loved the way those things looked and sounded. Sold the 700
and modified the Hell out of the 750. Suzuki front and rear ends, Ducati mufflers, 837 cc Big Bore motor.
That's one I wish I'd kept. But had tons of trouble with melting rectifiers. Didn't know how to fix it back then. I do now. Moved on to a 2001 ZX900 Ninja. Again, bought it salvage. Rebuilt the carbs. Absolutely wonderful bike. Sold that and bought my friend's 1986 Ninja 1000. I previously had rebuilt the motor and knew it was in good shape. But then had the clutch basket completely disintegrate. Cleaned that up, then had a brand new chain snap and take out the crankcase. Sooooo on to something new. 1986 Honda XL600. That thing was stupid fun. Could wheelie everywhere. Put a 17" front wheel on and raced a season on Formula Singles. Stock suspension so I was wallowing all over the place, and giggling like a lunatic the entire time. Finished 10th overall. At the same time I was racing a 1987 Yamaha YSR 50 with a 1992 YZ80 motor stuffed in it in the NorCal Mini Road racing series. That was really a giggle too.
For street I moved on to a wrecked 2004 ZX10R that I rebuilt into a street fighter. Horrible forks but pretty fun. That bike got stolen. For racing I was now on a 1989 Yamaha TZR250 Reverse Cylinder, followed by a 1991 Yamaha TZR250 V twin. Big fun. Finished 3rd overall in 250 Superbike in 2007 in my last year.
Finally I got to my present bikes. 2004 KTM 450/540 EXC I will be racing Supermoto. 2005 Yamaha Zuma 50 I got for free. 1983 Suzuki GS750E I am restoring. And of course my 2006 ZX14 that I've had for over 6 years and still love dearly.
There were other bikes along the way (1987 CBR600 Hurricane for one) but these are the standouts.
Look for updates as I continue to be bored out of my skull during recovery. Ill try to post some pictures later.

Mad

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 12/14/2020 @ 11:17 AM *

Those are all cool but my favorites are the Honda 750 and the Yamaha. What the hell kind of rotors are those? They look like trashcan lids!

You mean the wheels on the YSR?
Those are Douglas billet aluminium racing wheels. Serious money was spent on those
small bikes. Team Calimari showed up with highly modified YSR50 motors that
they had put $2500 in.
I won my only race in GP80 on the YSR/YZ.

Mad

Quite the history there. I’m 43 but have only owned 3 bikes. Started riding at 5 yrs old on a 1972 Honda MR50 Elsinore dirtbike. Rode the wheels off that thing for several yrs almost daily. From there I got into ATV’s through my teen years and eventually got in to Fox body 5.0 stuff, with two Ford lightning street trucks, 2003 cobra ect.

Then I decided to get back in to bikes. Picked up a brand new 2005 ZX-10R that I rode for a while then sold. Was without a bike for several years and the itch started again. Bought my 2013 ZX-14R in April of 2014 and have been loving it ever since. I will never be without a bike from here on out.

I didn't start riding until I was 20. But I've probably had around 20-25 bikes since then.
Among the notables
1981 Yamaha XS650 Special 2. Bought it brand new. Luckily roommate totalled it after 3 months. Didn't really like that one.
2 each 1977 TT500. One highly modified. Learned how to dirt ride on those
1983 IT400. My first 2 stroke and first bike I ever motocrossed.
2 different 1979 Yamaha XS750 triples. A pretty good bike all considering
Later on in my 3rd year road racing 1987 CBR600 Hurricane. Great bike
1991 CBR600F2. Bought it from a friend. Put almost 100k miles on it between me and my son.
2 each 1983 Honda XL600R. One was great. The other a complete pig
FJ600 Yamaha for the wife
1979 GL1000 Goldthing. Never,ever got that thing running right. Still managed to get a speeding ticket before it blew both head gaskets
A Japanese market VFR400 NC30 for the second wife. That's another one we wish we had back
At one point I had 9 bikes and 2 jet skiis in my garage.
I used to import grey market 2 Strokes from Japan. But I don't count any of those.
I don't think I'm done yet. Got my eye on a 1290 Superduke and possibly a DR650.

Mad

Your text to link here...

Ok, continuing with the time wasting, I now present some pictures of the bikes I used to import. Mainly 250cc 2 Strokes from Japan. These pictures were sent from the exporter, all bodywork was removed and bubble wrapped. We bought all the bikes from the BDS Superworld auctions. Unbelievably cheap prices but this was years ago. Later we imported 2ea RVF400 NC35. Those were nice. To give you an idea of the prices, I paid $450 for my 2001 Yamaha TZR250

And, for giggles, here's some pictures from back in the day when I used to go to the USGP at Laguna Secs.
Wayne Rainey and Kevin Magee
Randy Mamola on the Cagiva
Kevin Schwantz

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 12/18/2020 @ 2:13 PM *

those pic's probably bring back memory of some great times

Good for you Mad, hope you heal up and ride again another day soon

Christmas Christmas

Thanks crude,
Knee still swollen a bit. Left leg looks like it belongs on an Auschwitz victim.
I'm going to dig up some more pictures. Ill post them here. Plenty of time, I still
have 2 months of sitting to go.

Mad