But that doesn't mean there are bikes of our past that we don't miss and still wish we had, circumstances permitting.
So my question to you is which of your bikes (no more than 5) do you still wish were yours and why aren't they?
For me:
1. My TL1000S:
The only bike I ever bought new. It's power was stupendous and I was the fastest I'd ever been on it: it's power delivery and size all suited me very well. However, a year after buying it on 60% HP, the costs were just too great. I was doing above average miles on it, commuting, some light touring and Sundays out and the fully comp insurance for a guy in his early 20s was crippling, not to mention 3 year tyres in the first year and the obligatory main dealer servicing for warranty purposes. I sold it with a heavy heart but got a TDM 850 as a replacement. Lower power for sure, but not so much that I felt like I was on a moped.
2. My R1150GS:
I bought that bike for a trip around South America with my now ex-wife, then girlfriend. We did the trip and despite my utter lack of off-road skills, and a laden weight of 450kg it performed. It met its end on the Hogarth roundabout on my commute home when a nice lady didn't understand that they centre lane of the A4 was not for peeling off towards Richmond. It and I were shunted into the barrier. It died, I survived. They called out the air ambulance from White Chapel, can you believe it? It must have looked bad but the bike took the and I was only badly winded and with a very twisted ankle.
3. My CBR600FH:
My first "big bike" after a string of VFR400 NC24s. This bike was what I rode to get me to my industrial placement year in Dijon, Burgundy. It was an FH, from '90. The last of the jelly-moulds. I got it for 2400, if I recall. I wanted the next gen one, ideally but used prices said no. I did some crazy stuff on that bike. I rode it all year, riding back to London for Christmas. In order to get an extra day of holiday this genius decided to ride home overnight. 2/3rds of the way back to Calais and I was hypothermic and exhausted and full of coffees. It took me ages to get back with all the stops and spend the "extra day" I'd earned in bad having fitful caffeine dreams. On another occasion, again not thinking at my most mature I utterly nailed it back down from London, making the journey in under 6 hours, including the tunnel. Not clever. It also met is end with me astride it, but not for any tomfoolery. On my last weekend a guy pulled out in front of me on an open country road. I was doing 50mph and I'd been visible to him for about 500m. He just hadn't registered me. I hit his car, totalling it and avoid decapitation by about 25 cm. I miraculously only had non live threatening injuries but all the same life-changing.
4. My Dominator 650 SM:
Just because it was my first super moto that I had built. I got a set of Hagon wheels made up for it and I knew then that I had been right: Super Motos were for me. I've had three now: that Dommie, an XR400R and my Transalp (although being a twin, it's not a bonafide one). That bike was mad as... so much fun in town, being my commute bike. I sold it, thinking I'd try something else (used to sell a bike once a year and move on back then) but often found myself wishing I hadn't. It wouldn't have been a lifer, but I think I'd have enjoyed it another year or two.
5. My CB-1 NC27:
an impulse buy when looking for a commuter bike. This little naked grey import had a 400cc Babyblade gear-driven engine that whirred and whined. I put a secondhand Fireblade rear shock and chopped two coils of the soft end of the progressive forks and fitted a Givi front headlight cowling. It was nimble, quick enough and never let me down. I sold it when I decide to move here. as with the Dommie, I think I'd have enjoyed it had I kept.
All the other bikes certainly had positives. None I truly hated but done were more me than others. But those are the 5 top missed bikes.
So, what about you? No need to be as detailed as mine, although it is a Sunday and I would like to know why those bikes you miss are no longer with you.
Edited by SeizedBalt, 10 May 2020 - 11:04 am.