My father took a little video of me and my ex-wife leaving his house back in early 1980. I'd only had the bike for a couple months and was still learning, hadn't gotten good at it yet, hadn't learned that the best way to lift the front end of that bike was with the clutch (I was still a bit tentative). I was using fork bounce in this clip and my Dad missed a little bit of the short results. Old Super 8 video, no sound unfortunately or it would be the only audio of the Denco 6-6 pipes I'd have.
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What is your definitive marque/ brand of motorcycle.
- Thread starter matty
- Start date
I have owned mostly Yamaha's and Kawasaki's but when I was young my dream bikes were Honda's. First the Trail 70 then the CB125 and then later bigger Honda's like the CB400T Hawk and CB750 with the Twin Cam engine. When I eventually got around to buying bikes Honda never made what I wanted at the time so I always bought another brand. In the last few years Honda has IMO taken the lead with their tiny/small bikes. It reminds me of when Honda first made it big here by selling fun and reliable small bikes. The last few years there have been a number of those small Honda's that caught my eye.
I finally went out and bought myself a Honda:
I finally went out and bought myself a Honda:
For what my particular passion in motorcycling is I'd have to say it's KTM hands down. My first street legal bike was a DS, a Yamaha XT350 and in a way that determined what I wanted in a bike, or at least the basis of it. It wasn't a performance bike by any means but it did have a 4 valve motor, six-speed wide-ratio transmission and disc brake (on the front) and of course it was street-plated. It wasn't e-start but in 1988 that 86 XT350 was ridiculously easy to start anyway because it wasn't a high compression motor. Fast forward a decade and I'd developped a penchant for exploring any and all old trails and roads that I saw. The XT was being flogged into doing things it was never designed for and (at the risk of sounding like I'm bragging) I could outride it easily which got me in trouble a few times. As a kid growing up in the 70s I didn't see European bikes in person. The "Enduro Bike Of The Year" awards in the magazines always went to a Husqvarna that simply did not exist in my reality. We had Japanese bikes and that was it. We either had Japanese DS bikes that had foofoo suspensions and brakes or we plated Enduro bikes (Like Honda XRs and Yamaha TTs) that were a bit better for off-road or we even went so far as to use MX bikes because they had the best suspension, brakes and performance of the lot. They each had something I wanted in a bike but no bike had them all.
Then Y2K came along and Orange came to town. I'm specifially talking about the RFS motor bikes. When I saw the 520EXC and what it was I knew it was a game-changer. It had a (then) race-performance motor with electric-start and a 6-speed wide-ratio transmission. It was relatively light and it came with good suspension. It was a plated dirtbike as it was mechanically identical to its off-road counterparts. Where the vernerable Honda XRs were loved for reliability and robustness along came this new bike that took over the torch and did it all better. Those 2000-2007 KTM RFS bikes are to this day capable of being mercilessly abused and put away wet. The most important thing was that there was now a decent dealer network and you could get parts and support, something only previously enjoyed by owners of Japanese bikes.
My very first ride on a 525EXC was an epiphany and the bike was mine within minutes. It had checked every box and done so in commanding fashion. I plated it, I dual-sported it, I raced it (Enduros, XCs, Rallies and even MX), I adventured on it. It was a total bullshit bike capable of anything I wanted to do with it. I still have that 05 525EXC, and an 03 525EXC, and an 01 520SX, and a few parts bikes to keep the others going because in this day and age one usually has to resort to buying complete bikes to get parts that are no longer available new. I'll always have these bikes. I'm old and as much as the new bikes have 20 years of technology increases in them I cannot outride my old RFS bikes. Oh sure I have a 2021 Beta 500RRS to replace my 525EXC as a plated dirtbike but in some ways the KTM is still a better bike than the new Italian redhead.
"Ok so you like off-road and compromise road comfort to have bikes that work very well for that purpose!" Well I also have a KTM 950 Adventure and in whatever form I present it in, it can overlap into what my 525EXC can do or I can ride from one end of the country to the other. My 950 wears of-road tires, minimum 70-80% off-road knobbies. I take it into places a big bike really has no business and it has more performance than I have ability. It's a purchase that is born from my desire to explore. I had explored everything within range of my 525EXC and I was at the point I needed to put it in the box of my truck and haul it out and carry gas cans with me to explore further. The 950 solved that. I could easily do HWY in comfort to get where I wanted to explore and the increased range meant I could go farther. When I found something cool and nasty then I could come back with the little bike and really explore it if need be. To me there was nothing else that really compared to the 950 in what it was and what it could do. It seems that all manufacturers went away from off-road capable (on that level) big bikes and until the release of the 790/890 there really wasn't anything in the same league. And sure Yamaha has the T7 but as good as it may be it's still no match for an 890 for the type of riding I do IMO.
The above is written in a "what if you could only ride one brand?" scenario. I do not imply that there is a KTM model at the top no matter what. I still enjoy my 1983 Honda XL250, I still can't wait to get my little XL175s going, I'm almost done making an old CT90 a runner... The truth is that sometimes I just want to go slow in the trails and there is litteraly no KTM that you can plonk around (say with a kid on a beginner bike) on and not have boil over because you're not flowing enough air through the rads. Maybe a little 2T could do it but truth be told I'm a 4T guy and I like the caracteristics of 4T motors. The XL250 is so quiet I hear only wind noises past 20mph and talk about sneaking up on wildlife with it! Anyway, the list of good bikes is a pretty long one but for me, drinking the Kool-Aid over 15 years ago got me hook, line and sinker. And I have zero regrets about that.
Sean
Then Y2K came along and Orange came to town. I'm specifially talking about the RFS motor bikes. When I saw the 520EXC and what it was I knew it was a game-changer. It had a (then) race-performance motor with electric-start and a 6-speed wide-ratio transmission. It was relatively light and it came with good suspension. It was a plated dirtbike as it was mechanically identical to its off-road counterparts. Where the vernerable Honda XRs were loved for reliability and robustness along came this new bike that took over the torch and did it all better. Those 2000-2007 KTM RFS bikes are to this day capable of being mercilessly abused and put away wet. The most important thing was that there was now a decent dealer network and you could get parts and support, something only previously enjoyed by owners of Japanese bikes.
My very first ride on a 525EXC was an epiphany and the bike was mine within minutes. It had checked every box and done so in commanding fashion. I plated it, I dual-sported it, I raced it (Enduros, XCs, Rallies and even MX), I adventured on it. It was a total bullshit bike capable of anything I wanted to do with it. I still have that 05 525EXC, and an 03 525EXC, and an 01 520SX, and a few parts bikes to keep the others going because in this day and age one usually has to resort to buying complete bikes to get parts that are no longer available new. I'll always have these bikes. I'm old and as much as the new bikes have 20 years of technology increases in them I cannot outride my old RFS bikes. Oh sure I have a 2021 Beta 500RRS to replace my 525EXC as a plated dirtbike but in some ways the KTM is still a better bike than the new Italian redhead.
"Ok so you like off-road and compromise road comfort to have bikes that work very well for that purpose!" Well I also have a KTM 950 Adventure and in whatever form I present it in, it can overlap into what my 525EXC can do or I can ride from one end of the country to the other. My 950 wears of-road tires, minimum 70-80% off-road knobbies. I take it into places a big bike really has no business and it has more performance than I have ability. It's a purchase that is born from my desire to explore. I had explored everything within range of my 525EXC and I was at the point I needed to put it in the box of my truck and haul it out and carry gas cans with me to explore further. The 950 solved that. I could easily do HWY in comfort to get where I wanted to explore and the increased range meant I could go farther. When I found something cool and nasty then I could come back with the little bike and really explore it if need be. To me there was nothing else that really compared to the 950 in what it was and what it could do. It seems that all manufacturers went away from off-road capable (on that level) big bikes and until the release of the 790/890 there really wasn't anything in the same league. And sure Yamaha has the T7 but as good as it may be it's still no match for an 890 for the type of riding I do IMO.
The above is written in a "what if you could only ride one brand?" scenario. I do not imply that there is a KTM model at the top no matter what. I still enjoy my 1983 Honda XL250, I still can't wait to get my little XL175s going, I'm almost done making an old CT90 a runner... The truth is that sometimes I just want to go slow in the trails and there is litteraly no KTM that you can plonk around (say with a kid on a beginner bike) on and not have boil over because you're not flowing enough air through the rads. Maybe a little 2T could do it but truth be told I'm a 4T guy and I like the caracteristics of 4T motors. The XL250 is so quiet I hear only wind noises past 20mph and talk about sneaking up on wildlife with it! Anyway, the list of good bikes is a pretty long one but for me, drinking the Kool-Aid over 15 years ago got me hook, line and sinker. And I have zero regrets about that.
Sean
GMK999
Well-known member
Was BMW .. But now it's Beta. I'm older, not wiser.
John Macdonald
We can't stop here, this is bat country!
So many bikes
At this time and for the past twenty or so years, the BMW twins have held my attention more than anything.
When I was a youngster, Yamaha and their parallel twin two-stroke bikes had me and many other bikes in their line seemed pretty entertaining. As a teenager I worked in sales at a huge Yamaha dealer. Sold lots of bikes on my enthusiasm - test rides with the clients were a sure shot.
To some extent as I contemplate growing up, I find myself attracted to the older bikes. My R60/2 is answering much of my needs for a ride lately, and I'm finding myself looking at older bikes with new interest. For instance I've been asking around for friends to keep an ear out for a Panhead in baskets to put together as something to slouch around on.
Although I don't think that any particular bike brand defines me, the BMW twins do it for me more than anything else.
For the right pile of old alloy and rust, I can be tempted by some other makers.
Anyone have a Panhead in boxes they want to part with..?
At this time and for the past twenty or so years, the BMW twins have held my attention more than anything.
When I was a youngster, Yamaha and their parallel twin two-stroke bikes had me and many other bikes in their line seemed pretty entertaining. As a teenager I worked in sales at a huge Yamaha dealer. Sold lots of bikes on my enthusiasm - test rides with the clients were a sure shot.
To some extent as I contemplate growing up, I find myself attracted to the older bikes. My R60/2 is answering much of my needs for a ride lately, and I'm finding myself looking at older bikes with new interest. For instance I've been asking around for friends to keep an ear out for a Panhead in baskets to put together as something to slouch around on.
Although I don't think that any particular bike brand defines me, the BMW twins do it for me more than anything else.
For the right pile of old alloy and rust, I can be tempted by some other makers.
Anyone have a Panhead in boxes they want to part with..?
DesmoDog
Well-known member
I named my dog Desmo. Do the math. 
foxtrapper
Member
There’s not a bike maker out there that defines me. Not a car maker, a music style, a food or nation.
JimVonBaden
Kool Aid!
Bearcat
Well-known member
Honda, Yamaha, and KTM were the first to come to mind. I've owned more of those brands than any other, but there's no brand loyalty here. I usually purchase used and work on my bikes, so reliability and parts availability are the main requirements.
laurient
country memba
Mostly Yamaha always Jap except for one French moped