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I thought it would be fun to show off previous bikes for those of us who have had them. I've been riding for 5 years and I have had as many bikes in that amount of time.
The first motorcycle (that wasn't a scooter and had a clutch) that I owned was a Honda Phantom 200cc. I had no idea how to ride a motorcycle with a clutch but bought one anyway. I went to the Honda shop with my wife, paid for the bike, and asked for a quick lesson. One of the mechanics explained (in Thai) the mechanics of the clutch while my wife translated. I decided that it would not be safe for me to ride that day as the shop was on a very busy road in a pretty big city. The mechanic drove me home while I sat on the back
I downloaded some Youtube videos and did my best to learn how to ride. There were no riding lessons available (Thais grow up with motorcycles) where I lived, especially not in English!
I also remember 2 other incidents that were scary/embarrassing. One incident was when my wife and I were stopped at a red light on a major road and the light changed to green. We were stopped in front with the other scooters and motorcycles of a long line of cars. It was the perfect time to stall! All the motorcycles/scooters took off and there we were holding up hundreds of cars! My wife was yelling in my ear. Priceless!
Another incident was after I (sorta) learned how to ride and I was on my way to work. I wanted to make a Uturn (I can't remember why) so I pulled in the clutch and drifted (stupidly) in an arch until eventually the bike's weight pulled me to the road. A woman with a little shop at the side of the road came running to help me pull the bike up! I thanked her profusely with a red face inside my helmet.
After getting the hang of riding the little chopper with the red flames I decided I was tired of reading on the internet of how the bike was under-powered and the laughs I would get from macho Thai guys when they saw my little bike. It was time for something BIGGER!
This is a picture of the day I bought my Honda Super 4 Tech 1 and had yet to sell the Phantom.
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Embarrassing story...I had just got a new job that was 25km from where I lived and was riding to my new supervisor's house because my wife was going to babysit his daughter. We were blasting along and all of a sudden my wife says "there, that's his road". I start to shift down and hit the breaks to get ready to turn into his little side street. Unfortunately, there was a mixture of sand/gravel on the should of the road. The front tire locked and we went down. I was wearing a helmet that had a visor but no chin protection. When the bike went down, I ended up with a little bit of my chin between the road and the plastic visor. Painful! My poor wife (who's gone off bikes with me more than once) cut up her knee and still has the scars
A few replacement parts and the bike was like new...
I loved my Tech 1 (CB400). It was fast and it looked great. The sound of the engine was amazing. No matter where I went, the heads would turn. I had bought the bike second hand already knowledgeable to the fact that it was a "grey import". It had a "red plate" that was issued by the police to the guy who sold it to me but it was not really road legal. There was talk on the internet about bikes that were "grey imports" being taken away by the police. It would have cost me a lot of money to make the bike legal so I decided to sell it.
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The next bike I owned was the Ninja 250. That bike was great. I never (NOT ONCE!) put that bike down. Sure we had a few close calls, but hey, this is Thailand! I loved that bike but decided I needed something bigger for long distance touring which I did with a Thai motorcycle gang of >400cc bikes.
After the Ninjette, I bought a Kawasaki ER6N. This bike was POWERFUL. My wife and I are a combined weight off 100 kilograms. There would be times I would twist that throttle and vrooom we would GOOOOOOOOO. I had bought the bike second hand already loaded with Givi panniers and a top box. It's amazing that my wife was able to fit all her crap onto a bike with no luggage and then adapt to fill a bike with tonnes of luggage and still have crap left over for a tank bag and a backpack.
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I really enjoyed that bike but only used it for touring. Due to a job change, we moved to a small town. At first my wife would take me to work on our little 115CC scooter and drop me off while my ER6N sat outside our place hardly ever used. I decided that it was too big to ride in our little town and we weren't doing much touring. It was time to step down in size.
I was able to sell the ER6N for the same price I had purchased it, 2 years later FTW!
Enter the CBR250...... The CBR250 has been a great scooter-commuter. I use it everyday for work and also on the occasional long-haul weekend tour. I've purchased a tank guard and a touring screen but that's it for now. The bike is great for in-town riding, but if I had unlimited funds, I would definitely buy an additional bike for touring.
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Whoops. Looks like I messed up the title! Will also put up some pics right away..
The first motorcycle (that wasn't a scooter and had a clutch) that I owned was a Honda Phantom 200cc. I had no idea how to ride a motorcycle with a clutch but bought one anyway. I went to the Honda shop with my wife, paid for the bike, and asked for a quick lesson. One of the mechanics explained (in Thai) the mechanics of the clutch while my wife translated. I decided that it would not be safe for me to ride that day as the shop was on a very busy road in a pretty big city. The mechanic drove me home while I sat on the back
I downloaded some Youtube videos and did my best to learn how to ride. There were no riding lessons available (Thais grow up with motorcycles) where I lived, especially not in English!
I also remember 2 other incidents that were scary/embarrassing. One incident was when my wife and I were stopped at a red light on a major road and the light changed to green. We were stopped in front with the other scooters and motorcycles of a long line of cars. It was the perfect time to stall! All the motorcycles/scooters took off and there we were holding up hundreds of cars! My wife was yelling in my ear. Priceless!
Another incident was after I (sorta) learned how to ride and I was on my way to work. I wanted to make a Uturn (I can't remember why) so I pulled in the clutch and drifted (stupidly) in an arch until eventually the bike's weight pulled me to the road. A woman with a little shop at the side of the road came running to help me pull the bike up! I thanked her profusely with a red face inside my helmet.
After getting the hang of riding the little chopper with the red flames I decided I was tired of reading on the internet of how the bike was under-powered and the laughs I would get from macho Thai guys when they saw my little bike. It was time for something BIGGER!
This is a picture of the day I bought my Honda Super 4 Tech 1 and had yet to sell the Phantom.
Embarrassing story...I had just got a new job that was 25km from where I lived and was riding to my new supervisor's house because my wife was going to babysit his daughter. We were blasting along and all of a sudden my wife says "there, that's his road". I start to shift down and hit the breaks to get ready to turn into his little side street. Unfortunately, there was a mixture of sand/gravel on the should of the road. The front tire locked and we went down. I was wearing a helmet that had a visor but no chin protection. When the bike went down, I ended up with a little bit of my chin between the road and the plastic visor. Painful! My poor wife (who's gone off bikes with me more than once) cut up her knee and still has the scars
A few replacement parts and the bike was like new...
I loved my Tech 1 (CB400). It was fast and it looked great. The sound of the engine was amazing. No matter where I went, the heads would turn. I had bought the bike second hand already knowledgeable to the fact that it was a "grey import". It had a "red plate" that was issued by the police to the guy who sold it to me but it was not really road legal. There was talk on the internet about bikes that were "grey imports" being taken away by the police. It would have cost me a lot of money to make the bike legal so I decided to sell it.
The next bike I owned was the Ninja 250. That bike was great. I never (NOT ONCE!) put that bike down. Sure we had a few close calls, but hey, this is Thailand! I loved that bike but decided I needed something bigger for long distance touring which I did with a Thai motorcycle gang of >400cc bikes.
After the Ninjette, I bought a Kawasaki ER6N. This bike was POWERFUL. My wife and I are a combined weight off 100 kilograms. There would be times I would twist that throttle and vrooom we would GOOOOOOOOO. I had bought the bike second hand already loaded with Givi panniers and a top box. It's amazing that my wife was able to fit all her crap onto a bike with no luggage and then adapt to fill a bike with tonnes of luggage and still have crap left over for a tank bag and a backpack.
I really enjoyed that bike but only used it for touring. Due to a job change, we moved to a small town. At first my wife would take me to work on our little 115CC scooter and drop me off while my ER6N sat outside our place hardly ever used. I decided that it was too big to ride in our little town and we weren't doing much touring. It was time to step down in size.
I was able to sell the ER6N for the same price I had purchased it, 2 years later FTW!
Enter the CBR250...... The CBR250 has been a great scooter-commuter. I use it everyday for work and also on the occasional long-haul weekend tour. I've purchased a tank guard and a touring screen but that's it for now. The bike is great for in-town riding, but if I had unlimited funds, I would definitely buy an additional bike for touring.
Whoops. Looks like I messed up the title! Will also put up some pics right away..
