Post by Iconic944ss on Oct 22, 2012 22:33:39 GMT
Well, mine and Clifford's (The Big Red Dog) story.
Back in the day as a spotty teenager, I was given my first serious work placement in a chemical factory within a shift team. One of the guys was always telling of his motorcycling tales of 'daring-do', riding in little known parts of Europe, mainly it seemed to me, in pursuit of bigger parties and ever stronger brands of beer.......
I do recall him having quite a few different bikes, as it was not until much later that he owned a car but, the one bike of his I DO remember lusting over was a bright metallic blue 860GTS Ducati.
*Yes, its a 900ss, in keeping with the forum name ;-) But, its more the colour/style that I seem to recall...
The earth really did shake whenever that bike was started but while I cant recall the number of failures the poor machine had, it certainly earned a place in my memory with its timeless flowing beauty.
The only machines myself and buddies of my age could afford were two-stroke Japanese and while we watched World Superbike racing in awe, I seemed to be in minority of always wanting a Ducati to win, regardless (almost) of who was riding.
Fast forwards five years and only my second visit to the prestigious 'Earl's Court Motorcycle Show'. Thankfully I didnt make it to the Ducati stand but was frozen to the spot on the Laverda stand at the sight of the newly released RGS1000 triple. It didnt matter that it cost FOUR YEARS times my salary, I HAD to have one and didnt rest until I was riding one home and wondering what on earth I had bought!
Looking back with a rose-tinted visor, the RGS was a stunning machine. Uncompromising, fast and unique but, the finance was crippling me and I sadly had to sell back to a dealer, only just recovering enough money to clear the loan on the bike.
Once I could afford it again, a series of uninspiring machines passed through my hands until the bike I owned the longest, pre Clifford at least, a 1979 BMW R100Rs arrived . I travelled the length of England on that bike and then into Europe too, as well as the extremes of both fitting a sidecar, to get through a hard winter and then reverting to standard to ride around my first ever race circuit of Cadwell park, before trackdays even became mainstream.
I traded up to a much newer R100Rt, thinking foolishly that it was the only type of bike that a serious tour could be consider for. The bike had to be sold as once again, I couldnt afford to run the bike with the high finance that I took on to buy it in the first place! Then, a cycling bug bit me hard and I started riding to work to get fit enough to take on longer rides and even races. I'd bought an MZ125 to play with and to use for travel but cycling was taking up most of my time so that motorcycle too was sold and for the first time in over 20 years, I was without a motorbike of some sort.
Cycling, especially in summer with friends, was so rewarding that I didnt mind not having a motorbike. With some fitness, work was only a 40 minute pedal ride away and a pinnacle was reached when I managed a 100mile ride in a single day....
But there was still a tiny itch, waiting to be scratched!
My 40th birthday was looming and I just happened to get one of the largest work bonus rewards at the same time. Surprisingly, when I announced that I wanted a motorbike once again, there was no resistance to the idea - perhaps everyone thought it was middle-aged-madness.
==============================================
'Never buy the first bike you go to look at', isnt that the rule of thumb? Oh dear, two key phrases to ignore then:
1) "I'll do a discount for cash."
2) "Have a quick ride if you want ...."
I only went to look at the Red 1993 900ss, that looked a bit odd in a local Autotrader magazine. On arrival, I could see why, the bike was covered in Red Bull stickers and blue alloy fastners. A 944cc kit had been fitted by a performance house along with rejetting the carbs - the owner still having the original barrels and pistons, which I took to be a good sign.
The alloy 3-spoke Brembo wheels not only had the rims but the entire surfaces polished and Carbon exhausts with stainless steel tubing finished the overall gleaming effect off nicely.
I could see past the garish stickers, to the good bike underneath but was fully prepared to walk away, saying I'd come back if I didnt like the other bikes I wanted to see, when the owner uttered the two magic phrases above.
I did have my helmet in the car and couldnt resist the offer of a ride. Seating position was good but other inital impressions were of a heavy clutch and snatchy chain at town speeds but they were all literally blown away when I got to open the bike up on a nerby fast section of road.
I, along with clifford were sold there and then, I believe for the princely sum of £1750
At least I had the sense to buy a Haynes manual and read it cover to cover so I had an idea of how to look after the bike, since no owners manual was supplied. The stickers were all removed and during the summer of 2003 I started replacing as many of the blue anodised fastners as I could with either polished alloy or stainless steel parts and so the 'upgrades' began ....
What a happy, hot summer that was. The tyres were new at the end of the previous season and I'd worn them out by the end of the year, replacing them with Pirelli Diablo's that I've always been confident of.
I slowly worked though the maintenance for the year, including the allen key 'trick' for tensioning the new belts and fitting K&N oil and air filters. The air filter lid got a good peppering with holes which seemed to make more noise than aid performance, really.
Back in the day as a spotty teenager, I was given my first serious work placement in a chemical factory within a shift team. One of the guys was always telling of his motorcycling tales of 'daring-do', riding in little known parts of Europe, mainly it seemed to me, in pursuit of bigger parties and ever stronger brands of beer.......
I do recall him having quite a few different bikes, as it was not until much later that he owned a car but, the one bike of his I DO remember lusting over was a bright metallic blue 860GTS Ducati.
*Yes, its a 900ss, in keeping with the forum name ;-) But, its more the colour/style that I seem to recall...
The earth really did shake whenever that bike was started but while I cant recall the number of failures the poor machine had, it certainly earned a place in my memory with its timeless flowing beauty.
The only machines myself and buddies of my age could afford were two-stroke Japanese and while we watched World Superbike racing in awe, I seemed to be in minority of always wanting a Ducati to win, regardless (almost) of who was riding.
Fast forwards five years and only my second visit to the prestigious 'Earl's Court Motorcycle Show'. Thankfully I didnt make it to the Ducati stand but was frozen to the spot on the Laverda stand at the sight of the newly released RGS1000 triple. It didnt matter that it cost FOUR YEARS times my salary, I HAD to have one and didnt rest until I was riding one home and wondering what on earth I had bought!
Looking back with a rose-tinted visor, the RGS was a stunning machine. Uncompromising, fast and unique but, the finance was crippling me and I sadly had to sell back to a dealer, only just recovering enough money to clear the loan on the bike.
Once I could afford it again, a series of uninspiring machines passed through my hands until the bike I owned the longest, pre Clifford at least, a 1979 BMW R100Rs arrived . I travelled the length of England on that bike and then into Europe too, as well as the extremes of both fitting a sidecar, to get through a hard winter and then reverting to standard to ride around my first ever race circuit of Cadwell park, before trackdays even became mainstream.
I traded up to a much newer R100Rt, thinking foolishly that it was the only type of bike that a serious tour could be consider for. The bike had to be sold as once again, I couldnt afford to run the bike with the high finance that I took on to buy it in the first place! Then, a cycling bug bit me hard and I started riding to work to get fit enough to take on longer rides and even races. I'd bought an MZ125 to play with and to use for travel but cycling was taking up most of my time so that motorcycle too was sold and for the first time in over 20 years, I was without a motorbike of some sort.
Cycling, especially in summer with friends, was so rewarding that I didnt mind not having a motorbike. With some fitness, work was only a 40 minute pedal ride away and a pinnacle was reached when I managed a 100mile ride in a single day....
But there was still a tiny itch, waiting to be scratched!
My 40th birthday was looming and I just happened to get one of the largest work bonus rewards at the same time. Surprisingly, when I announced that I wanted a motorbike once again, there was no resistance to the idea - perhaps everyone thought it was middle-aged-madness.
==============================================
'Never buy the first bike you go to look at', isnt that the rule of thumb? Oh dear, two key phrases to ignore then:
1) "I'll do a discount for cash."
2) "Have a quick ride if you want ...."
I only went to look at the Red 1993 900ss, that looked a bit odd in a local Autotrader magazine. On arrival, I could see why, the bike was covered in Red Bull stickers and blue alloy fastners. A 944cc kit had been fitted by a performance house along with rejetting the carbs - the owner still having the original barrels and pistons, which I took to be a good sign.
The alloy 3-spoke Brembo wheels not only had the rims but the entire surfaces polished and Carbon exhausts with stainless steel tubing finished the overall gleaming effect off nicely.
I could see past the garish stickers, to the good bike underneath but was fully prepared to walk away, saying I'd come back if I didnt like the other bikes I wanted to see, when the owner uttered the two magic phrases above.
I did have my helmet in the car and couldnt resist the offer of a ride. Seating position was good but other inital impressions were of a heavy clutch and snatchy chain at town speeds but they were all literally blown away when I got to open the bike up on a nerby fast section of road.
I, along with clifford were sold there and then, I believe for the princely sum of £1750
At least I had the sense to buy a Haynes manual and read it cover to cover so I had an idea of how to look after the bike, since no owners manual was supplied. The stickers were all removed and during the summer of 2003 I started replacing as many of the blue anodised fastners as I could with either polished alloy or stainless steel parts and so the 'upgrades' began ....
What a happy, hot summer that was. The tyres were new at the end of the previous season and I'd worn them out by the end of the year, replacing them with Pirelli Diablo's that I've always been confident of.
I slowly worked though the maintenance for the year, including the allen key 'trick' for tensioning the new belts and fitting K&N oil and air filters. The air filter lid got a good peppering with holes which seemed to make more noise than aid performance, really.