Radar Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 A few years ago I had the notion to be a journalist working for a bike magazine and applied so for a job with one of the major titles. As my CV had nothing to do with bikes or biking I decided to submit an alternative CV detailing all the main bikes that I have owned and what impact they had on my life. Didn't get job obviously and the CV has been sitting on my PC ever since. I thought that you lot might find it of interest... Mar 00 to date Yamaha YZR600R Thundercat. Job Description: Sports tourer. This bike marked my return to the front of the pack, or at least towards the front. Blessed with a stupid name (could be worse could be a Vulcan), a strong engine and soft suspension well suited to the bumpy Worcestershire lanes that surround my home. This bike is first I have ever bought purely as a toy, my demise from day in day out biker to Sunday morning scratcher complete. Iinitially I was restricted to “600cc squadron”, the group I ventured out with weekends. This was great fun, but the chance to build a relationship with your bike isn’t there, that only comes with constant use and care in all conditions and circumstances. That has come in the last two years as the loss of a company car has meant much more day in, day out riding too. During 2007 I used the T Cat for a stunning 2300 mile, 10 day blast across France, Italy and Switzerland. The T Cat was faultless Nov 05 to April 07 Yamaha XJR1300SP Job Description: Proper Bike After years on poncy sports bikes time for some heavy metal!!!! The XJR was a real muscle bike, and the creamy torque of the big aircooled lump made the big Yam easy to ride. However for some reason the fire did not burn in quite the way I thought and I sold the beast after only 18 months. Nov. 91 to Mar 00. Yamaha FZ750 Genesis. Job Description: Pure Sports (Well, that was what it said on the fairing!). My “line in the sand”, the encroachment into my biking life that the onset of wife, mortgages and children inevitably brings stopped here. Bought initially as a good all rounder and pressed into daily service. In one glorious summer I crammed 10,000 miles into only four months as I blasted between Norfolk and Worcestershire every weekend. Rarely have I ridden so swiftly and so well, I knew every little nuance of the bikes behaviour, where the engine pulled best, how to exploit the quick steering 16” front wheel, what I could get away with basically. My route was punctuated with clock towers on churches and town halls etc. and I set myself bogie times from clock to clock that I had to match or beat. All very silly of course, but huge fun and a good way a breaking the pattern of the same run time after time. This bike and I became old friends as I cared for her as she slipped gracefully into her dotage. New suspension, brakes, pipes etc. Gradually she fell from regular use as the pressures of working and family life grew. Even at the end she looked great, Micron pipe glinting in the sun, that iconic 20 valve engine still keen and eager to propel me into a world where troubles are sucked away in the slipstream. But old father time is unforgiving, unrelenting foe and eventually the time had come to move on. When she slipped from view for last time a lump formed in my throat. Goodbye old friend, still crazy after all these years! June ’89 to Nov’91. Yamaha RD350F2. Job Description: Budget Sports. (I think). They say never go back out with an old girlfriend, and this bike rather proved the point. After my first YPVS this bike was something of an anti-climax. By the time I bought it new the Powervalve legend was fading, the RGV Suzuki and KR1-S Kawasaki had adopted the mantle of the chosen tool of the lunatic fringe. A good bike in many ways that I enjoyed riding, but it lacked the edge of the earlier models. The raw fun was gone and our time together was pretty quiet, although blowing away a local nutter on a heavily tuned YPVS engined 350LC was a highlight. To be honest the biggest thrill it provided was that only collecting a brand new bike can bring, that heady mixture of nerves and anticipation. Sept. ’88 to Mar. ’89. Honda VF1000FII Job Description: Dinosaur. Oh dear, we all make mistakes and this was mine, a huge bike in every respect and I hated it. Quite why I bought it continues to elude me. On the test ride I was pulled out on by a Nun in Transit van of all things, but did I take the hint, oh no. The handling was extremely top heavy and I had no confidence on this bike at all. A powerful, gusty engine was a highlight, but the whole added up to much less than the sum of its’ parts. So here was a bike that at time in my life I could ride at will that I actually chose to leave in the garage. Not surprisingly, it did not last long in my hands and just after we took an unplanned flight literally into the Norfolk countryside (in bid to keep up with a GPZ900 mounted friend), she was hastily sold and money spent on my wedding ~ see, I would do anything to get shot of it! Jan. ’87 to Sep.’88. Suzuki GS550E Job Description: Definitive UJM. Had a hard act to follow after the manic YPVS that proceeded it. A good solid bike that did many things well, and went about its day with a minimum of fuss. The first and to date, only bike I have taken to the IOM. At time when I was buying my first house the GS was a good tool to keep my hand in. Not the greatest bike, but hey, a bike is a bike! Mar. ’85 to Jan.’87. Yamaha RD350YPVS. Job Description: Adrenaline Pump. The absolute DB’s! This bike and I spent a roller coaster 18 months together, thrashed and ultimately perhaps inevitably, crashed. The bond between bike and rider was strong here, and at the time I owned this bike they were THE machines for the young lunatic about town! There were so many highs and so many lows. Formation wheelies in traffic, side by side with my best mate aboard an identical bike, crazy high speed rides to nowhere just for the hell of it. The thrill of scaring your girlfriends shitless! It was not big, it was not clever, it never impressed the girlfriends, but so what! In 18 glorious months it ate 7 tyres, countless brake pads and I generally poured money into my habit ~ everything had to be scarified to allow worship at the altar of the POWERVALVE. It had to end in tears and sure enough on September evening I came second in an unequal fight with a Bedford lorry - boy did that hurt. The bike was put back together again, but something had gone, the feeling of invincibility that only the I high octane mix of ignorance and youth can bring. Time to move on, but the memories will linger forever. April 1984 to March 1985. Yamaha RD250LC. Job Description: First Sports Bike. My first step into “big bikes”, the LC was a great fun bike. Light, fast and furious it really was the best bike for me as a (fairly) skinny 18-year-old seeking cheap kicks. The first bike I clocked 100 mph on, the first I took touring with my mates, and this first bike I took to pieces. After my CB100 the bike seemed so fast and I felt I had the respect of my peers. The LC provided me with a year of fun, what more could I ask for? October 1983 to April 1984. Honda CB100N-A Job Description: Learner legal sports. Where the habit I can’t just kick all started. I really wanted a 125LC but could not afford the insurance! I learnt to ride on this bike wobbling around the car park of disused factory, then later passed my test too. I discovered the world of “Bikers” when I joined a local club, the bike redefined my life in a way I had not imagined possible. The joys of “going prone”, pulling my first wheelie getting my first conviction ~ all done on this little bike. I thrashed it to within an inch of its life, but somehow I never managed to fall off. We all seem to keep a special place in our affections for our first bike, and I am no different. A have also owned a various points: FZ600, 2 Superdreams, another 2 YPVS RD350s, 2 CB250RS, RD250E, RD250LC a KH250 and a CD185 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator mervin Posted January 17, 2009 Moderator Share Posted January 17, 2009 good pedigree mate merv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radar Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 good pedigree mate merv Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Goff Posted January 19, 2009 Moderator Share Posted January 19, 2009 That was great to read! Some cracking bikes there Radar - although my favourite has to be the very lovely RD250LC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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