Started writing about things Yamaha but realised many of the machines I have owned weren't Yamahas and weren't even dirt bikes. I am hoping forum members might like an opportunity to recall those bikes that were a part of their lives.
Here's my two cents:
A DT125E Yamaha was the first bike I ever owned. It was brand new on hire purchase. I was 16 and working
(car detailer) and pretty sure Mum went guarantor. At the time the mates all said let's get bikes and I was first, I bought the traily and they all got road bikes. Doh! That 350 Honda 4 that my mate Phil bought was freakin' awesome and convinced me I needed four cylinders.
I bought a Kawasaki Z650 four cylinder and that bike was amazing.
There was a Suzuki Apache 400 in there briefly which was like riding an on-off switch.
Then there was a R900 BMW. I went on my honeymoon on the beemer. After riding at about 140 kmh for a bit the header pipes would glow so bright you could light a rolly off them.
Then I went sidecar and Russian with a 650 MT-9 Dnepr. It was like a tractor
- even had reverse and advance retard lever on the handlebars. I learnt a lot about maintenance.....
Had a restored Yamaha XS650 - it was like riding a road drill but sounded awesome.
I restored an R5 Yamaha 350 road bike out of a crate - no reed valves just piston ported. Lots of two stroke smoke
There was a half restored and rideable Kawasaki 250 triple - even more smoke but it went like shitoff a shovel.
I had a go at making an ex-police Honda CB750 go for longer than 10 minutes.
My next new bike was Kawasaki GT550 shaft drive which I bought to long distance commute. It was a fabulous bike which I
owned for more than 10 years. Did all sorts on that bike even dirt roads. Kangaroo Island is a memory.
Then it was cars and a brief dabble with a Kawasaki Z750 twin. That WAS a road drill!
And we come to now:
Bought the Suzuki Boulevard 650 cruiser thing 'cause I liked the look of it but was umming and arrhing about dirt bikes. So I bought the 02 DT175 Yamaha and joined AMTRA. The sound of that bike took me back 40 years in an instant.
Since then, I bought the TY250 Yamaha trials which I am riding a lot at practice days and in competition.
Just got another, older, DT175 which I hoped to set up for Vinduro. It is all drum-braked.
However, the trials stuff takes up a lot of time and I might just ride the TY at Vinduro events that are on private property occasionally. So I have an extra drum braked DT.
Love to hear your stories...
Bikes are a lot of fun and the technology has moved on a shit load since I started and even more since Ken began on a
DT1.
