Don the Don
Legendary Knight
Loved the machines you oversaw
RIP
- Thread starter Don the Don
- Start date
gazzatriumph
Legendary Knight
I never owned a Suzuki, no reason just preferred Yams and Kawasaki when younger and Yamaha, Triumph and now RoyalEnfield in phase 2 of biking. I'd like a Suzuki Jimny though.
MartytheMartian
Legendary Knight
I've always preferred Suzuki to the other Japanese bikes with Kawas in second, Hondas third and Yamaha last.
Suzuki have character, Kawa have character but not as much, Honda are strong and fast but a bit dull for me and Yamaha are fast, efficient precision machines but boring with it.
My favourites Suzi's were a fairly rare GSX400EZ and a GSX750ES which I thought was brilliant but other folks seemed to think that, when they were out with me I was going to die every time I threw it at a corner and then king of them all was the original GSXR750 - Scary, box steel frame that was rather flexible but fun as all hell at the same time. My all time favourite bike that I've never owned has to be the original GSX1100S Katana - Man those were beautiful. It says it all that Tamiya still produce model kits of it in two different sizes when most other kits have come and gone.
Suzuki have character, Kawa have character but not as much, Honda are strong and fast but a bit dull for me and Yamaha are fast, efficient precision machines but boring with it.
My favourites Suzi's were a fairly rare GSX400EZ and a GSX750ES which I thought was brilliant but other folks seemed to think that, when they were out with me I was going to die every time I threw it at a corner and then king of them all was the original GSXR750 - Scary, box steel frame that was rather flexible but fun as all hell at the same time. My all time favourite bike that I've never owned has to be the original GSX1100S Katana - Man those were beautiful. It says it all that Tamiya still produce model kits of it in two different sizes when most other kits have come and gone.
My favourite Suzuki that I've owned. Proper Marmite bike in the looks department, but a missile in it's day. And it never failed me in any way, not even a puncture in 15000 miles! No traction control, no six axis IMU, no TFT screen, just raw fast biking.
Same as Marty, my favourite that I never owned was the 1100 Katana.
Same as Marty, my favourite that I never owned was the 1100 Katana.
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MartytheMartian
Legendary Knight
I had a mate back in the nineties who had an RF900, silver and kind of magenta purple I think it was and it was an impressive machine. It could rally shift when he wanted it to and the guy could make it shift. He was a met officer at RAF Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre and living in North Ayrshire. He could did the long journey to work from home in an impressive time on that bike.
On a side note he used to claim that rumours back then, that the Yanks did indeed operate a hypersonic aircraft called Aurora out of Machrihanish were true.
On a side note he used to claim that rumours back then, that the Yanks did indeed operate a hypersonic aircraft called Aurora out of Machrihanish were true.
Easy for you to say.....
Don the Don
Legendary Knight
Hell of a place that was and a massive runway, they should have kept it open
A mate of mine who lost his BMW bike to the loss adjusters when his company went tits up.
Asked me to find him a cheap bike to go on a European touring holiday with his other mates.
His maximum budget was £1000. But I found him a cracking RF900. And if my memory serves me correctly it was only £800?
It had previously been a Cat D but only because it was old at the time. The only damage was a slightly scuffed fairing & a bent brake lever. The only other fault was a non functioning temp gauge. A new temp sensor in the radiator easily solved that. Plus it was a doddle to fit, thanks to those Ferrari Testarossa style panels in the fairing that unscrew.
After a service & a few adjustments it was good to go!
All his mates had brand new & mega expensive touring bikes. But apparently they were all blown away by how good the elderly RF900 was.
Mind you, my mate's a seriously good rider & his mates were probably relying on all the technology their bikes were equipped with?
Was out for a spin a few years back on the RF, just cruising and chilling, when a couple of power rangers on much newer bikes (a blade and an R1 if memory serves) came breezing past me.A mate of mine who lost his BMW bike to the loss adjusters when his company went tits up.
Asked me to find him a cheap bike to go on a European touring holiday with his other mates.
His maximum budget was £1000. But I found him a cracking RF900. And if my memory serves me correctly it was only £800?
It had previously been a Cat D but only because it was old at the time. The only damage was a slightly scuffed fairing & a bent brake lever. The only other faults were a non functioning temp gauge. A new temp sensor in the radiator easily solved that. Plus it was a doddle to fit, thanks to those Ferrari Testarossa style panels in the fairing that unscrew.
After a service & a few adjustments it was good to go!
All his mates had brand new & mega expensive touring bikes. But apparently they were all blown away by how good the elderly RF900 was.
Mind you, my mate's a seriously good rider & his mates were probably relying on all the technology their bikes were equipped with?
I'm not 'aving that I thought and chased after them. 20 miles later and we all stopped at a layby tea hut. They were quite surprised when this old fucker pulled his lid off!
Neither of them had a clue what the old purple bike was, but they bought me a brew before we went our separate ways.
That was the main reason I sold her. It was always "challenge accepted"