Unusual bikes you've had?
Discussion
I was thinking about my first "big" bike today. A 1985/6 Yamaha XJ700X Maxim X import.
The Maxim was fairly common in 550/650 aircooled guise, but the X had a 20 valve watercooled FZ750 Genesis engine in.
700cc because of the Harley-led USA legislation at the time. Canadian versions were called the Seca and had 750cc.
Very rare nowadays. In fact very rare 14 years ago when I had it! I've never seen another one in the metal, but my brother tells me he saw one a few years ago. It was unreliable as f
k, but I can't say that wasn't entirely unrelated to being maintained by an 18 year old me!
What rare bikes have you had?
Not mine, mine was blue:
The Maxim was fairly common in 550/650 aircooled guise, but the X had a 20 valve watercooled FZ750 Genesis engine in.
700cc because of the Harley-led USA legislation at the time. Canadian versions were called the Seca and had 750cc.
Very rare nowadays. In fact very rare 14 years ago when I had it! I've never seen another one in the metal, but my brother tells me he saw one a few years ago. It was unreliable as f
k, but I can't say that wasn't entirely unrelated to being maintained by an 18 year old me!What rare bikes have you had?
Not mine, mine was blue:
Suzuki GSXR400 got it as a non runner after it had been sat in a garage for nearly 30 years. Never got it going and couldn't get bits for it. They only made this one for 1 year and only imported 100 to this country to satisfy TT rules. I would have loved to have got it going given it only had 4000km's on it but decided to throw in the towel as it'd never be worth what I'd have to put into it.
Birky_41 said:
mister_ee said:
Cagiva Raptor -Wierdly Italian combination of TL1000 engine in a chassis designed by the same guy who did the Ducati Monster
I like bikes like that. Fast but quirky. I bet that went well at the time. 
Here's a rare little one for you; Japanese market Kawasaki ZX4, a one year only baby brother of the (then) fastest bike in the world, the ZX10.
[url]
I was given this for free when I bought my Hayabusa (the first one registered in the UK) from its previous owner's abandoned wife.
The bike had sat for several years without moving so needed a carb rebuild and a refresh all round.
The right front disc had corroded with exposure to the elements to the point where it was measurably thinner in one half and I couldn't find a replacement for it for love or money so I ended up taking it and its caliper off.
I swapped the bike for a high mileage ER5 (which I then sold on again) and then two years later it turned up again locally and I bought it back!
|http://thumbsnap.com/RqHTGRj4[/url]
By now, it had some accident damage on the left side and the current owner had managed to find a replacement disc but not a caliper; I didn't let on that I knew where I could find one...
Now this one is also a bit special; a 1991 Triumph Daytona 1000.
|http://thumbsnap.com/eBO7PgVa[/url][url]
Not that rare you say?
Well, how about Vin No. 000596 (i.e. the 596th bike off the production line) and look at those colours; you won't see them anywhere else!
The bike was painted especially for a dealership in Germany and sat on display until 1996 when the first owner (a British squaddie) persuaded them to register it and let him buy it.
He ran it until he returned to the UK at which point it went in the back of the garage for 15 years until he finally had it recommissioned at vast expense, rode it a few times and realised he no longer enjoyed it.
[url]I was given this for free when I bought my Hayabusa (the first one registered in the UK) from its previous owner's abandoned wife.
The bike had sat for several years without moving so needed a carb rebuild and a refresh all round.
The right front disc had corroded with exposure to the elements to the point where it was measurably thinner in one half and I couldn't find a replacement for it for love or money so I ended up taking it and its caliper off.
I swapped the bike for a high mileage ER5 (which I then sold on again) and then two years later it turned up again locally and I bought it back!
|http://thumbsnap.com/RqHTGRj4[/url]By now, it had some accident damage on the left side and the current owner had managed to find a replacement disc but not a caliper; I didn't let on that I knew where I could find one...
Now this one is also a bit special; a 1991 Triumph Daytona 1000.
|http://thumbsnap.com/eBO7PgVa[/url][url]Not that rare you say?
Well, how about Vin No. 000596 (i.e. the 596th bike off the production line) and look at those colours; you won't see them anywhere else!
The bike was painted especially for a dealership in Germany and sat on display until 1996 when the first owner (a British squaddie) persuaded them to register it and let him buy it.
He ran it until he returned to the UK at which point it went in the back of the garage for 15 years until he finally had it recommissioned at vast expense, rode it a few times and realised he no longer enjoyed it.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff