Ducati Monster Forum

Post 'em up if you got 'em
I think we had a thread on this before, but a search didn't turn up anything, may have been on TOB, anyhow here's my Yamaha 100 picture taken circa 1979. Had a lot of fun on this little machine.

(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm259/andrewb172/bike/bike001.jpg)

I started a thread, but it didn't go very far.
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=11038.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=11038.0)

This was my first real bike, Honda XLV 750 R, after mini Garelli 50cc, Vespa 125, Tempo 50, Suzuki 380 ..
(http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l394/stopintime/honda-xlv-750-r-3.jpg)

waaaahey!  i had one of them too.  altho yours looks much better than mine did.  got it in 1981 i think, maybe 82.  mine was the original burgundy i think.

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/GK1970/bikepics-2276737-full1_zpse87421c7.jpg)

Just like my first bike!

Cost me $120 bucks. Was a paperboy for a number of months to save up for it. My parents wouldn't buy me a bike so at the age of 13, I got myself one.

My brother and I took the Falcon wagon to pick it up. Thank God it fit in the back, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to take it with us.

We took it to my mate Stu's place to stash, as my folks would have gone crazy if we'd gone home with it.

Good times!  [thumbsup] [Dolph]

Thanks for helping me to get started on bikes bro!  [beer]

GK

I still own my first motorcycle:

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8325875086_b1973e9df1.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/90414387@N04/8325875086/)
MonsterFirstTestRide (http://www.flickr.com/photos/90414387@N04/8325875086/#) by Shooter158 (http://www.flickr.com/people/90414387@N04/), on Flickr

My 1997 Ducati Monster 750.  They only imported 500 to the United States. 400 were California bikes, 100 were 49 state bikes.  Mine is one of the 100 forty-nine state bikes.

I will never sell her.

 [Dolph]

Mine was like this one...for a while.

It ended up with clubman bars and Denco expansion chambers.

(http://p1.bikepics.com/2007/08/08/bikepics-988245-800.jpg)

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h156/magnus157/_MG_4629.jpg)


another one here who's monster is the first bike.


I rode alot as a kid, but never owned a bike. Many of my boyhood buddies had dirt bikes, but my parents didn't have the money for one. My next door neighbour had a couple of dirtbikes and let me ride his little yamaha mx80 which was the bike I learned on.

As a teenager one of my good buddies had a mid 70's honda 450 street bike (cx 450?), but I can't remember the exact model. He ended up living with us awhile due to some family problems at home. I learned to ride on the street on that bike and rode it for a couple years whenever he was working or not using it. I also rode various friend's and roommate's bikes through my university years and during my 20's.
  
 I always knew I would have my own bike one day, once I had paid off student loans and put myself in a stable, financial position.  It took till my early 30's to buy my first one when I picked up the 01 cromo, in 2002, very lightly used. I will never, ever sell it. It's got way too many miles (100,000+km's) to be worth much and it fits me like an old pair of leather gloves. While I don't believe much in getting attached to inanimate objects, that bike is a part of me.

(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Jervisaurus/IMG_3403_zps222ef277.jpg)


Walked nonchalantly into the bike shop, kind-of-sort-of-but-not-really shopping for a bike and saw the old girl sitting in the corner waaaay back in the back of the shop.  I sat on it, the guy hit the starter, and I told him to go write up the papers. 

Well, it depends, "My first bike" purchased by me is, my '05 M620 Dark,

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8144/7547229654_14d9d49047_n.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkmonster620/7547229654/)
Gina

but, my first bike was a Suzuki RM125, if not mistaken, vintage '83, it looked like this,

(http://motosvit.com/Suzuki%20RM125/1980_RM125_yell_grop_500.jpg)

it was a gift from a friend who had moved to Kawasaki . . . don't ask me how I am still breathing or in one piece . . . I don't know
 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkmonster620/7547229654/)

I remember that day, you were a kid and I must have been barely twenty. You were  so determined to get a bike. Remenber the Z250? Our first road bike.  I dont think I have a photo of it.
My first big bike was '73 Bonneville 750.

My first?

1978 Suzuki TS185.  It was Dad's, he used to put me on the tank, my sister on the rear half of the seat (she was older & bigger and could old on) and ride through the woods with one hand on the throttle and the other arm around me so I didn't fall off.  When I was 10, I took my first solo ride and was hooked.

When Dad brought it home in 1978.  That's me on the tank ready to ride.  I was hooked from a young age.
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/People/fhall-12_zpsd0840584.jpg)

Me, Dad and sister about 1980:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/People/fhall-11_zpsfe3a4222.jpg)

As it sat back in about 2005 with a seized piston that seized sometime in the early 90s from a faulty oil pump:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/Suzuki0001-1024_zpscd22a738.jpg)

Mid top-end rebuild winter 2005 in my dining room (I was a bachelor at the time if you can't tell from me rebuilding a motorcycle in the dining room)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/Partial02-1024_zpsa3f6d45b.jpg)

After a top-end rebuild (seized piston) and cleanup:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/Suzuki0004-1024_zps4f1a67a7.jpg)

I still have the TS185, but it is in need of a full restoration or a donor bike that I can rob the electrics off of so I can inspect & title it for the street!

First road bike:  1981 Suzuki GS650 in the color pictured.
(http://www.hoohoohoblin.com/SuzukiGS650G.JPG)

JM

(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/174900_10151271584775348_901880928_o.jpg)

I didn't get the chance to ride till i was 23. We didn't have dirtbikes growing up and my Mom would have had my head if i brought one home. So this year when i graduated and moved out of the house I bought my 07' 695 and never looked back. I put 7228 miles on it this riding season and loved every one of them.   [beer] [Dolph]

First motorised bike 1976 Puch moped
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8327692794_6d702df651_b.jpg)



First real bike XL 250 Motorsport
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8327691688_1951708fff_b.jpg)

In 2003 I bought for about $500 a 1982 yamaha 400cc special and proceeded to crash it within 3 months.  Then In 2004, I bought my 620cc monster 2004  that i still own.

My first bike was a typical uneducated noob bike.  I loved it though. 

(http://www.phrozenphoto.com/clients/hosted/oldbike.jpg)

My trusty old GS500. I learnt a lot off of her. Although it's performance can be underwhelming compared to other bikes it still can put a goofy grin on your face through the twisties.

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/icecreamhands/DSC00397.jpg)

(http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery%20B/Kawasaki%20Z750LTD%2080.jpg)

1983 Kawi KZ750LTD

Went like hell!!!

Stopped like sh*t.

Nearly killed me a couple times.

Then...  A friend let me ride his Ducati...

... and we know what happened next . . .

Here's some continuation to my story:

As I grew into riding, I sold the GS650 and purchased a 2002 Suzuki Bandit 600S.  That was a really great bike, I really wish I hadn't sold it.  No pictures of it, but it was a GREAT bike.  I took my first trip to Deals Gap, kept dragging my foot (n00b riding position) and thought that I needed a bike with better cornering clearance.  So, away went the Bandit, and then, this came home in its place:

2002 GSXR-600
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/GSXR02-1024_zpsddd9bbb5.jpg)

(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/GSXR01sm_zpsd40fe53c.jpg)

That was a QUICK bike.  It was "just" a 600, but was simply a rocket.  Light, easy flick back and forth, and just a hoot to ride.  Sadly, bad decision making and poor judgement sent it into a Blue Ridge Parkway guardrail at nearly 100MPH.  It only had 1700 miles on the odometer.  Luckily, I walked away.  I was a bit of a squid, so I was REALLY lucky.  Tennis shoes, jeans, leather jacket and helmet was the all I was wearing when I crashed.  I really miss that one too, it was a fun bike.

Post crash (crashed in May) in July, I found "Molly."  1999 Monster 750 that the PO had recently crashed.  It started life as a Monster Dark, but was repainted yellow. 

How she looked when bought & on first ride:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/Monster001-1024_zpse2eabd43.jpg)

A bit later, still in same form:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/Monster004-PAN-SM_zpsc8603200.jpg)

First trip to Deals Gap in 2003 (still hadn't learned to wear full gear like I do now)
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/Riding_zpsf580cef6.jpg)

I still have Molly.  My wife and I left our wedding on it, in tux and wedding dress and all!   I've had a great relationship with that little M750.  I've redone forks and the rear spring to make up for the bottom-end suspension the Darks used to get.  I've nearly traded Molly twice, but never have been able to part with her.  One of them, I had even picked out and named the new bike.  It was a gray w/ black stripe Monster S2R1000.  I had picked the name Mileena for it even.  In the end, I couldn't do it, Molly is special to me.

Over the years as the desire to tinker came along, I also have a couple other noteworthy bikes come and go. 

The most notorious in this house was the Suzuki GS1150ES.  That was only bike my wife has ever been scared of.  She took one ride with me and said "Never again will I ride on that one."  With those, you had a pile of power (mine even more, it had a cam designed for drag racing) but the frame, suspension, and brakes were NOT up to the task of controlling the power the motor put out.

The GS1150:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/DSC_0374-1024_zps3e98c96d.jpg)

(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/GenMoto/DSC_0375-1024_zps3232e048.jpg)

I wrote a whole story called "The Dinosaur Affair" about that bike too.  Riding it was fun, challenging and scary all at the same time.

The last one to come and go:

Late one January night, I won an ebay auction.  That auction was a repo'ed 2000 Supersport 900 in the same yellow as Molly.  It was a match made in my mind.  The next day, I went and picked up "Syreena."  We drove home in a snow storm, so bad that when I got home, the entire bike was caked in ice.  It was bad.

Syreena:
(http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/the_journeyman/900SS/900SS-006-1200.jpg)

We had some great times.  The "wheelie-on-command" of the 900 was a hoot.  So was that nasty snarl from the airbox and the rumble from the Sil-Moto carbon mufflers.  Sadly, I sold her a couple years ago now.  Fun bike, but as I spent time riding and wrenching, putting in a clutch pack & replacing the chain at 15,000 miles, it was obvious the bike had been abused so I let her move on.

I went on to write a nifty comparison of the Monster 750 and the Supersport 900 as well.

That's the rest of my story for now.

JM

86 Suzuki intruder. I miss this bike.
(http://s2.postimage.org/gwsw2gvjt/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/)
photo sharing websites (http://postimage.org/)

Then I dug into it more...
(http://s13.postimage.org/v4xshswzr/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/)
upload (http://postimage.org/)
(http://s9.postimage.org/bd1gvh9lb/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/)
free image hosting (http://postimage.org/)

here's mine.  If anyone knows where I can get a 1980 or so in years let me know.  I miss this little gem
(http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53/montey2005/n1057051857_63967_6543.jpg)

i still have a 1989 z50

And I almost, almost, buy it . . .

<edit>

I really love those SS bikes . . .

Look at this bad boy!   [evil]

Learned to ride on the XR75 and loved it.  But a bit to much air and a rock under the crank case upon landing ended her   :'(

(http://vint-73.com/images/Items/RIMG1084(3).JPG)

My first bike was a 1982 Yamaha XJ1100.  I bought it in 2006.

(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/12465_191061273629_7121575_n.jpg)

(http://zumann.com/data_images/posts/honda-xl-125-r/honda-xl-125-r-09.jpg)
I had mini bikes before I got one of these babies.
I rode it for about a year without a kick starter. I got real good at the jump start!

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-74T2Y0DMTTY/UOcrHq5aJbI/AAAAAAAACH0/JON498ev4Vw/s640/gpx%2520750%2520xt%2520600%2520jpg.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gMcMjUSGb1U/UOcrNWc4QII/AAAAAAAACIM/5fdyi0_9NQA/s640/xt%2520600%2520tenere%2520jpg.jpg)
Obviously quite a few here started their riding career on a dirt/dual purpose bike. My first real bike was a Yamaha xt 600 which i had to share with my dad (he paid insurance and taxes and i mainly rode it), after a kawasaki 750 i came back to a used xt 600 tenere...and i am still waiting for that lucky strike cagiva elefant...

klaus

Here's mine - 1968 Kawasaki 90 - I remember paying $349 cash money


(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8514/8365346210_a58bc32d02.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26792974@N08/8365346210/)
kawasaki-moto-90cm3-1970-G3TR- Kawasaki 90 Bushmaster (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26792974@N08/8365346210/#) by bozcorob (http://www.flickr.com/people/26792974@N08/), on Flickr

1976 YZ 80. Best damn Christmas I ever had. Thanks dad.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/wtmink/Our%20toys/1976YZ80C.jpg)


A few years later I got my brother's Husqvarna 250. Damn thing would just about rip my puny arms outta the sockets! :o
(http://www.fullcircleracingltd.com/uploads/2/7/8/5/2785062/1149851_orig.jpg)

(http://www.japanesemotorcyclesworld.com/image-files/honda-hurricane-cbr600f.jpg)

My first bike was a 1987 CBR600F, just like this one.  Had a few close calls and a couple of minor lowsides on it. I put about 45K miles on it before I sold it to a roommate.

On my Honda CL100, circa 1981...

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8083/8342211840_416ae08aaa.jpg)