Sorry, guys. I just realised that I've been incredibly rude and not yet even introduced myself. Apologies...
Hi, I'm Mark. I'm 55 and been riding bikes since Dec 1980. I passed my test in Jan 1982, and ride pretty much every day, barring a few, any weather (except snow, which I hate) all year round.
First bike was a 1969 BSA 250cc Starfire for £330. Nice bike, until the conrod snapped and punched holes in the crankcase. That required buying a non working secondhand engine and building one that did out of the bits.
Once I passed my test, I bought a 1977 Triumph T140V Bonneville for £875 from Abbey Garage in Hillingdon.
Had that until 1985 when I bought my first new bike, a Kawasaki GPZ 750 for £2,800 from Daytona's in Ruislip Manor. One year later, I had a slide on some grit and took out the main crankcase oilway on a kerb. Daytona's quoted £1,800 to rebuild the engine. I bought some secondhand crankcases for £380 and, with a friend, rebuilt the engine on them. She ran perfectly, fortunately, given that it was the first big engine I'd ever taken apart. Scary stuff. That bike was stolen on the night of the Superbowl in 1991.
So I ordered a new GPZ 900 for £5,100 from Powerhouse on Pentonville Road, London. That was to arrive from Japan in two weeks. Unfortunately, some twit started a war in the Gulf which resulted in the container ship with the bike on not being able to go through the Suez and being diverted all around Africa. I finally got it after six weeks.
Gorgeous bike. Bulletproof engine. Easiest bike to change a chain on ever, thanks to the frame design...
Sold it in 1997 and bought a new ZX6R for £7,100. Lovely bike. Completely mental over 10,500 rpm. That was stolen in 2004.
After that, where I worked had a 2004 R1200GS as a company bike, which I fortunately got to use each day as my own. My boss finally decided to get rid of it in 2009 and...gave it to me. Super nice guy.
I've still got the GS, which I'll be selling for, I don't know what price, once I've cleaned her up. But now, as you've probably gathered, I now have a 2019 Crossrunner....with a misfire.
Apart from the few that I've owned, I've ridden a fair smattering of bikes over the years or all shapes and sizes.
Bottom line. I like bikes.
Anyway, nice to meet you all. Even if I've been a bit tardy in actually saying hello.
