Have a wish to own a Cagiva 900 Elephant, a DR Big & a TDR250 but I have a nagging thought I'd probably feel a bit underwhelmed once I'd ridden them especially as I'd had a variety of more modern Adv bikes inc KTM950Adv and a Supermoto'd KTM 640 LC4.
I remember a s/hand DR could be had for little money compared to it's competition for a while, didn't you have one briefly Paul? @bradders
Yeah. Cost me about £500 iirc and was bit rough but perfect for just nipping around and not worrying about, even it a bit tall….Rode it like a sports bike. I only ride in one way, I’m very one-dimensional. No idea how that didn’t kill me either.
I think all these bikes would be underwhelming. Expat has kindly sent me a link to a nice looking ypvs….50hp on a good day and 20lb ft… like the bird at school you never climbed on but dream you did, I think most of these are best left in the wank bank
I had a shot on a dream bike of mine, a Honda 750F, about 2010. Lovely thing alright but when I opened the taps fuck all happened. I remember thinking ‘is that it?’ And it was it…. We’re utterly spoiled with modern day machines and their performance.
I have revisited my youth on a couple of early 80’s Kawasakis. Both absolutely shite. But in their day awesome. I do think the 916/748 onwards Ducati hold up against modern bikes. In fact most early noughties sports bikes are pretty good but before that woeful.
Ahhh, but the thrill is when you try to stop an old dream bike using the then std brakes. Thinking remains 'is that it?, quickly followed by "W.T.Fuuuuuuuuuuuu.........!"
Ha ha, and you’re not wrong!! I remember ~2004. My sister had a nail of a ZZR600 and I had the hot poop R1 of that time. We swapped bikes and went for a blast. Nearly fucking killed myself assuming (stupidly) the brakes on the ZZR were as good as mine
With Paul’s original rule about being able to afford it at the time (well more or less) three spring to mind. 1. Would’ve loved a CBX back in the day, just because 2. Regret not buying the Matrix when it came out. Unaffordable now 3. 1098R. Don’t think I’d have ever given up the 1098S if it hadn’t been stolen, but the R will probably still always be my affordable dream bike.
In the mid 70’s my Dad worked for Golden Wonder. They ran a promotion for retailers, if they bought enough crisps, they got a Mk.1 Chopper. As I remember, at one point we had forty of them in the garage all boxed up. Guess what I got for Christmas that year! A blue one.
Anyone into the V-twin grunt, and Ducati’s, should get a 1098R in their life at some point. Sure, technology and hp figures have moved on, but the impressive rawness of the R is indelibly memorable.
I've always wanted an XT500, and still occasionally look for a project one, but they are so pricey now. A KLR600/650 is also on the list, as is a Laverda Jota.
I was soooo close to buying an RC30…. Absolutely years ago, early 90’s ? a dealer near Blackpool called Vin Duckett had an RC30 in that I was negotiating a deal on, I was part exing my 1000 Exup Yamaha plus a fair wadge of cash that I had as a bankers cheque tucked inside my leathers on the ride down. When I got there I pulled into the back yard of the dealership to see one of the mechanics trying to top the radiator of this RC30 up with a watering can, he only had the fairing partly loose and was bending it brutally by hand to almost 90 degrees to get the watering can spout in,…that upset me a bit to start with, was it using water ? Anyhow I set off for a test ride, it was lighter than the Exup and handled easier but it was a fair bit down on power compared to the Exup, so I was a bit underwhelmed tbh, I had to stop and put some fuel in it part way around the ride and when I walked back to the bike I noticed that the near side rear indicator was hanging loose and almost touching the exhaust! I went to lift it back into position and accidentally touched the hot exhaust with my hand….ouch! It seemed to be a timely reminder about “ getting your fingers burned!” All this just brought me to the conclusion that it was an ex race bike with the road bodywork etc just slapped back on again so I went back to the dealership, said no thanks and kept my bank cheque and rode off back home on the Exup, which by comparison felt like an effortless magic carpet ride A bit of a case of “ Never meet your heroes “ always loved the looks and sound of the RC30’s but I think this was just a duff example. Nowadays RC’s are going for stupid money, but I know I wouldn’t have kept it that long .
