Inspired by ‘what bikes have gone’, what bikes do you wish you’d bought. There is a rule: needs to be roughly in achievable reach for you! Ie if you couldn’t afford a 50k bike, a desmo isn’t really on the list For me, it’s a 350 ypvs - although I tried to buy a 350lc several times when k had just got my licence so would happily take one instead had a 125lc and really wanted one of those: zx7r, had a zxr400 painted in red/purple zx7 colours and used to ride a mates sometimes as a swap on ride outs and loved it: panigale r, pinnacle of V2 race tech machinery for the more ‘common’ man Edited to add 1098R. How could I forget the 1098R!
A mark 3 Moto Guzzi Le Mans. I couldn’t find a 2nd-hand one anywhere in Scotland when I had the cash in 1985 so stupidly bought a tuned and modified Kawasaki Z500 thinking it would be a good substitute. It wasn’t. Many years later, I could have bought a lovely mint condition 749R for the same money as the new 848 I actually bought but reasoned that the servicing costs would be too much. I really am not very good at this choosing a bike game.
Always think I want a Moto Guzzi California Vintage 1100 (2007-2008) for bimbling about on in the summer... haven't scratched this itch yet but...
Honda Sp2, this is my mates and I rode it in sept and can’t believe it took me this many years. I wish I’d bought one years ago
Was going to say the same. Maybe also a Triumph Speed Triple (in black), i.e. the earliest round-headlight Hinckley incarnations.
Orange. Owned one, brilliant bike especially with the 3 into 1 race series pipe on. Bloody heavy though.
Gilera Nordwest 600 or RC One came up (an RC in red) on Gumtree around 8 years after i'd been casually looking for one for 6 months. All the right boxes were ticked re: condition etc. It hung around for a few days but I resisted it, probably would have ended in tears, very few engine parts available at the time.
I could afford them now. But time has passed. Never wanted a YPVS. I had the real deal. LC350. The YPVS got the same reaction as the 999 following the 996/998. Ugly.
As a spotty teenager on a Yamaha SS1-E the dream bike was a Triumph Trident T160V;still think they look the business. Oh, and yes my then girlfriend (now wife) took one look at the pillion seat of a Mark 1 Guzzi Le Mans and vetoed that as an option
