The bike you wish you never sold...

Going through some old pictures the other day I came across one of my old 1997 YZF 750 and got me thinking how I wish I had never sold it. That was my first true sportbike and got me hooked. Sure bikes I've owned since then have had more power, better handling, bla bla bla....but none have even come close to the same feeling as that old beast.

What's the bike you wish you'd never sold?

 

2001 ZX-9, Great all around bike!

 

Sold it 6 weeks ago. I miss it bad, but it was time to move on.

 

pretty much all of them for one reason or another.

but there were reasons i sold them, so that's just nostalgia kicking in.

 

No pics, but hands down my tricked out '73 Yamaha RD350

 

1994 ZX-7R

 

'86 gsxr 750.

 

'86 Suzuki GSXR 750 limited. Saw them uncrate it while I was picking up two other bikes, bought it out of the corner of the showroom floor a few years later with a ton of dust on it. I kept all the stock parts (including the original tires and exhaust in a box). Had less than 7K on it and all I put on it was a Yosh Duplex and metzlers.

 

1975 Kawasaki S1.

-jim

 

Street bike: 1998 Kawasaki ZX9R
Race bike: Aprilia RS250

 

My 2005 gsxr 750. Miss it a lot

 

Probably my old Z1000. It was a great street bike, but I wasn't looking for a street bike at the time. I was commuting 40 miles each way on the highway. Now I have a much shorter in town commute. It would have been perfect. Then again, insurance was still high for a bike heavier and slower than almost all of the 600cc offerings.

 

1992 FZR 600. I always really wanted the 400. Found one a year ago. It's sitting out in the driveway right now broken down....AGAIN! I'd really like to sell it, but, it's just so damned cute.

 

I owned a Ferraci built 1992 888 race bike, Carbon Bodywork, Ohlins, Termi Carbon Pipes, Very F'n cool. The bike now sits in a bar in Chicago called "Players" the owner of the bar is a race fan.

 

1977 Modded out RD400..

 

Hard one to answer. My first four-stroke streetbike was a 1975 Kawasaki Z-1 900, with a Russ Collins Engineering 1260 kit in it, with pro-stock cams, pipe, etc. Bought it while in the Air Force out in New Mexico. Rode that thing forever, and it was stone-reliable. Never should have sold it.

But then again, in 1984 I also smuggled into NC an RZ-500, back when the DMV wasn't paying as much attention to VIN numbers. (Still remember the DMV guy coming out and saying, "Hmm, says it complies with all applicable DMV laws, right there on that sticker, so I guess it's ok".) LOL Painted that thing in Marlboro Red and White livery, and it was the bomb! Ditto with the regret-thing.

Then lastly, bought a 1993 Ducati 888, right after my dad passed away, and I guess it was just my way of healing my grief, I went to Eraldo's place and had him put in his very-first streetable 944 cc kit. That thing made 140 HP back in 1994, and that was just a tick below what his factory bikes made. That thing brought me all kinds of crazy-grins. It sounded like a NASCAR V-8 and went like stink! Won a CCS National Title on that thing in 1994 at Daytona. But I actually didn't sell it, it was stolen in 1996, along with 2 other bikes in my apartment complex. (Yes, it was parked outside, but under a cover with two kryptonite locks on it.) My neighbor saw it being stolen, but four guys just picked it up and tossed it into the back of a white dodge van, and..... poof! Gone in 60 seconds.

 

1995 Ducati 900 SS SP.

 

1970 H1RA 500 Kawasaki.

 

That was my very-first street bike, an orange one. Still remember riding my dad on the back, going down the street in front of my house, and pinning the throttle and hearing him scream like a girl. Good times!

 

Nothing special about it, but I loved this bike.