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| The Yamaha SR400 was
what I rode in driving school in 1989. |
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| The Yamaha XT350 was a
friend's motorcycle that I could ride on a few
weekends in 1998. |
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| The Honda NX650 Dominator (RD02,
built 1993) was my first real motorcycle. I
bought it used in 1999 and rode it until 2007,
for 107,000+ km (66,800+ miles). |
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| The Honda XRV750 Africa Twin
(RD07A, built 2000) was, and still is, my second
ever motorcycle. I bought it used in 2006 and
still ride it in 2023. So far I have ridden it
for more than 160,000 km (100,000 miles). |
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| The Honda CB650 Nighthawk
(built 1982) was my wife's first motorcycle in
2009. I was the mechanic for it and I rode it
mostly after doing maintenance to make sure
everything works as it should. |
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| The Triumph Scrambler 900 was
a motorcycle that I test rode in 2010 when
Triumph brought a truck full of bikes to a
dealership in a town near us. |
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| The Triumph (no idea what it
was called) was a motorcycle that I test
rode at the same event as above. It was the
first cruiser that I've ever ridden. Not my
thing, but fun anyway. |
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| The Kawasaki KLR650
(Gen.2, built 2008) is actually my wife's bike,
bought used in 2011. I ride it mostly after
doing maintenance to make sure everything works
as it should. |
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| The Zero DS was my first
ever electric motorcycle ride! We attended a
motorcycle rally in 2012 and I got to test ride
one. I have to say, it was a lot of fun. The
acceleration of this small bike was surprising
and to ride nearly noiselessly was a completely
different experience. Once the battery
technology allows for a decent range and they
become affordable I may consider getting an
electric motorcycle. |
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| The BMW F800GS was the
first BMW I ever rode, also during above
motorcycle rally. I have to admit that it's a
good looking bike and it rides nicely too. |
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| The BMW R1200GS I also
test rode during above motorcycle rally. I'm not
sure I could get used to the sideways shaking of
the boxer engine, but it sure has plenty of
power. It's a little to heavy for my taste
though. |
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The Honda CRF1000L
Africa Twin (DCT) was a friends motorcycle
that he let me test ride one afternoon in 2017.
I was very skeptical about the DCT, but was
positively surprised. It's much better than any
car automatic I've ever driven.
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| The BMW R1200R was my
uncle's motorcycle and while I was visiting in
Germany in 2019 he let me borrow it for a day.
It was surprisingly hard to push it into
corners.
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The Husqvarna Svartpilen 401
was a motorcycle that I rented in 2019 in Japan
for a day. My first rental motorcycle and I rode
it for 337 km (210 miles).
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The BMW G310GS was a
motorcycle that I test rode in 2020 when BMW
brought a truck full of bikes to a dealership in
Washington State.
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| The Kawasaki KLX300SM was
a motorcycle that I test rode in 2021 when
Kawasaki brought a truck full of bikes to a
dealership in a town near us. I actually wanted
to ride the regular KLX300, but somebody had
crashed it the day before, so I had to take the
super-moto version. |
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| The Honda XR150L were two
bikes we rented in Belize in 2023 for 10 days. I
rode it for 1088 km (680 miles). Small but
capable bikes, who knew.
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| The Lifan/Meilun ZR250 was
a replacement motorcycle that I rode for a
couple of days after we had technical problems
with the rented Honda in Belize in 2023. 100cc
more than the Honda but not more power, more
vibrations though.
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| The Kawasaki Versys 1000
was a motorcycle that I test rode in 2023 when
Kawasaki brought a truck full of bikes to a
dealership in a town near us.With 118 hp it was
the most powerful bike I've ever ridden.
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| The Honda XR250 Tornado
was a motorcycle that I rented in 2023 in
Guatemala for 11 days. I rode it for 1100 km
(688 miles) on step mountain roads, paved and
unpaved roads, as well as in city traffic. A
light weight, but very capable bike.
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