Your first bike and the one that got away.

[jas67]

Sold the SRX-6 I bought new and always regretted it, found a nice one 5 years later but had to drive 1200 miles to get it.

I see your SXR-6 is up for sale.   So, was it not the bike you remember and regret selling?

[Triple Jim]

clean 1972 Kawasaki H2 purchased in 1982 for $400.

I paid $750 for mine in '78, and a year or so later picked up later '72 with a bunch of parts, for $700.  By the late '70s the dealers in the DC area weren't putting much effort into stocking parts for triples.  They were putting a lot of effort into trying to sell the new 4-stroke bikes.  Buying the 2nd H2 was to get parts for the long run.  It worked, but now I'd like to get it on the road too, and since I never bothered to get it titled and lost whatever paperwork I got with it, I'll have to get a bonded title.

You got in at just the right time, because triples became just a bunch of obsolete old junkers and hit their all time low prices in the '80 and maybe the '90s before they became collector's items and started rising again.  Now a "correctly" restored H2 or early H1 often brings prices in the mid teens, and in Europe near $20,000.

[Bob Wegman]

First bike 67 Honda CL160.
Ones that got away and hurt, 71 HD ERS 350 sprint,70 Ducati 350 Desmo, 69 Triumph TR6C

[Testarossa]

I bought the Honda, used and in stock condition, when I arrived in Manhattan in 1972.  The Dunstall kit went on in '73 for an article I did in Supercycle magazine. The original glass was Dunstall yellow, really a gel coat rather than actual paint. The following year I mounted Lester mags and Marzocchi fork dampers, and painted it red and black with white pinstriping. Rode it for ten years, through a top-end rebuild. Last mod was a four-into-one exhaust. Over the years the glass took a beating -- it was mat-and-chop-spray work rather than a good cloth layup, so it suffered vibration cracking at the mounting points. I did a lot of patching, reinforcing the mounting points with aluminum plate, and of course a lot of repainting. The truth is it was crude heavy stuff compared to the beautiful light glass on factory bikes, for instance, Ducati's 750SS.

In '82 I acquired a Laverda barn find and that was a third bike (counting the TA-125) and I didn't have room in the garage under my city apartment building. The Honda was getting loose and needed another set of pistons/rings, so I trucked it out to a cousin's place in Jersey, meaning to revisit it eventually. Years passed, I traded the Laverda for my T, moved to Truckee, got married, had a kid. My cousin built a big house and moved and lost track of a whole garage full of old stuff, including the Honda. My guess is someone parted it out years ago.

The best story about the Honda is that shortly after installing the Lesters I had the bike parked in front of my apartment on East 62nd St, and came home to find half a dozen Japanese gentlemen in business suits gathered around it. They were Honda marketing executives and had a lot of questions about the bike -- only one of them spoke English and they kept him busy for half an hour. I didn't think much about it for a few years and then in 77-78 CB Hondas started coming through with Dunstall-inspired tank and seat shapes. I'd like to think my encounter got Honda thinking there might be a US market for cafe styling.

[redrider]

Kawasaki 400 S3A. Ported, polished, chambered and stacked. Had it for 6 years.

[Charles in Lake Charles]

My first bike was a Suzuki GT 250.  It was a fun bike although I was told I looked like a monkey ----ing a football while riding it.  It took me deep into Eastern Mexico one summer with no problems.

[Sheepdog]

My first was a 1969 Honda CL-70...



...and the one that got away was a 1974 Norton Commando Interstate.

[Touringman]

First Bike: 1992 Honda Nighthawk 750 (street)  1977 YZ 250 (dirt)
One that got away:  2009 Honda CBR 1000RR.  Desperate guy wanted $4000. His wife sold it while we were at work for 6000 cash to a guy who totaled it 2 days later...sigh.

[orion05ss]

My first bike was a 79 Yamaha 250 4 stroke dirt bike , then I traded in my 04 750 breva for an 03 California Stone , but didn't know about the clutch issues and its sitting in the barn , till I figure out the best and most affordable option to fixing it . Can't wait to ride again I really like the stone it rode really nice .