Your best bike........,

[Busa Bro]

Is your best every bike, always your current bike?
Otherwise, why would you have it?

[Grumpy Jase]

Probably.

We all have rose tinted memories though. I used to have a 99 Blade, which I loved, but was getting a bit old for Sportbikes, and found the discomfort was restricting my riding. Replaced it with a VFR, then several years later, with my current K1300S.

Multiple bikes does make this easier, and allow me to still get my Sportbike fix, without having to compromise for longer distance stuff. Which of my current 3 road bikes is my best bike, depends on my mood and the ride I'm going on.

[menzies3032]

Well my bike list is a short one
Suzuki TS50x
Honda MTX125
Suzuki GSXR 600 K1
Suzuki GSXR 1000 K7
BMW F900R (2020 model)


Without a shadow of a doubt the BMW is by far the best bike. Had planned on changing it after 3 years for another brand new bike but HELL No just too good

[Jug]

2010 BMW K1300S
2006 Aprilia Tuono
2009 Benelli Tornado Tre RS

You have an eclectic mix of road bikes there Jase, very nice...

[Scotty]

Is your best every bike, always your current bike?
Otherwise, why would you have it?

As a matter of fact it is the current one (1290 SDR, bought as a keeper, done a few tasteful upgrades).
I was a fully paid-up member of the UK's sports bike scene from its inception in the mid-80s. I didn't get a Gixxer slabbie when they turned up, instead building my dream bike of the time; a Harris Magnum 2 (using my old Z1000J as the donor bike). The Magnum was great, but my gaze was taken by the new Yamaha FZR1000 Genesis in '87, and then subsequently a stream of EXUPs, ZXRs and so on until getting a ZX-10R when they landed in 2004, and enjoying it so much that I got another one as a track bike (some SWBs may recall its auspicious debut at my first ever Llandow in 2007, ahem...) After a £2000 rebuild it enjoyed a less traumatic life in my hands until a brain haemorrhage in 2014 left me unable to ride sports bikes (due to diplopia (double vision) on my up-gaze). It was time to look at alternatives. My girlfriend at the time had gone halves with me on a Tiger 800 (the pillion seat on a ZX-10 is no fun for anyone, however brief the journey) and it was surprising how quickly the Tiger had become the go-to bike, much easier to ride, and it didn't make me want to ride like a twat.
Worthy as it was, the Tiger was a little light on the excitement front so I looked around again. Back in early 2007 I'd had a demo ride on a 990 SuperDuke and loved it, thinking it'd make a great second bike if I could afford it. Now it'd make a great only bike so the Tiger was sold and I got myself a 990SD - immense fun, all the attitude you could ask for, hooligan bikes rock indeed.
Sports bikes were great, and I made the most of them for for several decades, but looking objectively they're pretty awful on the roads; uncomfortable, impractical, rubbish for luggage or pillions, and worst of all they encourage you to ride like an eejit because they do it so well. I emerged from my time on sports bikes with licence intact, only wrote three of them off, only seriously hospitalised twice so I virtually got away with it, unlike many of our contemporaries who encountered the Talent Gap in terminal fashion.
While loving the 990SD, I did covet a 1290 and when the stars aligned I treated myself to a new one with the aim of keeping it for as long as I'm able to ride it. Never get home without a smile on my face after a ride.

[TLS-Moose]

I'd guess it depends on your perspective and reference points ...... "best bike" for now, or "best bike" for then? Best bike for track, or best bike for touring? Best bike in terms of fitting the functionality you need, or best bike in terms of a smile from ear to ear when you get off? Or best in terms of engineering, build quality, technical prowess?

For instance, I'd suggest that by most empirical and qualitative measurements a modern KTM390 is in a completely different league to a late 1970's Morini 3 1/2, but I know which I'd pay a premium for to have in the garage ...... likewise bevel drive 900ss over a modern Panigale twin .... but if asked to pick a bike to ride to the south of France, I'd probably choose the modern option (or make sure I had bleddy good recovery insurance)

[Farad]

I'd guess it depends on your perspective and reference points ...... "best bike" for now, or "best bike" for then?

Reading other posts I suspect that for most of us motorcycling has an emotional element that we’re trying to tap into when we purchase or ride a motorcycle. That’s why I decided to look for an older bike to get me back into biking after a 10 year gap.

I cut my teeth on 70s Jap bikes and will always have fond memories of my first bikes. However, lots of people must feel the same which is why half decent Fizzy's fetch silly money. My first fast(ish) bike was an RD250D followed by a Suzuki GT500, both of which were great to ride but, again, now seem to be worth a king’s ransom when in good condition.

The last bike I had before the break was a GL1000KZ which was actually surprisingly good to ride and I was sorry to wave it off after selling it to someone who flew over from Dingle in Ireland to pick it up.

When I started looking round for something to get me back onto biking I quickly realised that a good example of a 70s bike would be so expensive I’d be too scared to ride it as I’d want and so ended up with a compromise.

I bought my current bike, a 1998 Suzuki GSX600F, just over a year ago and so far it has struck a good balance of evoking memories from my motorcycling youth without having to pay the nostalgia premium.

Is it my best bike ever? No

Does it give me an emotional connection to my mis-spent youth for relatively little outlay? It sure does.

Will I end up opening a secret bike fund so I can upgrade at some point? Of course not dear, I promised I wouldn’t do that!

[Ruffian]

Don't have a beat bike, as all have their good and bad.

My favourites have been
Zx-12r, z750r and speed triple r.

All been epic.

[billinom8s]

My 9 R1 was a great Bike but injury made it unusable on the road, my 990 superduke is silly fun and great to ride.
Recently got to play on a husky 250 two stroke and that was great fun.

[ptolemyx]

Bikes that have meant the most to me:-
1979 Z1000
Harley chop I built in '82 and rode for 12 years
Suzuki B-King
currently a Z H2 is a rather invigorating ride

All the others (including the Busas and various old Brits before I went over to, what was then, the dark side and had a series of Jap bikes) have not been as significant to me.