IMPORTANT Dakar have hit me with a copyright strike so ive had to delist some of the videos just in case i guess they got pissed that mine were better because of the MOTOGP one before xmas that means im really vulnerable now and the channel could be removed at any time I have set up this backup channel so please go and follow it NOW, this could all be removed at any moment now so it is critical to stay in touch via the backup channel here ruclips.net/channel/UCCSl6i-tZJNC5DQ38vgCtvw sorry for this if i get another strike it wipes out all my work all my old videos will be removed I wont be posting anything much on the new channel unless this goes down but this is a just in case because it really could go down at any point the videos are still visible if you have a link so if you have problems message me for links so you can still watch them, if you follow the channel and this one gets taken down you will be able to find me there sorry if thats a bit garbled ive just woken to this but i guess i could have had the channel taken down already so i should be thankful ride free everyone
KUDO's for this video.... subb'd up & clanged da Bell. I'm researching for a bike from the mid90's - 2009 or close. These bikes will be fairly cheap to buy but may cost to get road worthy. I just like the looks & don't mind an air-cooled engine. One less problem to deal with but I TY for the video & now I'll watch it - I'm guilty of posting before I saw this. peace
In fact I did enjoy it & IDKnow why your channel HiT my feed but it was what I wanted to see. I haven't ridden in a long time & once owned a Kz1000. Early 80's & she was used but I forget the year but I wanna say 78/79 model. I know at that time she was fast as hell if hell has a speed limit & doing 125mph w/ that technology was like doing 160mph or more today. The biggest drawback to the old bikes is multi-carbs so finding someone who's go a carb-sync tool is a must when ya got 4 carbs on your bike?! My intent for a bike = still kinda up in the air man? I'm thinking dual sport but if I bought today w/ what I know I'd grab a DRZ400, WR250, or a couple other possible choices. AS I think about older bikes I only think of street bikes & kinda what looks like a cafe racer today but all bikes looked kinda like that back in the day? I haven't given any bike consideration as a Dual Sport from the 90's, I'm only looking closer b/c of your video kinda opened the door for what I had been thinking about. I liked it so I'll be rooting thru your stuff to find more things I like. And thanks for the time in posting up.... peace & GB
@@diggy-d8w good luck with the search mate, and you know where i am if i can help, youll see the 650 Vstrom comes up a lot, ive had mine 15 years now (more than) and its a damn good old donkey of a bike, had and still have many faster and better looking, but it still gets used more than anything else. but its not a classic UJM, for that, these days, i think XJR12 and 13 or GSX1400 are as strong as they come. personally if you want real retro i would say the Kawasaki W650 and 800 are easily overlooked too. but enjoy having a root around the videos, and ask away, welcome aboard by the way 🙂
@@barebonesmc ~ "MONEY" is a limiting factor for me right now but I like to research before I do anything that might CO$T a great deal... lol, but I saw you've got some other videos I'll be checking out & I will let ya know what I decide & ask you what you think? I'm at least 2 months off doing a purchase unless a chunk of money magically appears. Until then, your video is sparking a deeper LQQK into "Retro". peace & do be safe out there
Don’t imagine for a moment that these bikes will increase in value. I own a 2007 Honda 600 hornet, 12,000 miles fsh. I couldn’t trade it in for more than £1500. I’ve kept it.
Excellent video! And I'm an ex-dealer who's been motorcycling now for almost 70 years. I really don't understand why anybody who is reasonably clever and mechanically-adept would want to buy a new motorcycle. There are SO many well-engineered bikes, especially from the '90s, and you can ride them practically forever with sympathetic maintenance. And they're CHEAP!! The bikes you list can mostly be bought for less than the first year's depreciation on a new 5-figure motorcycle. So, if you think about it, the bike is essentially free...and, if you take care of it, it might even appreciate. Try that with a new one.
Your point can't be disputed. I am convinced there are a tremendous number of bikers who turn their own wrenches keeping the obsoleted bikes alive. I read somewhere that Harley Davidson dealers are now refusing to work on Harleys older than twenty years...... They say it's tough to get parts. Now there is an opportunity for shadetree mechanics right there.....
@@bobsullivan5714 The thing about old Harleys (for which I have no use) is that there are so many sources for almost ANY parts you might need, that you do not need the dealer. The same is true of Triumphs and BMWs and Nortons (to a lesser degree). I understand there are some parts for Japanese bikes that are getting VERY hard to find, especially ignition and switchgear, but a clever fellow can usually find a work-around. When I was a dealer (for Honda/Suzuki/Guzzi/KTM), we could get almost anything from the manufacturer, but that was over 30 years ago... Still, there are a ton of breaking yards and the internet makes them available world-wide, which we did not have in the 1980s-90s.
Great list! The CBR600 F2 is one of the best all-around bikes I've ever owned. It looks dated and sort of silly by today's standards, but it was the easiest bike to get on and ride fast. Just a perfect, balanced setup. The motor ran like a sewing machine and sounded beautiful. I owned a 1200 Bandit. Great power and sound. A little porky but still fun to ride. Hard to get parts for unfortunately. The Ducati is one that most people will skip without a second glance. As a former motorcycle mechanic myself, I can tell you, if you do a lot of your own maintenance and upkeep, the air cooled Ducs are the best mechanic's motorcycle ever built. Once you get past the unwarranted stigma of valve and shim adjustment and belt tension adjustment. They are just simple and they sound great.
I do have a mate who says similar, I was much more of a Cagiva fan personally, but some of the Ducati's get a bad wrap they don't deserve. cheers for adding your bit mate, Bandit parts are everywhere here, they sold so well that the 2nd hand market is full, have a great week
Great video, thanks. I’ll add another honuorable mention … From 90-99 (01) Honda gave us 3 generations of VFR that are often referred to as bomb-proof. They are great value for money, can often be found well maintained and in very good shape at bargain prices with years of life left in them.
The 90th are special. 5 year collection of mine - prices from 1200 € to 3000 € Ducati Monster 600M Triumph Speed Triple 955 i Honda CBR RR Fireblade as Street Fighter Cagiva V-Raptor 1000 Honda CBR - F as Street Fighter Suzuki TL 1000 as cofferacer Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer Honda VfR Fr 750 Probably next Aprilia Falco. Drive save have fun and "Hallelujah Asphalt Spirits" Greetings to all of you from the Mountains of Austria ❤
I have 2 scooters and a motorcycle that are all modern. The oldest being 2012 Genuine Buddy 150cc, the only carbed thing still in the stable. But I regularly ride with people that own scooters from the 60s', bikes from the 70's, etc. I love LED lighting, fuel-injection, and brakes that save me from stupid situations. But there's a certain essence to a lot of past bikes that retain their flavor, and should continue to provide joy for a long time to come.
As you did the intro i was thinking "surely the CB500 has got to be in there somewhere" and i was delighted that it was the first bike featured. I had one new in '94 and it was a joy to ride for all of the 6 years i owned it. Great video - indeed I'm loving all of your videos - many thanks.
So many great bikes that didn't get a look-in, it shows what a great decade the nineties was. An honourable mention for my old Fazer 600 - a real go anywhere, do anything bike, including getting it off the clock at the bottom of the M5. Yamaha engines do like revs!
Can't believe you added the dyna..but Thank you ..I purchased mine new in 2001 and have been all over Canada and numerous US states...everyone asks me why I still ride an older bike..and the answer is simple..original starter, stator, voltage regulator..it still shines like new when clean...and has 160 000km on it... I had no idea..I thought we were just dating and now have realized it must be true love 😊
i think they get a bad rap mate. and anyone who has ridden one knows that 50 to 90 mph lunge you get when you open the throttle can be very useful in the real world IMO 🙂 and ive surprised a few riders on much faster bikes 🙂
Back in the 90s I had some great bikes, FJ1200, Daytona 900, Speed Triple, XJR1200, T595, Fireblade, Trophy 1200. My wife however stuck with her CB500, she loved it! We were spoilt for choice back then!
I have a 86 FJ1200. Although not from the 90’s, she’s only got 13,500 on the clock and clean as heck. 98 VTR1000 was my favorite. Traded it for a thunderbird and regretted it ever since!
I had an XJ Diversion myself, maybe the second best bike I have ever owned. It was to be used as a tourer, with a pillion, and whilst it did that job well, that extra gear, would have been a godsend. I had an accident on it , didn't do much damage to it, but sold it not long after, as I was constantly breaking the law, and knew I would get killed on it. Stopped riding for 32 years, only recently coming back to an 400cc ADV. I appreciate you bringing this bike onto this vlog. Actually I had the same colour bike as the one shown.
I had an FJ1200 in the 90's it was great for touring Europe 2 up some 6 times - very reliable and fast the Pyrenees & Alps were a dream - faults were high fuel consumption at high autobahn speeds and it got rather hot in traffic in Italian & Spanish summers.
Honda vfr 800fi 1999 all day long. Most universal motorcycle engine ever built and comes with gear driven camp and then trade mark single swing arm. I bought mine with 65000 miles amazing service history, full luggage with a spare rectifier for £1050. And I love it to bits :-D
Had the Honda CB500 and if it wouldn't have been stolen and burned (a London problem, idiots seem to have fun doing that) it still would run fine. Now I am riding the Honda CBF 600 SA from 2009 and it is a superb bike. Drive it all year round, even in Austrian winter, did plenty of touring (did 1300km in one day), driving fast, plenty of fast rides 2 up into the High Alps up to good 2500m. It is my lorry too, carrying cement bags and anything that somehow fits on it. It just keeps on running. It can be really fast too if I want. The tuned down Hornet engine still shows where it is coming from. Had to replace the rear bearing at bit more than 63k kilometers. Now it is close to 65.000 km and it runs perfect. Got it for a great price too. 2700 Euro with 28500km (18k miles). The lady owner had dropped it and the fairing has a slight crack and it had some scratches. But it's such a strong bike so nothing else to report Dropped it three times myself, twice standing, once at slow speed (15 to 20km/h). Once a friend fell asleep and when I stopped to let him hop off the bike just tilted over and he dragged us down. Twice I was stupid because I used it as an off road bike on Sardinia. Which it did perfectly fine but twice I really overcooked it and did the manoeuvrers despite knowing better. Well then, now it has motor protection bars Big Givi screen, DaVinci sports exhaust for a nice sound (already on it at purchase), heated grips. Takes even at higher speed only 5 litres per 100km, Less than that at speeds up to 100 km/h. I am 1m 82cm (6ft) and with raised handle bars and the seat in the highest position it fits me nicley. Anyone who wants a superb, long-lasting, fast bike for little purchasing and maintenance cost should consider it.
great bikes, I ride a 650 Vstrom among the collection :-) i featured the SV and Vstrom here ruclips.net/video/WikCG7WxPy8/видео.html 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Almost bought one but got a response on a cbr600f2. It's my first bike & 1st project (cracked idle gear boss) boy has this a fun project to learn from the next time I plan to shop for a used bike
XVZ 1300 A Royal Star from 1996 is my ride since more than 20 years. It has the stripped V4 engine constructed by Porsche for Harley, that made career as the powerhouse for the Yamaha V-Max. Four carborators, 77HP great sound even with the factory exhausts. I know that cruisers are not that popular/sexy for many bikers but this machine never let me down and is pure fun to ride. I also think that I own the only not-modified Royal Star in Europe. Bullit-Proof!! Hahaha...
great bikes but where is the harley/porche connection? the only porsche/harley engine i know about is the one commissioned by Eric Buell thats now used in the pan america, the v4 harley that never got built is the only v4 i can think of, but that was a very different engine to the vmax one 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Got the info from one bike mechanik, long ago, that Porsche offered the concept of that watercooled V4 to HD, they didn't see a future for that at HD so it was on the market and Yamaha got the license and the V-Max was born. But I just double-checked and.... I can't find proove for what I said. Thank you for making me think. ;-) I'll be after this. Want to find out. @@barebonesmc
I’ll vouch for the ZX9. 50,000 km with maintenance per Kawi recommended specs. I’ve toured it, daily ride it and done dozens of track days. Compression is still perfect and starts every single time perfect. Valve maintenance was a piece of cake.
Ive a gpz500S 1997. Everyone comments on it parked outside my work. Its fast on the open road and nippy through traffic. 50bhp and will return 70mpg at 60mph, and cruise on a motorway at over the limit for hours and return 55mpg.
Great video! I rode a 96 Bandit 1200 for 18 years, the bike of dreams of me and all my friends at around 20 for its raw power and slick appearance - oil-aircooled, carburator / no electric shenanigans that could break. This bike never let me down, was easy and cheap to maintain, reasonable on fuel consumption and always fun to turn the throttle with power to the redline. Switched to a Tiger 900 a few years ago and do regret not keeping the Bandit, in many ways... maybe I'll get one again just for the nostalgia of having great saturday afternoon rides :) but good ones get more expensive every year...
Loved it...A reliable bike from the 90s. ST1100 (Pan European) 100 h.p., 50 mpg, good for 200,000 miles, can pick one up for about 3,000.00. I still ride a 98 some. I usually will follow the other riders. Some newer bike will be acting up on some guy. So I ride my old, reliable Honda in back in case a new BMW or something breaks down. 😆.
Couldn’t have put it better! I picked up my bargain ‘98 Pan in deep green just last year. Only 70,000km on the clock with a very careful owner and a full Honda service history! What a gem. It’s the only bike my wife will ride on with me. She’s scared of my Africa Twin and I use my Bandit 650S as a back lane hooligan just for me!
Took my 98 Valkyrie on a 3000 mile trip across the plains through Colorado and back. Mountains, hot, cold, wet, even some dirt and ran like a champ even at 10k ft and up (on 6 carburetors). Paid $3500 for it and another $500 to get her presentable.
I still own my ‘99 VFR 800 “50th Anniversary” edition. I don’t ride it as much as I did, but if you keep the battery charged and fuel in the tank, it will always start. And that awesome V4 sound that comes out of the Devil carbon aftermarket exhaust is just what it does to me. It was and still is love at first sight 😊
It is currently top of the list i think, im very happy to be about get back on two wheels after 5-ish years of nursing, not a physical injury but a psychological one caused by the devastating loss of my beloved Zxr400rr in the classic green, blue and white livery. Also the general lack of a motorcycle, it is surprisingly soul squishing to become bikeless😢 to be a "non biker" 😯 so nuff said, 'Im Coming Back!!' Woohoo!! Its exciting i can tell ya that!! Yippee!!
At 80, (etc , etc ) It's unlikely I'll be riding again: But I So Much enjoy your articles , both for your expansive knowledge, and just the sounds and sensations 0f the clips. Thank you! David
Welcome aboard mate. I do my best with the clips. And if I manage to get the feelings of riding them across then I’ve succeeded 😊 have a great weekend 😊😊
Used to ride friends F2 cbr and Fireblade 900rr back in early 2000 and it felt so good that now decades later I bought a very fine example of 1996 fireblade 900rr from auction. It still feels like home after all this time. And found a F3 for my girl for 440€ at auction. What a time to buy those classics now.
Had my 9 since 2002, it's a C2 model. Still tour on it, Sunday blasts, nothing really gets away from it & it's still makes me smile. Brilliant bikes from that era for pocket money.
1998 Suzuki Gsxf750 should get a honourable mention. With a rebuilt rear shock & replaced front calipers, it performs quite well for an average frame. They can be bought quite cheap & the motor is derived from the gsxr750 so is no slouch. Thanks for the video.
When returning, once again to motorcycles a good few years ago, I had a hankering for a Triumph triple. I had always loved the look of the Daytona and found one, in yellow at a dealers locally. I chatted to a salesman (very loose term) and arranged to ride it the following week. I took a day off work and on the day and time arranged I turned up at the dealer, they said the bike could not be ridden as it had a leaking fork leg... a patch of oil on the showroom floor was pointed to as evidence, the salesdope also said he had rung me several times to cancel the ride, I pulled out my phone which showed no missed calls or messages from their phone number. I was not happy and the following weekend I visited another small specialist dealer in another Somerset town and bought a Buell .... and that's as close I ever got to buying a 955i Daytona.
For context, I passed my test in the late 80's on a Honda XL125 and was utterly mesmerised by the styling of the Yamaha TDR250 which as a 2 stroke 250 was quite a leap from a 4 stroke 125! It soon became apparent that I would either lose my licence or my life on anything approaching a fast bike. I had the XL and TDR at the same time until unfortunately the XL was stolen so I replaced it with a Honda CM250 (factory custom 'wet dream' ;-) ) and so had the TDR and the CM at the same time. For the next 25 years I only allowed myself cruisers or customs, avoiding fast bikes but I always had a hankering for a new Triumph. Then they released the Speed Triple! What an unbelievably gorgeous machine! The shape of the frame tubes, the single sided rear arm, those air scoops! I researched as much as I could and despite all I learned I still had to have one! I eventually ended up with a 1999 955i and have owned it for longer than any other bike (and almost any other car) and still have it now. Yes, the power and speed still has the ability to scare the pants off me but it has been so reliable, the handling is brilliant (although I can only compare this to what I've previously owned!) and I still find its looks today so totally stunning, even in mat black and unwashed for over five years! Thanks for another great video, I've just subscribed and look forward to your informative and relaxed content. Cheers.
I've had a 2000 FXDX for a few years as a second bike. I still love it as much today as the first time I rode it. One of the first jobs was to get the hydraulic cam tensioner mod done and while at it, have a change of cams that gave it loads of low down grunt. After ten years, it has been utterly reliable and the fact that it's probably worth more than I paid for it is a real bonus.
Good to see the CB500 from the 90's get a mention, it's a bike that often gets forgotten but it is surprisingly fun and surprisingly quick with rock solid reliability I know someone with one that has over 200,000 miles on without any major work having been done to it. I have a 97 and I just can't ever bring myself to get rid of it. It is the bike I always recommend people search for as a first big bike after passing their test because there are still good ones out there and you're never going to have to pay more than £1500 for a really nice one even in today's mad market and it is so easy to ride and provide all the performance most beginners will ever need.
I had a GS500 Suzuki ( parallel twin 50hp, steel frame so very similar to CB500) as my first bike bike, and reckon the 2 years I rode that , did me good as I went to bigger bikes.
great bikes, i preferred the FT500 to be honest, but they will all find a place at some point 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel and the website, let me know what you think. hope youll climb aboard. We do have a great bunch as subscribers and i can thoroughly recomend reading some of the comments too, some funny and most informative too. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
To add to your wonderful list (IMHO), but you won't find anything cheap in Australia Post COVID. I was a wide eyed learner in the 90's and these were bikes I always loved. Yamaha TRX850 (just a great all round parallel twin) Kawasaki ZZR600-1100 (heaps of serious miles were put on these in Australia and tended to attract tourers rather than boy racers) BMW K1 (don't mock me) Triumph Trident (Triumph was back! And we were in awe. The Tridents styling just had that, "yes, I'm a big solid muscle bike and I'm going to pop yer head off" look, while the maroon and black paintwork hearkened back to Triumphs heratige.) Thanks for another great video.
the TRX is a special bike i think, in the years to come it will grow in value and reputation i think, to be fair i dont know anyone who would have a bad word for them :-) cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I had a CBR600F2. Paid peanuts for it, had over 90k on the clocks. Still went as it should and only let me down once in over 4 years (vacuum pipe came adrift. Took 10 minutes to sort out). I also have a 1995 Triumph Thunderbird 900 with a few minor mods such as TOR pipes. I've owned that for 10 years now and the sprag clutch (touch wood) has not been an issue. Whether it was done prior to my ownership I don't know. What I would say though, is if you hear the camchain get a bit noisy, REPLACE IT! They last circa 50k. Mine didn't break or anything, but what it did do was break up the camchain guide (front of engine). And replacing it required the head to come off as they slot into a groove in the cylinder block.
Cheers for adding this. as i have often said, if we could amass the combined knowledge of all the subscribers we would have the most comprehensive motorcycle encyclopedia ever 🙂
Glad I surprised you mate 🙂Cheers for watching. The CB500 cup racing was awesome, some seriously good riders, Ive had them ride around me when ive been on much faster bikes. Bigger isnt always better as they say. Ride Free 🙂
My 1994 Ducati 888S with various race parts is a revelation for many. Problems were confined to the race-derived voltage regulator which I swapped for the bigger and better version on the 996 and the fragile "ruota libera". She recently went through the lights at Misano at 282kph. Not bad for an old lady!
Glad you included the Honda CBR600f, the obvious winner. Altho you should have included the f3 and especially the mighty f4. sold til 99. in the year 2000 they made the f4 injected and abs with the f4i and f4 sport.
glad you enjoyed it mate, i have to generalise at times, differentiating each model variant and including them all would get really long, repetetive and mean the list would just mainly be Honda's 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I recently picked up a 99 Fazer 600 for a bit of unadulterated fun. It's a great little bike and after 7000rpm it's a bit mental. Also took it on a pretty long tour. Can't fault it for just of £1k.
Cracking bikes, currently got one whilst my zzr1100 is off the road. It's brilliant for back Lane blasts and definitely a lot more lively than the bandit 600
This was an absolutely mesmerizing watch. Like hearing you speak about old friends (which, in some way, you do) and about how much more than transportation motorcycles really are. They are our companions, our therapists, sometimes even parts of our family, like the Guzzi 850 I inherited from my father. Every bike tells a story about itself and about its rider. Me personally, I just love 90s-early 2000s Bikes. The sweet spot where we had refined, solid technology in brakes, suspension and engines, but everything still was analogue. These are bikes you can, in most cases, work on as an amtateur, and they will in turn work for you. My dad used to call these models "bread-and-butter" bikes, but bread and butter, done right, can very much be a fine meal if you ask me.
nice one mate, looks a beauty, i find the videos in all sorts of places when they arent my own, send me a link and ill put it in the description like i have with others 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
It is cool to see these bikes on a video, well presented too. I am especially happy to see the ZX9r on there, I don't know much about the earlier B models, other than that they ran from '94-'97. I know a lot more about the C models, the first production bike to do a 1/4 mile run under ten seconds @ 136mph. Unfortunately my bike is just past the 90's so didn't make the cut, a small mention of the E-F models would have been nice though, other than the production range that you did mention. I have the 2000 E1 ZX9r. even more refined, by quite a bit than the C models, it's an awesome beast of a bike. They look so much better than many modern bikes, and although I'm sure they are not as comfortable as the B models, they are still one of the more comfortable sport bikes.
in many cases, although at the top the mantle passed between Yamaha and Honda fairly evenly throughout the 90s i would say. the FZR started the 90s on top, then the CBR took over, then came the R6 at the end of the 90s. so we really were spoiled 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
Awesome video. Thank you as I believe this was a defining decade. For me the most ground breaking bike was the original Fireblade. Not only was it quicker and more powerful and having similar weight to what the WSB bikes were based on and not intended to be a “race bike” it changed everything. My first time following one a mate had just purchased whilst I had a GSXR-750 WM. We were about to pass a bus at around 100 kph. He pulled out first and I went down 3 gears and he still pulled slightly away. When we stopped I asked how many gears did you go down he simply said none. We swapped as I couldn’t believe it as I was also racing at this time. After just a few corners and a couple of straighter parts I was sold and it was completely untouched. I also rode the 9R from team green however the Fireblade was better in basically every aspect in my humble opinion. 👍😎🇦🇺
better as a race bike for sure, i guess depending on road surface the blade would win on most things, but certainly not the bargain that the ZX9's are now. and yep, the blade was robably the closest a standard production bike had got to superbike spec, ive still got a 16.5" front end from a series 1 i have kept for a special :-) cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
@@barebonesmc Not sure what happened. However, it was about a group of mates that came to PI in a WSB round and one rode down on a new ZX9R. He also was wearing a two piece race suit that had knee scrapers that had never got near touch the ground. I lost 2 left ones during practice sessions and didn’t have any more spares so he basically begged for me to use his. I guess as a way of showing other riders that he could get his knee down (something I never did on the streets then and now). Long story short, when packing up my trailer at the end bd of Sunday he wanted me to ride his new bike the hour and a half back to Melbourne with him as a pillion (the last thing I wanted to be honest) however I did and was impressed with the bike even with the additional weight on the rear. I did eventually ride it solo and you’re correct in every way about it. A lovely chassis and a strong enough engine for anyone on the streets. It handled high speed corners better than most at the time as when I looked at the speedo I didn’t realise that I was going faster than I thought. Plus it was also easier to ride making for a nice overall package that didn’t require you looking for a chiropractor after a day in the saddle. 😎
@@marcusgeorge1825 i do love the early ones, and dont get me wrong i like the later ones too, the 636 is a weapon, but the early ZX9 is to me just a better all around bike, with more power than most people could ever use. AND you dont get electronics interfering with the ride 🙂
Awesome Video...Thanks for putting it together..my classic 90s Bikes would be the Suzuki RF900 and the RF600 really reliable watercooler 4 cylinder sports tourers with pretty good handling good riding possession and comfortable seat and if looked after and serviced regularly can get to really high mileage with very little problems apart from the usual cam chain rattle at 60,000 or so but that can be sorted easily with an after market tensioner
YAYYYY a fellow RF-er! Had one, LOVEDIT, HIIIIIIIGHLY UNDERRATED...! (mine was a US Import green with grey/silver markings RF900RW, I junked the 'Clean Air recycling circuit system', modded the headlight and both rear lights to have a ring of LED's as 'Side lights' and then used the bulbs for main/Brake (all 3 at back wired for brake), adjusted the suspension for best of both worlds with a wee smidge of firmness, Bridgestone BT-023s, and Maaaaaaaaaan! Did she hustle! If you want to see pics of headlight/tail light mod (will work for RF4, 6 and 9s), go to my YT page, send me an email) RIDE SAFE, RIDE FREE!!! 👍 😎🇬🇧
A few years ago I bought an MK1 Bandit 1200S - naked conversion in totes. It had rod knock on #2, but the PO sourced a rotating assembly. I built it back to the Holeshot Stage 2 that it was. Incredible bike. A previous owner (3 owners back) contacted me on the Bandit page. He and his son had gotten a pair of them black and red and built them together. He said it was his 16 year old son's first bike. He wanted to trade me a Hornet for it, but I had fallen in love with it. My last trip out I lifted the front twice just going hard at red lights. Last year I bought an RF900RV that was sitting under a tarp in a backyard in Atlanta. A lot of parts were weathered and someone had been working on it who didn't need to have access to tools. The PO lost some pieces. For the most part the 10k mile engine was in great shape. I finally got it going and tuned up this spring. It has all of its parts again. It's the red, black, and silver one. I went up two teeth on the rear sprocket because I don't often go more than 135 mph. Rider position was more crouched than I liked so I put on drop pegs. This bike is so much more "motorcycle" than the B12. It rails around turns and only wants more throttle. It takes almost no input to change direction. The B12 is raw and mine sounds mean AF with the 17" Holeshot slip on, but on a twisty road it could not hang with the RF. With the lower gearing I still think the B12 can easily beat it to 100, but not by all that much really. I haven't been able to stay off of the RF. I bought a 2000 ZR-7 project bike recently to loan out to friends when it's done. The PO tore down the top end because it had low compression, but I think it probably just needs valve shims.
I'm a great Yamaha fan, and the FZR'S are my favourite bikes.I also own a YZF750R, which would have been the best bike had the Fireblade not appeared. Harleys don't rock my boat though. I nearly bought a ZX9R, great bike too. The Yamaha Thunderace was also a very underrated bike that is cheap.
Not missed 😊 features in fastest bikes of the last 100 years and the 2nd bombproof bikes video 😊 I still have some bits for a project if I ever get to it 😊
My objection to my Bandit was it was too fast. At a hundred miles an hour it was completely settled. Nothing exciting happened getting there or being there. I never went past 120-5 and the bike wasn’t bothered. I simply wasn’t skilled enough to need or use a bike that good.
Had a Trident 900 bought new in 1999 sold it to a mate in 2021. Never let me down, went all over UK and Europe on it. Everything good that you said about the Trophy applied to the Trident; it had loads of grunt. pulled like a train and had a great turn of speed - suprised quite a few sports guys especially from the lights. Spot on about its top heavyness although I never dropped mine but when I first got it after having a Yammy FZ600 its topside bulk nearly caught me out. I was careful to change oil and filters regularly and keep the battery on a conditioner.. When I sold it I felt like I was losing a loved one but as I can go and see it any time I want it's not too bad plus I kinda love my new bike which I am finally bonding with. Cheers for a great vid, I have subscribed and look forward to watching all your content. Cheers mate.
welcome aboard mate, cheers for the support, theres plenty to keep you going on here and the website linked in descriptions. hope you have a great day. Ride free 🙂
In my shed a ST1100 and XJ900S Diversion both have a space. As it is, I paid less for the ST (with history) than I did for the XJ. Than again the XJ has a very, very low mileage. Each of them was below 2500 EUR. However... there is maintenance: always new tyres, on the ST a new exhaust system and a timing belt... The ST has now cost me more in maintenance than in purchasing it. To me it is worth it, yet - if you want your bike to be safe an reliable - you will run into a bit of neglect with cheaper bikes and must be prepared to pay for it. It least in my book.
My used fireblade came with a clip master link and a seat rail bolt missing. I'm not into road rash so rivet link and a bolt went in before my ride after test ride.
Absolutely the best channel on bikes out there, that's why I subscribed. I am in awe of the knowledge you have. One of my bikes is a low mileage CB 750 Nighthawk, a 1991 model in mint shape. At my age (70) I'm not pushing bikes hard on the road anymore but this bike is bullet proof and will do anything I'm capable of asking it to do, and more. My only beef with the bike is the seat on long rides but no matter because a "long ride" for me is 45 miles round trip.Keep on with your great, educational videos. I'm always looking for bikes that go up in value for my collection.Cheers from Connecticut in the States!
welcome aboard mate, and thanks for the support. the Nighthawk 700 SC is featured in this one,ruclips.net/video/c4n0iL9mUW8/видео.html i still have mine 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
My first SS listed above and my current bike both made the list. My 05 GSF 1200S I'm currently on has 101k on it and is still a champ, runs strong and will do almost anything you ask of it.
My last bike was a Zephyr 1100. Very reliable bike, better then the BMW K100RS i had before. it left me stranded with a leaky oilpump axel seal (integrated oil/coolant pump that separates the 2 pumping chambers using seals on the one impellor axel. That middle seal failed resulting in mixing coolant with oil... not fun! Specially when you first suspect a blown headgasket... (it was just fine...) The Kawa never left me stranded. I tweeked that Zephyr a little bit using a K&N filter, opened up airbox and a dyno-jet kit in it. Stock: 95hp@crank, mine made 98hp@wheel on a dyno. On stock exhausts. Lots of grunt just like that Bandit in this video. I also lowered the stanchion tubes (2cm) in the yokes making it a bit more chuckable into tighter corners. Cheap Japanese reliability! I'm now on the look-out for another used bike , this time lighter and narrower, with ABS and injection. NC700 DCT ?? I'm getting too old for those fast heavy hitters. 🙃😉
The NC has a lot of fans, personally i dont want the extra weight of the DCT though, and for me, its just not as good as the 650 Vstrom in most situatons. but i am biased, the Zephyr is a good un, a UJM in the classic sense. i have been contemplating the V85 for a while now, but ive got a narrow window lol, i want the tubeless rims, but not the tft screen and extra electronics. i do wish it had the 21 inch front and longer travel suspension of the Tuareg though lol glad you enjoyed the video mate, theres loads more on the channel, let me know your thoughts
The CBR600F is still an incredible bike. I went european touring on it, track days and commutes. Engine was smooth and incredibly reliable. It needed a new CCT and head races. That was it. Amazing.
Way back in 1993 I bought a brand new Yamaha 600 Seka II for $3400.00 cash! It was a super fun bike and I rode it for two years back and forth to work at the near by Air Force Base. Very fun and reliable bike! Later sold it and bought my first Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster. The Seka was a more fun ride! Great riding memories.
Ha - I’m in my late 60’s and what’s in the garage - tucked away in the corner - whispering “ride me you fool” - a 2001 1200 Bandit with dale walker exhaust and jet kit. It makes tons of power - I can’t imagine what he had it lined out with the turbo!
thanks for that trip down memory lane, if I was ever tempted to buy Italian, the Falco and ST2/3 or the 4 would have been what I have shelled out for..
I've had my Honda Dominator (NX650) since 1993 - great commuter, tourer, wannabe ADV and absolutely bomb-proof (only minor repairs needed and very simple). Also very cheap for what you get. It's always forgotten in these types of videos - such a shame...
Not forgotten mate and great bikes It will find its place, I just have to stop somewhere and we were spoiled in the 80's and 90's🙂 Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
still got my 99 one, tweaked a bit so its 120 brake at back wheel now and an even steeper torque curve, Used it as a track bike for a couple of years so it has been well and truly tested 🙂Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I very recently bought an extremely tidy '91 FJ1200 (blue & white). Previous owner was a qualified motorcycle mechanic. Only has 46,000km on it (in NZ we use metric) Shocked at how quick, smooth and comfortable it is. Biggest bike ive owned, and still have, a S40 Boulevard 650.
Glad you included the Harley Dyna...they get a bad rap from some, that's mainly from people who've been brainwashed with negs. They're a different type of ride, mine has forward controls...handles better than many other bikes I've owned, and soak up the shitty roads 🇦🇺 with ease, finish a ride unstressed...plenty of aftermarket parts also...not that I've needed any....to date 😂 👍
I just found your Video and have to say that It is one of the best, very informative. After just purchasing a 2011Suzuki GSX1250 FA the torque from the motor is incredible, starts and runs like a swiss watch I had to smile when you talked about the 1200 power catching out the rider, as I was taken back by the un expected pick up and acceleration. Look forwards to the next and more videos
Good vid (apart from the bloody Harley inclusion! 😜) I owned an ST2 (first bike I bought new) did a few trips to Europe on it - never really gelled with it, but I'm small at 5'6" and it just felt too big for me and was a bit gutless.... I replaced it with a Falco, which I still own. Night and day - the Falco is just better than the ST2 in every way; the best kept secret. I chipped mine so it's on a par with the RSV-R of the same era (130bhp). Done 25k miles, mostly round Europe, on it. It's such an underrated bike. Before the ST2 I had a 600 Divvie - meh; good in a Japanese way, but ever so dull.
@@barebonesmc I've been thru Austria(from Assen MotoGP, to Nurburgring, thru Austria, down into Italy then back over the top into Slovenia and Croatia) on the Falco. The Dalmatian coast road is fantastic too. 👌👍
I was expecting the 95 XJ 900 Diversion straight after the Triumph Trophy as they look almost identical . I had my XJ parked and went in for a cuppa and while I was in there somebody parked a Trophy next to it. They look so much alike I nearly jumped on the wrong bike. I've also heard that the XJ 900 has been known to get over 400,000 miles out of a motor ,not sure if this is true though,.
ahah finally the Bandit 😁 When I started watching your videos, which was earlier this year I must say that I loved the way you review each bike. And we can certify and agree that this is a phenomenal well-done "homework". In this video in question it started very well with my first motorcycle the Honda CB500 and ended with my second and last motorcycle the Bandit. Although mine is a 600, I completely agree with your opinion that we can choose any of the Bandits, because the really are great bikes. Keep this great work Best Regards from Portugal 🇵🇹 Nuno Costa
As a 40 years bike mechanic the suzuki factory brought out the bandit because of the popularity of flat barred crashed gsxr,s. Flat bars loose the rest of the plastic and slap on a mono posto ducati seat unit and all you need is a paddock jacket trainers and a Simpson helmet its a natural progression from an LC
@@ringo196 i can see that being part of the reason, probably a lot more went into the decision too though, naked was the returning trend. Cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂
Lovely video , really enjoyed it . Your riding is impeccable sir ! Yamaha diversion though ?!!!!! Always been a big yam fan but in that incarnation id rather go shankseys … I predict 1200 bandits going up on the second hand market 😮
glad you enjoyed it mate. To be clear its not me riding all the bikes. Some but not all 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂 The Divvy splits opinions a bit but as you will see in the comments, it has many fans. and Im just biased on Genesis era engines (Ive got 2 FZR's lol) Totally agree on the Bandit 12. a future classic for sure. I think these are all bikes that will go up in price now too ruclips.net/video/RkMPFU4QLzg/видео.html especially the Blackbird, they are so cheap right now it is silly. a good honest one (same owner for the last 12 years) just went for £900 ready to ride away with a long history from a knowledgable owner, and they really are fantastic bikes
You gave the Ducati ST2 a mention with was great. I own a 2001 ST4 and absolutely love it. I've had it for 15 years now and is my daily ride. It's all the ST2 was but with the beautiful and hugely more powerful 916 engine plus better all round suspension. Loved this video as it reminds me of the heyday of real sports tourers.
The Honda NTV 650 or NT 650 is worth mentioning. Nearly undestructible and fairly cheap, if you are looking for a bike that gets you from A to B. Its pretty low though, so better suited for shortlegged people.
WILL AGREE! used one, thrashed it, got some GREAT lean angles and it torqued it's way out of corners (right rubber), only thing was, they were prone to 2nd gear issues. A little ungly, but, better looking than the CX500 'Pig' before it. Remember the VT500 too? (those enclosed disk brakes! Jeez!) haha 🤔😏
@@thedarkknight1971 tell me a bike that isnt better looking than the "Maggot" as we called the CX lol. and yes, ive spent many an hour on those $%^&^% brakes lol cheers for watching and for the comment mate, have a great week 🙂
Love your videos mate you’re so well researched, knowledgeable and the fact that you clearly live for all things motorbike shows in spades. You also have a great voice for broadcasting and I look forward to every video
Really liked the video! I owned a ZX9-R (Kawasaki Green) and Sprint RS (yellow!), rode the CBR600F II and Suzuki Bandit 1200..all good machines. Now riding a Triumph Daytona with Superbike handelbars and Tiger headlight/screen and a Honda VFR750F ('89)..for fun! Keep up the good work! 👊😁
As a kid growing up in the 90's, seeing a cbr900rr up close pretty much sealed the deal of getting into sport bikes. I currently have 2 from the early 2010's, but man, if I had the space and budget/time I always wanted a bike from the 90's. Dream bike is NSR250R, but so many including the 900rr that I'd be very happy with.
My zxr400 was a 92 and it was / is, one of the best handling bikes ive ever ridden, especially the front end, it was awesome and easily better than the nc30 of my mates and it embarrassed my other pals sv650 till i started feeling sorry for it😊 just remembered, i also had a mate who was the very proud owner of a disgustingly beautiful Aprilia RS250 i believe it was an SP version. It was very fickle and highly strung but when it was right it was sublime. The absolute high king of the twisties. I doubt ill ever ride anything that handled like that without borrowing a Moto3 bike. 90s was THE golden era of sports bikes and especially little angry baby racers!!
@@ryanturner9509 Have to say, the Laverda Im riding here ruclips.net/video/8OkejZPQbMs/видео.html rewrote the handling book for me, Nico Bakker designed chassis, and a 750 four stroke twin tuned so you had to ride it like a two stroke lol , happy riding mate
@@ryanturner9509Love those 400cc 4 cylinder bikes from the 90s. I bought an RVF 400 from a company that imported JDM cars into NZ, if there was any room in the containers they used to put inn a few 400 or 250cc Japanese 4 cylinder race reps, the market had changed tastes over there, and they were going cheap, many with amazingly little km on the clocks and usually with some tasty bits on them. I saw this RVF in their car yard an asked about it, they couldnt start it and were going to get a bike mechanic to look at it. One look at it and i made an offer, a low one. And they accepted. Someone back in Japan had REALLY loved this bike, and spent some real cash, it was mint, and it was wearing a Suzuka 8hr type, offset single headlight fairing, and it was sporting a TSR full exhaust with under an over cans, when i got it home it only got better, I found it had, HRC F3 kit cpu, and HRC airbox and jet kit, and larger custom ally rads. The starting issue was because of old fuel left inn the bowls had turned to sludge, they were dissembled and cleaned, and all other fluids and oils changed and it was good to go. That bike was an absolute rocket in the bends and no slouch down the straights either, it was dynoed at 68 at the back wheel. I rode it for 3 years, and finally sold it too a guy who pestered me the whole time i had it, to sell it to him, so thinking i needed a bigger bike, i relented and sold it for what i thought was a good price (a lot more than i paid for it) only to see it up for sale for half as much again, a week later on a online market place. The guy was a dealer, in JDM bikes. He just wanted to make a quick buck.😤
That thing you like in the Sportster is torque. It's a characteristic of the v-twin. It makes a difference in rideabilty that you don't get by simply making revs.
glad you enjoyed it mate, i run a Dyna and other twins going back to the 70s, i know what torque and power can do, ive spent many many hours on a Dyno with many bikes 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel and the website, let me know what you think. hope youll climb aboard. We do have a great bunch as subscribers and i can thoroughly recomend reading some of the comments too, some funny and most informative too. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
Loved that vid. Some fantastic bikes, you have me hankering after a VTR1000 Firestorm. Great to see the CB500 at the beginning, when I lived in London 20 odd years ago I used these to get around. Narrow, revvy and flickable, I can't think of a quicker bike for central London. Tough as old boots as well. I cartwheeled one after slipping on a patch of diesel. Bent the bars, snapped a footrest hanger and mashed the top box. New bars were £15, got the footrest hanger ali welded (thanks Exactweld of East Grinstead) for a tenner and back on the road a day later. I sold one of mine with 117,000 miles on the clock, still going great. I still have one in the garage, and it's great to pull it out every now again for some real back to basics riding.
I can understand if you didn't include one of my favorite bargain bikes because it's a rare bird with not much back up for parts but the Buell xb Firebolt is one of the most fun bikes that I've ever ridden. It weighs no morre than an old 500cc Triumph (about 400 lbs.) and packs about 80+ hp with the same wheel base as my old 500. It gets odd looks from both the zoomies and the Harley riders when it starts up. Best of all you can pick up one in good nick for about $3,000 to $4,000 CDN. And the handling is worth every penny. Loved the video. cheers. Tim.
great bikes, I do like Eric Buells approach, my mate ended up with shares in Loctite though when he had his lol, its the only bike i know that lost more nuts than my old Dr600 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
I have a 1988 Lowrider FXRS-SP, it is hotted up a bit these days, I got it in 1989 and I run a sidecar on it most of the time, it is a beast. I do have a modern bike, 2022 Pan Am Special, which is one amazing machine, more power than you need, and tech that makes every mode feel like you are riding a different bike.
that bike was the turning point i think, the 595 just wasnt quite there, the 955 had a lot of the problems fixed, but jesus, did we really need 36 different Triumph special tools for 1 bike !!! cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Thank you. I sure enjoy your videos. One can pick up a nineties Diversion 900 with 50K km’s for squat. (€1200-1500) They are a sure bet. With some TLC these will easily last for another 50K, plus they aren’t thirsty so you’ll be less frequently visiting the petrol station. What do you think of the TDM’s 850-900? I think they’re also great bargain bikes for commuting for instance. Stick a pair of nubby’s on and go off-road in for a bit.
love the TDM, had a series 1 850 for a while, they feature in the first bomb proof bikes video here ruclips.net/video/WikCG7WxPy8/видео.html 🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Thanks for your reply The ZZR was the king, for many a year I've had one for 31 years all black , 1992.. it's been and is still superb I'll keeping watching hoping it will show up.. Enjoyed the video thank you. 🙂
@@Claude1100 the ZZR 1100 got a bit of a bad reputation here for being too soft but it wasnt as bad as people sometimes say, it just wasnt a sports bike and some people dont seem to see that. the 600 is just a great bike as an all rounder 🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend
Yes, mine has a Hagon on the rear and I fitted progress springs to the forks many moons ago, And as the world's first Ram air motorcycle, the induction noise on acceleration is fantastic, I've also a Hyabusa and several others ,but ZZR is a great all rounder, I toured here in Europe last year on it , and my brother on his 1200 gs.. Look forward to your next video. Best regards.
Suzuki RF900R I love how mine does everything. Not too heavy to chuck around a bit, heaps of power, good wind protection and super comfy for a long ride. Plus Ferrari Testarossa knock off looks to boot ❤
IMPORTANT
Dakar have hit me with a copyright strike so ive had to delist some of the videos just in case
i guess they got pissed that mine were better
because of the MOTOGP one before xmas that means im really vulnerable now and the channel could be removed at any time
I have set up this backup channel so please go and follow it NOW,
this could all be removed at any moment now so it is critical to stay in touch via the backup channel here
ruclips.net/channel/UCCSl6i-tZJNC5DQ38vgCtvw
sorry for this if i get another strike it wipes out all my work
all my old videos will be removed
I wont be posting anything much on the new channel unless this goes down
but this is a just in case because it really could go down at any point
the videos are still visible if you have a link so if you have problems message me for links
so you can still watch them,
if you follow the channel and this one gets taken down you will be able to find me there
sorry if thats a bit garbled
ive just woken to this but i guess i could have had the channel taken down already
so i should be thankful
ride free everyone
KUDO's for this video.... subb'd up & clanged da Bell. I'm researching for a bike from the mid90's - 2009 or close. These
bikes will be fairly cheap to buy but may cost to get road worthy. I just like the looks & don't mind an air-cooled engine.
One less problem to deal with but I TY for the video & now I'll watch it - I'm guilty of posting before I saw this. peace
@@diggy-d8w hope you enjoyed it mate, there are some others that might help. what sort of bike are you looking for and what would main use be?
In fact I did enjoy it & IDKnow why your channel HiT my feed but it was what I wanted to see. I haven't ridden in a long
time & once owned a Kz1000. Early 80's & she was used but I forget the year but I wanna say 78/79 model. I know at
that time she was fast as hell if hell has a speed limit & doing 125mph w/ that technology was like doing 160mph or
more today. The biggest drawback to the old bikes is multi-carbs so finding someone who's go a carb-sync tool is a
must when ya got 4 carbs on your bike?! My intent for a bike = still kinda up in the air man? I'm thinking dual sport
but if I bought today w/ what I know I'd grab a DRZ400, WR250, or a couple other possible choices. AS I think about
older bikes I only think of street bikes & kinda what looks like a cafe racer today but all bikes looked kinda like that
back in the day? I haven't given any bike consideration as a Dual Sport from the 90's, I'm only looking closer b/c of
your video kinda opened the door for what I had been thinking about. I liked it so I'll be rooting thru your stuff to
find more things I like. And thanks for the time in posting up.... peace & GB
@@diggy-d8w good luck with the search mate, and you know where i am if i can help, youll see the 650 Vstrom comes up a lot, ive had mine 15 years now (more than) and its a damn good old donkey of a bike, had and still have many faster and better looking, but it still gets used more than anything else. but its not a classic UJM, for that, these days, i think XJR12 and 13 or GSX1400 are as strong as they come. personally if you want real retro i would say the Kawasaki W650 and 800 are easily overlooked too. but enjoy having a root around the videos, and ask away, welcome aboard by the way 🙂
@@barebonesmc ~ "MONEY" is a limiting factor for me right now but I like to research before I do anything that might
CO$T a great deal... lol, but I saw you've got some other videos I'll be checking out & I will let ya know what I decide
& ask you what you think? I'm at least 2 months off doing a purchase unless a chunk of money magically appears.
Until then, your video is sparking a deeper LQQK into "Retro". peace & do be safe out there
I'm 67 tears old until I swing my leg over my 1996 CBR 1100xx Super Blackbird. And then, just like magic, I'm 25 again.
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
That sounds painful
Well said, sir. Thank you.
At 62 I feel the same way about my 93 ZX1100 .
That is awesome! Live your life happy! 😂 Wish I could ride with you one day!
I’m still riding a ‘94 Honda 750 Magna. No leaks, no smoke, just pure riding fun.
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
Have 1993 night hawk, 750,exactly the same
@@garywebb7481 would love to collect a magna there very torque y,love to see how the do up the road
I also owned a 1200s Suzuki Bandit for 11 years and it NEVER let me down. Absolutely bombproof!
that engine is a masterpiece, have a great day mate
Don’t imagine for a moment that these bikes will increase in value. I own a 2007 Honda 600 hornet, 12,000 miles fsh. I couldn’t trade it in for more than £1500. I’ve kept it.
Excellent video! And I'm an ex-dealer who's been motorcycling now for almost 70 years. I really don't understand why anybody who is reasonably clever and mechanically-adept would want to buy a new motorcycle. There are SO many well-engineered bikes, especially from the '90s, and you can ride them practically forever with sympathetic maintenance. And they're CHEAP!! The bikes you list can mostly be bought for less than the first year's depreciation on a new 5-figure motorcycle. So, if you think about it, the bike is essentially free...and, if you take care of it, it might even appreciate. Try that with a new one.
if only a few active dealers were that honest 🙂🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend
Top comment Rusty!
I'm good with carburetors, points, & Lucas electrics, but pushbutton starters & electronic fuel injection stole my ❤
Your point can't be disputed. I am convinced there are a tremendous number of bikers who turn their own wrenches keeping the obsoleted bikes alive.
I read somewhere that Harley Davidson dealers are now refusing to work on Harleys older than twenty years...... They say it's tough to get parts. Now there is an opportunity for shadetree mechanics right there.....
@@bobsullivan5714 The thing about old Harleys (for which I have no use) is that there are so many sources for almost ANY parts you might need, that you do not need the dealer. The same is true of Triumphs and BMWs and Nortons (to a lesser degree). I understand there are some parts for Japanese bikes that are getting VERY hard to find, especially ignition and switchgear, but a clever fellow can usually find a work-around. When I was a dealer (for Honda/Suzuki/Guzzi/KTM), we could get almost anything from the manufacturer, but that was over 30 years ago... Still, there are a ton of breaking yards and the internet makes them available world-wide, which we did not have in the 1980s-90s.
Any Honda 500 is a cream machine to ride. Excellent machines for touring or commuting. Never blow up, never go down. Glorious machines.
great bikes 🙂 and better to ride a slower bike fast than a fast bike slowly 🙂🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Agree I had a Honda Bros for 18 years never let me down .
And great for racing too, I had one in the Thudersport 500 series...
Great list! The CBR600 F2 is one of the best all-around bikes I've ever owned. It looks dated and sort of silly by today's standards, but it was the easiest bike to get on and ride fast. Just a perfect, balanced setup. The motor ran like a sewing machine and sounded beautiful. I owned a 1200 Bandit. Great power and sound. A little porky but still fun to ride. Hard to get parts for unfortunately. The Ducati is one that most people will skip without a second glance. As a former motorcycle mechanic myself, I can tell you, if you do a lot of your own maintenance and upkeep, the air cooled Ducs are the best mechanic's motorcycle ever built. Once you get past the unwarranted stigma of valve and shim adjustment and belt tension adjustment. They are just simple and they sound great.
I do have a mate who says similar, I was much more of a Cagiva fan personally, but some of the Ducati's get a bad wrap they don't deserve. cheers for adding your bit mate, Bandit parts are everywhere here, they sold so well that the 2nd hand market is full, have a great week
Great video, thanks. I’ll add another honuorable mention … From 90-99 (01) Honda gave us 3 generations of VFR that are often referred to as bomb-proof. They are great value for money, can often be found well maintained and in very good shape at bargain prices with years of life left in them.
great bikes, the whole VF family were mentioned here ruclips.net/video/c4n0iL9mUW8/видео.html 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
The 90th are special.
5 year collection of mine - prices from 1200 € to 3000 €
Ducati Monster 600M
Triumph Speed Triple 955 i
Honda CBR RR Fireblade as Street Fighter
Cagiva V-Raptor 1000
Honda CBR - F as Street Fighter
Suzuki TL 1000 as cofferacer
Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer
Honda VfR Fr 750
Probably next Aprilia Falco.
Drive save have fun and
"Hallelujah Asphalt Spirits"
Greetings to all of you from the Mountains of Austria ❤
thats a great collection 🙂 and welcome aboard my friend, Austria is still on my to do list 🙂
I have 2 scooters and a motorcycle that are all modern. The oldest being 2012 Genuine Buddy 150cc, the only carbed thing still in the stable.
But I regularly ride with people that own scooters from the 60s', bikes from the 70's, etc.
I love LED lighting, fuel-injection, and brakes that save me from stupid situations. But there's a certain essence to a lot of past bikes that retain their flavor, and should continue to provide joy for a long time to come.
if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
As you did the intro i was thinking "surely the CB500 has got to be in there somewhere" and i was delighted that it was the first bike featured. I had one new in '94 and it was a joy to ride for all of the 6 years i owned it. Great video - indeed I'm loving all of your videos - many thanks.
Welcome aboard mate, enjoy the ride and cheers for the support. youtube has only just let me out of jail so the support is much appreciated
So many great bikes that didn't get a look-in, it shows what a great decade the nineties was. An honourable mention for my old Fazer 600 - a real go anywhere, do anything bike, including getting it off the clock at the bottom of the M5. Yamaha engines do like revs!
hard to beat a good Genesis engine :-) cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Fazer 600 was an amazing bike
So was the FZS1000 Fazer deserved to be in the list imo.
Can't believe you added the dyna..but Thank you ..I purchased mine new in 2001 and have been all over Canada and numerous US states...everyone asks me why I still ride an older bike..and the answer is simple..original starter, stator, voltage regulator..it still shines like new when clean...and has 160 000km on it... I had no idea..I thought we were just dating and now have realized it must be true love 😊
i think they get a bad rap mate. and anyone who has ridden one knows that 50 to 90 mph lunge you get when you open the throttle can be very useful in the real world IMO 🙂 and ive surprised a few riders on much faster bikes 🙂
i have a 96 Suzuki RF900R. Awesome Bike with good acceleration. Bomb proof too. I have never had any problems with it. I ride it every day too.
I featured the RF900R here ruclips.net/video/Y_xublpCH7Q/видео.html great bikes, Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free 🙂
Back in the 90s I had some great bikes, FJ1200, Daytona 900, Speed Triple, XJR1200, T595, Fireblade, Trophy 1200. My wife however stuck with her CB500, she loved it! We were spoilt for choice back then!
you covered most of the list then lol cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
I have a 86 FJ1200. Although not from the 90’s, she’s only got 13,500 on the clock and clean as heck. 98 VTR1000 was my favorite. Traded it for a thunderbird and regretted it ever since!
@@timwoodford2097 the FJ was featured here ruclips.net/video/c4n0iL9mUW8/видео.html 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
Passed my test on a cb500, fantastic bike
@@davidjohn2663 they go better than people realise i think 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great week
I had an Aprilia Tuono Rotax. Just an incredible motorcycle.
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
As a ZX9E2 owner since forever, i,m so happy to see it featured here. Keep up the very impressive work.
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂 Hope youve had chance to look through the other videos too,
I had an XJ Diversion myself, maybe the second best bike I have ever owned. It was to be used as a tourer, with a pillion, and whilst it did that job well, that extra gear, would have been a godsend. I had an accident on it , didn't do much damage to it, but sold it not long after, as I was constantly breaking the law, and knew I would get killed on it. Stopped riding for 32 years, only recently coming back to an 400cc ADV. I appreciate you bringing this bike onto this vlog. Actually I had the same colour bike as the one shown.
glad it jogged some good memories, and welcome aboard mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I had an FJ1200 in the 90's it was great for touring Europe 2 up some 6 times - very reliable and fast the Pyrenees & Alps were a dream - faults were high fuel consumption at high autobahn speeds and it got rather hot in traffic in Italian & Spanish summers.
Great bikes 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
Honda vfr 800fi 1999 all day long. Most universal motorcycle engine ever built and comes with gear driven camp and then trade mark single swing arm. I bought mine with 65000 miles amazing service history, full luggage with a spare rectifier for £1050. And I love it to bits :-D
the whole VF family was mentioned here ruclips.net/video/c4n0iL9mUW8/видео.html 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc great videos. Thanks for all your hard work.
@@davidpshaw1969 enjoy the ride mate
Had the Honda CB500 and if it wouldn't have been stolen and burned (a London problem, idiots seem to have fun doing that) it still would run fine.
Now I am riding the Honda CBF 600 SA from 2009 and it is a superb bike.
Drive it all year round, even in Austrian winter, did plenty of touring (did 1300km in one day), driving fast, plenty of fast rides 2 up into the High Alps up to good 2500m. It is my lorry too, carrying cement bags and anything that somehow fits on it. It just keeps on running.
It can be really fast too if I want. The tuned down Hornet engine still shows where it is coming from.
Had to replace the rear bearing at bit more than 63k kilometers.
Now it is close to 65.000 km and it runs perfect.
Got it for a great price too. 2700 Euro with 28500km (18k miles). The lady owner had dropped it and the fairing has a slight crack and it had some scratches.
But it's such a strong bike so nothing else to report
Dropped it three times myself, twice standing, once at slow speed (15 to 20km/h).
Once a friend fell asleep and when I stopped to let him hop off the bike just tilted over and he dragged us down.
Twice I was stupid because I used it as an off road bike on Sardinia.
Which it did perfectly fine but twice I really overcooked it and did the manoeuvrers despite knowing better.
Well then, now it has motor protection bars Big Givi screen, DaVinci sports exhaust for a nice sound (already on it at purchase), heated grips.
Takes even at higher speed only 5 litres per 100km, Less than that at speeds up to 100 km/h.
I am 1m 82cm (6ft) and with raised handle bars and the seat in the highest position it fits me nicley.
Anyone who wants a superb, long-lasting, fast bike for little purchasing and maintenance cost should consider it.
Cheers for adding this mate. Always good to hear first hand reports. Ride free brother
Suzuki SV650 needs to on this list, in production since 1999 to 2020 and a bulletproof 90degree smooth as silk 'L' twin engine....
great bikes, I ride a 650 Vstrom among the collection :-) i featured the SV and Vstrom here ruclips.net/video/WikCG7WxPy8/видео.html 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Almost bought one but got a response on a cbr600f2. It's my first bike & 1st project (cracked idle gear boss) boy has this a fun project to learn from the next time I plan to shop for a used bike
XVZ 1300 A Royal Star from 1996 is my ride since more than 20 years. It has the stripped V4 engine constructed by Porsche for Harley, that made career as the powerhouse for the Yamaha V-Max. Four carborators, 77HP great sound even with the factory exhausts. I know that cruisers are not that popular/sexy for many bikers but this machine never let me down and is pure fun to ride. I also think that I own the only not-modified Royal Star in Europe. Bullit-Proof!! Hahaha...
great bikes but where is the harley/porche connection? the only porsche/harley engine i know about is the one commissioned by Eric Buell thats now used in the pan america, the v4 harley that never got built is the only v4 i can think of, but that was a very different engine to the vmax one 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Got the info from one bike mechanik, long ago, that Porsche offered the concept of that watercooled V4 to HD, they didn't see a future for that at HD so it was on the market and Yamaha got the license and the V-Max was born. But I just double-checked and.... I can't find proove for what I said. Thank you for making me think. ;-) I'll be after this. Want to find out. @@barebonesmc
Porsche Harley connection on Vrod also
I’ll vouch for the ZX9. 50,000 km with maintenance per Kawi recommended specs. I’ve toured it, daily ride it and done dozens of track days. Compression is still perfect and starts every single time perfect. Valve maintenance was a piece of cake.
they are a great bike 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Ive a gpz500S 1997. Everyone comments on it parked outside my work. Its fast on the open road and nippy through traffic.
50bhp and will return 70mpg at 60mph, and cruise on a motorway at over the limit for hours and return 55mpg.
they are great bikes 🙂 I had a KLE for a while until a van rear ended me one day 😞 🙂 Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Great video! I rode a 96 Bandit 1200 for 18 years, the bike of dreams of me and all my friends at around 20 for its raw power and slick appearance - oil-aircooled, carburator / no electric shenanigans that could break. This bike never let me down, was easy and cheap to maintain, reasonable on fuel consumption and always fun to turn the throttle with power to the redline. Switched to a Tiger 900 a few years ago and do regret not keeping the Bandit, in many ways... maybe I'll get one again just for the nostalgia of having great saturday afternoon rides :) but good ones get more expensive every year...
prices are rising now, but that means if you look after it its better than money in the bank. cheers for watching mate 🙂 Hope you have a great week
i'm 70 years old , and still riding my kawasaki zx9r E 2000 , still only 21,000 miles , awsome fast bike
Sometimes they do just get it right lol 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Loved it...A reliable bike from the 90s. ST1100 (Pan European) 100 h.p., 50 mpg, good for 200,000 miles, can pick one up for about 3,000.00. I still ride a 98 some. I usually will follow the other riders. Some newer bike will be acting up on some guy. So I ride my old, reliable Honda in back in case a new BMW or something breaks down. 😆.
Couldn’t have put it better! I picked up my bargain ‘98 Pan in deep green just last year. Only 70,000km on the clock with a very careful owner and a full Honda service history! What a gem. It’s the only bike my wife will ride on with me. She’s scared of my Africa Twin and I use my Bandit 650S as a back lane hooligan just for me!
the Pan did get a special mention here ruclips.net/video/WikCG7WxPy8/видео.html 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
@@simonthomas5367 😆
My car gets 50mg ffs
Remember the subject is 🏍 bikes.
Took my 98 Valkyrie on a 3000 mile trip across the plains through Colorado and back. Mountains, hot, cold, wet, even some dirt and ran like a champ even at 10k ft and up (on 6 carburetors). Paid $3500 for it and another $500 to get her presentable.
Nice one. Did about 4K across Germany Switzerland Austria this year on the wee strom I’ve had over 15 years. The miles make the smiles 😊
I still own my ‘99 VFR 800 “50th Anniversary” edition. I don’t ride it as much as I did, but if you keep the battery charged and fuel in the tank, it will always start. And that awesome V4 sound that comes out of the Devil carbon aftermarket exhaust is just what it does to me. It was and still is love at first sight 😊
I own the 98' model. Love my bike!
2001 Fi-Y here. Surprised it never got a mention
It is currently top of the list i think, im very happy to be about get back on two wheels after 5-ish years of nursing, not a physical injury but a psychological one caused by the devastating loss of my beloved Zxr400rr in the classic green, blue and white livery. Also the general lack of a motorcycle, it is surprisingly soul squishing to become bikeless😢 to be a "non biker" 😯 so nuff said, 'Im Coming Back!!' Woohoo!! Its exciting i can tell ya that!! Yippee!!
Dont sell it, ever, that is the best bike ever made
👍
Agreed. The sound of the V4 is worth the price of admission alone. Honda 90s over engineering at it's best.
At 80, (etc , etc )
It's unlikely I'll be riding again:
But I So Much enjoy your articles , both for your expansive knowledge, and just the sounds and sensations 0f the clips.
Thank you!
David
Welcome aboard mate. I do my best with the clips. And if I manage to get the feelings of riding them across then I’ve succeeded 😊 have a great weekend 😊😊
Used to ride friends F2 cbr and Fireblade 900rr back in early 2000 and it felt so good that now decades later I bought a very fine example of 1996 fireblade 900rr from auction. It still feels like home after all this time. And found a F3 for my girl for 440€ at auction. What a time to buy those classics now.
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
I watched to see if mine got a mention, I wasn't disappointed. ZX9R its exactly how you described. Induction roar is addictive
i do love em :-) cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
had a zx6r, induction sound was incredible, cant imagine how the 9 sounded!
Had a zx9r, zx6r and zzr1100. For me the best bikes of the 90’s
Had my 9 since 2002, it's a C2 model. Still tour on it, Sunday blasts, nothing really gets away from it & it's still makes me smile. Brilliant bikes from that era for pocket money.
1998 Suzuki Gsxf750 should get a honourable mention. With a rebuilt rear shock & replaced front calipers, it performs quite well for an average frame. They can be bought quite cheap & the motor is derived from the gsxr750 so is no slouch. Thanks for the video.
you just added it mate and if memory serves me there have been other mentions :-) Cheers for watching, Ride Free
I have XJ900s from 1996, its my first big bike and its best for the monney! Indestructable!
:-) Cheers for watching mate and thanks for the comment, enjoy your weekend
Great video….The Yamaha XJR1300 aka “The Legend” definitely deserves it’s place on this list.
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
When returning, once again to motorcycles a good few years ago, I had a hankering for a Triumph triple. I had always loved the look of the Daytona and found one, in yellow at a dealers locally. I chatted to a salesman (very loose term) and arranged to ride it the following week. I took a day off work and on the day and time arranged I turned up at the dealer, they said the bike could not be ridden as it had a leaking fork leg... a patch of oil on the showroom floor was pointed to as evidence, the salesdope also said he had rung me several times to cancel the ride, I pulled out my phone which showed no missed calls or messages from their phone number. I was not happy and the following weekend I visited another small specialist dealer in another Somerset town and bought a Buell .... and that's as close I ever got to buying a 955i Daytona.
the Daytona is a great bike, the steering geometry can be challenging but it is an exciting ride 🙂Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
For context, I passed my test in the late 80's on a Honda XL125 and was utterly mesmerised by the styling of the Yamaha TDR250 which as a 2 stroke 250 was quite a leap from a 4 stroke 125!
It soon became apparent that I would either lose my licence or my life on anything approaching a fast bike. I had the XL and TDR at the same time until unfortunately the XL was stolen so I replaced it with a Honda CM250 (factory custom 'wet dream' ;-) ) and so had the TDR and the CM at the same time.
For the next 25 years I only allowed myself cruisers or customs, avoiding fast bikes but I always had a hankering for a new Triumph. Then they released the Speed Triple! What an unbelievably gorgeous machine! The shape of the frame tubes, the single sided rear arm, those air scoops! I researched as much as I could and despite all I learned I still had to have one!
I eventually ended up with a 1999 955i and have owned it for longer than any other bike (and almost any other car) and still have it now.
Yes, the power and speed still has the ability to scare the pants off me but it has been so reliable, the handling is brilliant (although I can only compare this to what I've previously owned!) and I still find its looks today so totally stunning, even in mat black and unwashed for over five years!
Thanks for another great video, I've just subscribed and look forward to your informative and relaxed content.
Cheers.
welcome aboard mate and cheers for watching . my Daytona is a 99, rarely ride it now but can't bear to part with it lol🙂 Hope you have a great week
I've had a 2000 FXDX for a few years as a second bike. I still love it as much today as the first time I rode it. One of the first jobs was to get the hydraulic cam tensioner mod done and while at it, have a change of cams that gave it loads of low down grunt. After ten years, it has been utterly reliable and the fact that it's probably worth more than I paid for it is a real bonus.
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
Good to see the CB500 from the 90's get a mention, it's a bike that often gets forgotten but it is surprisingly fun and surprisingly quick with rock solid reliability I know someone with one that has over 200,000 miles on without any major work having been done to it. I have a 97 and I just can't ever bring myself to get rid of it. It is the bike I always recommend people search for as a first big bike after passing their test because there are still good ones out there and you're never going to have to pay more than £1500 for a really nice one even in today's mad market and it is so easy to ride and provide all the performance most beginners will ever need.
great bikes and i totally agree mate 🙂 Cheers for watching . Ride Free 🙂
I had a GS500 Suzuki ( parallel twin 50hp, steel frame so very similar to CB500) as my first bike bike, and reckon the 2 years I rode that , did me good as I went to bigger bikes.
damn good bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
GB 500? Not really a bargain,but a really really cool bike!!
great bikes, i preferred the FT500 to be honest, but they will all find a place at some point 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel and the website, let me know what you think. hope youll climb aboard. We do have a great bunch as subscribers and i can thoroughly recomend reading some of the comments too, some funny and most informative too. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
To add to your wonderful list (IMHO), but you won't find anything cheap in Australia Post COVID.
I was a wide eyed learner in the 90's and these were bikes I always loved.
Yamaha TRX850 (just a great all round parallel twin)
Kawasaki ZZR600-1100 (heaps of serious miles were put on these in Australia and tended to attract tourers rather than boy racers)
BMW K1 (don't mock me)
Triumph Trident (Triumph was back! And we were in awe. The Tridents styling just had that, "yes, I'm a big solid muscle bike and I'm going to pop yer head off" look, while the maroon and black paintwork hearkened back to Triumphs heratige.)
Thanks for another great video.
the TRX is a special bike i think, in the years to come it will grow in value and reputation i think, to be fair i dont know anyone who would have a bad word for them :-) cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I had a CBR600F2. Paid peanuts for it, had over 90k on the clocks. Still went as it should and only let me down once in over 4 years (vacuum pipe came adrift. Took 10 minutes to sort out).
I also have a 1995 Triumph Thunderbird 900 with a few minor mods such as TOR pipes. I've owned that for 10 years now and the sprag clutch (touch wood) has not been an issue. Whether it was done prior to my ownership I don't know. What I would say though, is if you hear the camchain get a bit noisy, REPLACE IT! They last circa 50k. Mine didn't break or anything, but what it did do was break up the camchain guide (front of engine). And replacing it required the head to come off as they slot into a groove in the cylinder block.
Cheers for adding this. as i have often said, if we could amass the combined knowledge of all the subscribers we would have the most comprehensive motorcycle encyclopedia ever 🙂
Enjoying this series! Never seen a 500 E before, beautiful! Thank you! 👌
Glad I surprised you mate 🙂Cheers for watching. The CB500 cup racing was awesome, some seriously good riders, Ive had them ride around me when ive been on much faster bikes. Bigger isnt always better as they say. Ride Free 🙂
My 1994 Ducati 888S with various race parts is a revelation for many. Problems were confined to the race-derived voltage regulator which I swapped for the bigger and better version on the 996 and the fragile "ruota libera". She recently went through the lights at Misano at 282kph. Not bad for an old lady!
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
no way did it do 282 lol
@@willhowell4638 and you would know... how?
Glad you included the Honda CBR600f, the obvious winner. Altho you should have included the f3 and especially the mighty f4. sold til 99. in the year 2000 they made the f4 injected and abs with the f4i and f4 sport.
glad you enjoyed it mate, i have to generalise at times, differentiating each model variant and including them all would get really long, repetetive and mean the list would just mainly be Honda's 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I recently picked up a 99 Fazer 600 for a bit of unadulterated fun. It's a great little bike and after 7000rpm it's a bit mental. Also took it on a pretty long tour. Can't fault it for just of £1k.
bargains are always best :-) Cheers for watching mate and thanks for the comment, enjoy your weekend
Cracking bikes, currently got one whilst my zzr1100 is off the road. It's brilliant for back Lane blasts and definitely a lot more lively than the bandit 600
This was an absolutely mesmerizing watch. Like hearing you speak about old friends (which, in some way, you do) and about how much more than transportation motorcycles really are. They are our companions, our therapists, sometimes even parts of our family, like the Guzzi 850 I inherited from my father. Every bike tells a story about itself and about its rider.
Me personally, I just love 90s-early 2000s Bikes. The sweet spot where we had refined, solid technology in brakes, suspension and engines, but everything still was analogue. These are bikes you can, in most cases, work on as an amtateur, and they will in turn work for you.
My dad used to call these models "bread-and-butter" bikes, but bread and butter, done right, can very much be a fine meal if you ask me.
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂
Totally agree on the Falco. Perfect sports bike for on the road and very reliable Rotax engine.
just a great bike, and so sleek, and yep, im a Rotax fan 🙂 🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a good day
Definitely agree on the Falco because....the one in this video is mine
Taken from a video i uploaded
Great to see my bike in this video
Keep it up
nice one mate, looks a beauty, i find the videos in all sorts of places when they arent my own, send me a link and ill put it in the description like i have with others 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
It is cool to see these bikes on a video, well presented too. I am especially happy to see the ZX9r on there, I don't know much about the earlier B models, other than that they ran from '94-'97. I know a lot more about the C models, the first production bike to do a 1/4 mile run under ten seconds @ 136mph.
Unfortunately my bike is just past the 90's so didn't make the cut, a small mention of the E-F models would have been nice though, other than the production range that you did mention.
I have the 2000 E1 ZX9r. even more refined, by quite a bit than the C models, it's an awesome beast of a bike. They look so much better than many modern bikes, and although I'm sure they are not as comfortable as the B models, they are still one of the more comfortable sport bikes.
great bikes, much more track focussed from the C model on, they will find their place at some point, 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
One thing I don't think you mentioned about the CBR600F, was that in track form, it dominated supersport racing in the 90's.
in many cases, although at the top the mantle passed between Yamaha and Honda fairly evenly throughout the 90s i would say. the FZR started the 90s on top, then the CBR took over, then came the R6 at the end of the 90s. so we really were spoiled 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
Nice to see the aprilia Falco mentioned.
If I had the room I'd still have another Mille (pref an 03 R), just to gaze at the lines.
lol, the series 1 Mille has to have the best arse on any bike, the only other candidate would be the ducktail FJ1100
Awesome video. Thank you as I believe this was a defining decade. For me the most ground breaking bike was the original Fireblade. Not only was it quicker and more powerful and having similar weight to what the WSB bikes were based on and not intended to be a “race bike” it changed everything. My first time following one a mate had just purchased whilst I had a GSXR-750 WM. We were about to pass a bus at around 100 kph. He pulled out first and I went down 3 gears and he still pulled slightly away. When we stopped I asked how many gears did you go down he simply said none. We swapped as I couldn’t believe it as I was also racing at this time. After just a few corners and a couple of straighter parts I was sold and it was completely untouched. I also rode the 9R from team green however the Fireblade was better in basically every aspect in my humble opinion. 👍😎🇦🇺
better as a race bike for sure, i guess depending on road surface the blade would win on most things, but certainly not the bargain that the ZX9's are now. and yep, the blade was robably the closest a standard production bike had got to superbike spec, ive still got a 16.5" front end from a series 1 i have kept for a special :-) cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
for some reason RUclips seems to be hiding your other comment from me mate
@@barebonesmc Not sure what happened. However, it was about a group of mates that came to PI in a WSB round and one rode down on a new ZX9R. He also was wearing a two piece race suit that had knee scrapers that had never got near touch the ground. I lost 2 left ones during practice sessions and didn’t have any more spares so he basically begged for me to use his. I guess as a way of showing other riders that he could get his knee down (something I never did on the streets then and now). Long story short, when packing up my trailer at the end bd of Sunday he wanted me to ride his new bike the hour and a half back to Melbourne with him as a pillion (the last thing I wanted to be honest) however I did and was impressed with the bike even with the additional weight on the rear. I did eventually ride it solo and you’re correct in every way about it. A lovely chassis and a strong enough engine for anyone on the streets. It handled high speed corners better than most at the time as when I looked at the speedo I didn’t realise that I was going faster than I thought. Plus it was also easier to ride making for a nice overall package that didn’t require you looking for a chiropractor after a day in the saddle. 😎
@@marcusgeorge1825 i do love the early ones, and dont get me wrong i like the later ones too, the 636 is a weapon, but the early ZX9 is to me just a better all around bike, with more power than most people could ever use. AND you dont get electronics interfering with the ride 🙂
Awesome Video...Thanks for putting it together..my classic 90s Bikes would be the Suzuki RF900 and the RF600 really reliable watercooler 4 cylinder sports tourers with pretty good handling good riding possession and comfortable seat and if looked after and serviced regularly can get to really high mileage with very little problems apart from the usual cam chain rattle at 60,000 or so but that can be sorted easily with an after market tensioner
the RF900 R got a mention in this one, ruclips.net/video/Y_xublpCH7Q/видео.html great bikes, cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
YAYYYY a fellow RF-er! Had one, LOVEDIT, HIIIIIIIGHLY UNDERRATED...! (mine was a US Import green with grey/silver markings RF900RW, I junked the 'Clean Air recycling circuit system', modded the headlight and both rear lights to have a ring of LED's as 'Side lights' and then used the bulbs for main/Brake (all 3 at back wired for brake), adjusted the suspension for best of both worlds with a wee smidge of firmness, Bridgestone BT-023s, and Maaaaaaaaaan! Did she hustle!
If you want to see pics of headlight/tail light mod (will work for RF4, 6 and 9s), go to my YT page, send me an email)
RIDE SAFE, RIDE FREE!!! 👍
😎🇬🇧
A few years ago I bought an MK1 Bandit 1200S - naked conversion in totes. It had rod knock on #2, but the PO sourced a rotating assembly. I built it back to the Holeshot Stage 2 that it was. Incredible bike. A previous owner (3 owners back) contacted me on the Bandit page. He and his son had gotten a pair of them black and red and built them together. He said it was his 16 year old son's first bike. He wanted to trade me a Hornet for it, but I had fallen in love with it. My last trip out I lifted the front twice just going hard at red lights.
Last year I bought an RF900RV that was sitting under a tarp in a backyard in Atlanta. A lot of parts were weathered and someone had been working on it who didn't need to have access to tools. The PO lost some pieces. For the most part the 10k mile engine was in great shape. I finally got it going and tuned up this spring. It has all of its parts again. It's the red, black, and silver one. I went up two teeth on the rear sprocket because I don't often go more than 135 mph. Rider position was more crouched than I liked so I put on drop pegs. This bike is so much more "motorcycle" than the B12. It rails around turns and only wants more throttle. It takes almost no input to change direction. The B12 is raw and mine sounds mean AF with the 17" Holeshot slip on, but on a twisty road it could not hang with the RF. With the lower gearing I still think the B12 can easily beat it to 100, but not by all that much really. I haven't been able to stay off of the RF.
I bought a 2000 ZR-7 project bike recently to loan out to friends when it's done. The PO tore down the top end because it had low compression, but I think it probably just needs valve shims.
@@Troubleshooter-2.0 lol, great story mate, and nice one for keeping them going
I'm a great Yamaha fan, and the FZR'S are my favourite bikes.I also own a YZF750R, which would have been the best bike had the Fireblade not appeared.
Harleys don't rock my boat though.
I nearly bought a ZX9R, great bike too.
The Yamaha Thunderace was also a very underrated bike that is cheap.
yep, both the Thundercat and Thunderace both get overlooked. cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
Yeah i'm a massive 5 valve fan, owned a FZ750 when they were new and loved it, currently doing a nut and bolt resto on my 87 FZR1000.
@@uhtred7860 Ive got 2 EXUPs so i guess we have the same desease lol, Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Great vid mate .You seem to have overlooked the 'best 'bike of the 90s , I mean the Honda Blackbird obviously .😜
Not missed 😊 features in fastest bikes of the last 100 years and the 2nd bombproof bikes video 😊 I still have some bits for a project if I ever get to it 😊
@@barebonesmc Cool .Didnt know that . Love my old bird . Fast and bombproof as you say .
@@YEWGYZE great bikes
I too will vouch for the zx9r ,i put 100,000 miles on mine, rode all year round, started first time every time.
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
My objection to my Bandit was it was too fast. At a hundred miles an hour it was completely settled. Nothing exciting happened getting there or being there. I never went past 120-5 and the bike wasn’t bothered.
I simply wasn’t skilled enough to need or use a bike that good.
I can see your point. Brings to mind one of my mantras😊 better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slowly 😊😊😊
Thanks for a great video. A lovely education lesson. The last bikes before all the electronics. Some superb examples too.
cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Had a Trident 900 bought new in 1999 sold it to a mate in 2021. Never let me down, went all over UK and Europe on it. Everything good that you said about the Trophy applied to the Trident; it had loads of grunt. pulled like a train and had a great turn of speed - suprised quite a few sports guys especially from the lights. Spot on about its top heavyness although I never dropped mine but when I first got it after having a Yammy FZ600 its topside bulk nearly caught me out. I was careful to change oil and filters regularly and keep the battery on a conditioner.. When I sold it I felt like I was losing a loved one but as I can go and see it any time I want it's not too bad plus I kinda love my new bike which I am finally bonding with. Cheers for a great vid, I have subscribed and look forward to watching all your content. Cheers mate.
welcome aboard mate, cheers for the support, theres plenty to keep you going on here and the website linked in descriptions. hope you have a great day. Ride free 🙂
In my shed a ST1100 and XJ900S Diversion both have a space. As it is, I paid less for the ST (with history) than I did for the XJ. Than again the XJ has a very, very low mileage. Each of them was below 2500 EUR. However... there is maintenance: always new tyres, on the ST a new exhaust system and a timing belt... The ST has now cost me more in maintenance than in purchasing it. To me it is worth it, yet - if you want your bike to be safe an reliable - you will run into a bit of neglect with cheaper bikes and must be prepared to pay for it. It least in my book.
id agree completely mate, maintenance is everything, cheers for watching , Ride Free
My used fireblade came with a clip master link and a seat rail bolt missing. I'm not into road rash so rivet link and a bolt went in before my ride after test ride.
Absolutely the best channel on bikes out there, that's why I subscribed. I am in awe of the knowledge you have. One of my bikes is a low mileage CB 750 Nighthawk, a 1991 model in mint shape. At my age (70) I'm not pushing bikes hard on the road anymore but this bike is bullet proof and will do anything I'm capable of asking it to do, and more. My only beef with the bike is the seat on long rides but no matter because a "long ride" for me is 45 miles round trip.Keep on with your great, educational videos. I'm always looking for bikes that go up in value for my collection.Cheers from Connecticut in the States!
welcome aboard mate, and thanks for the support. the Nighthawk 700 SC is featured in this one,ruclips.net/video/c4n0iL9mUW8/видео.html i still have mine 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
Loved my '94 F2 Red/Blk/White... Raw feel, yet forgiving to ride hard. My 1st onroad machine... no regrets!
My first SS listed above and my current bike both made the list. My 05 GSF 1200S I'm currently on has 101k on it and is still a champ, runs strong and will do almost anything you ask of it.
cheers for watching , Ride Free
My last bike was a Zephyr 1100. Very reliable bike, better then the BMW K100RS i had before. it left me stranded with a leaky oilpump axel seal (integrated oil/coolant pump that separates the 2 pumping chambers using seals on the one impellor axel. That middle seal failed resulting in mixing coolant with oil... not fun! Specially when you first suspect a blown headgasket... (it was just fine...)
The Kawa never left me stranded.
I tweeked that Zephyr a little bit using a K&N filter, opened up airbox and a dyno-jet kit in it.
Stock: 95hp@crank, mine made 98hp@wheel on a dyno. On stock exhausts. Lots of grunt just like that Bandit in this video. I also lowered the stanchion tubes (2cm) in the yokes making it a bit more chuckable into tighter corners. Cheap Japanese reliability!
I'm now on the look-out for another used bike , this time lighter and narrower, with ABS and injection. NC700 DCT ??
I'm getting too old for those fast heavy hitters. 🙃😉
The NC has a lot of fans, personally i dont want the extra weight of the DCT though, and for me, its just not as good as the 650 Vstrom in most situatons. but i am biased, the Zephyr is a good un, a UJM in the classic sense. i have been contemplating the V85 for a while now, but ive got a narrow window lol, i want the tubeless rims, but not the tft screen and extra electronics. i do wish it had the 21 inch front and longer travel suspension of the Tuareg though lol glad you enjoyed the video mate, theres loads more on the channel, let me know your thoughts
The CBR600F is still an incredible bike. I went european touring on it, track days and commutes. Engine was smooth and incredibly reliable. It needed a new CCT and head races. That was it. Amazing.
great bikes 🙂🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Way back in 1993 I bought a brand new Yamaha 600 Seka II for $3400.00 cash! It was a super fun bike and I rode it for two years back and forth to work at the near by Air Force Base. Very fun and reliable bike! Later sold it and bought my first Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster. The Seka was a more fun ride! Great riding memories.
Wild days, and even wilder nights 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
My late father in law drag raced a turbocharged Bandit 1200. And the bike always wanted to go faster. Bless his soul.
Busa killer
Great bike .. it reminded me of my CB night hawk and all the CBs...love the inline 4!!!
Ha - I’m in my late 60’s and what’s in the garage - tucked away in the corner - whispering “ride me you fool” - a 2001 1200 Bandit with dale walker exhaust and jet kit. It makes tons of power - I can’t imagine what he had it lined out with the turbo!
glad it jogged some good memories mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Could have included the Honda Blackbird here. I had a 99 one and it never missed a beat. Didn’t cost a fortune either.
great bikes, I had to stop somewhere though mate 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
thanks for that trip down memory lane, if I was ever tempted to buy Italian, the Falco and ST2/3 or the 4 would have been what I have shelled out for..
i do still go weak for the Falco lol, cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
that was a pleasure to watch, the 90's were a great time for these machines, I had Suzuki 750 gsx r & I loved it, great time with great machines
indeed mate, 🙂 Cheers for watching, have a great day 🙂
All fabulous bikes. Thanks for the list.
cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
I've had my Honda Dominator (NX650) since 1993 - great commuter, tourer, wannabe ADV and absolutely bomb-proof (only minor repairs needed and very simple). Also very cheap for what you get. It's always forgotten in these types of videos - such a shame...
Not forgotten mate and great bikes It will find its place, I just have to stop somewhere and we were spoiled in the 80's and 90's🙂 Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I had a 1996 triumph daytona. It had great torque, was fast enough and the engine and gearbox were great.
still got my 99 one, tweaked a bit so its 120 brake at back wheel now and an even steeper torque curve, Used it as a track bike for a couple of years so it has been well and truly tested 🙂Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I had a 1994 Triumph Daytona 1200 fantastic torque, great bike and bit top heavy, sold it last spring.
That beautiful sound of opening up the throttle is always music to my ears especially when I canyon ride.
mine too :-) the triple sound is hard to beat too 🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a good day
Love what you’re doing mate.
cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Subscribed! Great video, I've had a couple of those bikes and raced a couple of them. Your channel is now a firm favourite of mine.
Welcome aboard mate. Golden days were the 90s
My Brother in law had one of those Harleys. Great motor, handled good and the most comfortable bike I've ever ridden.
they are mile eaters. cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
Harley Davidson: yesterdays technology at tomorrow's prices!
@@seamusburke9101 lol, i always thought the same till i got the FXDX mate 🙂cheers for watching, ride free
I very recently bought an extremely tidy '91 FJ1200 (blue & white). Previous owner was a qualified motorcycle mechanic. Only has 46,000km on it (in NZ we use metric) Shocked at how quick, smooth and comfortable it is. Biggest bike ive owned, and still have, a S40 Boulevard 650.
The FJ's are astounding bikes, enjoy it mate, i am just a sucker for Genesis engines 🙂
Glad you included the Harley Dyna...they get a bad rap from some, that's mainly from people who've been brainwashed with negs. They're a different type of ride, mine has forward controls...handles better than many other bikes I've owned, and soak up the shitty roads 🇦🇺 with ease, finish a ride unstressed...plenty of aftermarket parts also...not that I've needed any....to date 😂 👍
I was converted by them :-) cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I owned one too a '01 carb, after chain drive delite it was the best even keeping up whit Porsches
@@joepvanlunenburg1274 yeah...and that rockin vibey feel...still got mine ✌
I just found your Video and have to say that It is one of the best, very informative. After just purchasing a 2011Suzuki GSX1250 FA the torque from the motor is incredible, starts and runs like a swiss watch I had to smile when you talked about the 1200 power catching out the rider, as I was taken back by the un expected pick up and acceleration.
Look forwards to the next and more videos
Welcome aboard mate 🙂 enjoy the ride and cheers for the support. The Bandits are great bikes 🙂
Good vid (apart from the bloody Harley inclusion! 😜)
I owned an ST2 (first bike I bought new) did a few trips to Europe on it - never really gelled with it, but I'm small at 5'6" and it just felt too big for me and was a bit gutless.... I replaced it with a Falco, which I still own. Night and day - the Falco is just better than the ST2 in every way; the best kept secret. I chipped mine so it's on a par with the RSV-R of the same era (130bhp). Done 25k miles, mostly round Europe, on it. It's such an underrated bike. Before the ST2 I had a 600 Divvie - meh; good in a Japanese way, but ever so dull.
The Falco is a fantastic bike😊 glad you enjoyed video. You’d enjoy the roads here on it for sure😊 I’m on border of Switzerland and Austria
@@barebonesmc I've been thru Austria(from Assen MotoGP, to Nurburgring, thru Austria, down into Italy then back over the top into Slovenia and Croatia) on the Falco. The Dalmatian coast road is fantastic too. 👌👍
I was expecting the 95 XJ 900 Diversion straight after the Triumph Trophy as they look almost identical . I had my XJ parked and went in for a cuppa and while I was in there somebody parked a Trophy next to it. They look so much alike I nearly jumped on the wrong bike. I've also heard that the XJ 900 has been known to get over 400,000 miles out of a motor ,not sure if this is true though,.
i have known some high mile diversions. 🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a good day
Great video!! Brings back fond memories. Thank you!
glad you enjoyed it mate, cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
ahah finally the Bandit 😁
When I started watching your videos, which was earlier this year I must say that I loved the way you review each bike. And we can certify and agree that this is a phenomenal well-done "homework".
In this video in question it started very well with my first motorcycle the Honda CB500 and ended with my second and last motorcycle the Bandit. Although mine is a 600, I completely agree with your opinion that we can choose any of the Bandits, because the really are great bikes.
Keep this great work
Best Regards from Portugal 🇵🇹
Nuno Costa
bom dia Nuno, Obrigado por assistir. Fico feliz que tenha gostado do vídeo. Bem vindo a bordo 🙂cavalgue com liberdade em seu coração
As a 40 years bike mechanic the suzuki factory brought out the bandit because of the popularity of flat barred crashed gsxr,s. Flat bars loose the rest of the plastic and slap on a mono posto ducati seat unit and all you need is a paddock jacket trainers and a Simpson helmet its a natural progression from an LC
@@ringo196 i can see that being part of the reason, probably a lot more went into the decision too though, naked was the returning trend. Cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂
I owned an 05 1200s Bandit. That bike is seriously under rated. A beautiful bike in hot or cold weather. Never let me down
Mine was a new 97 in blue after a couple of years I put the motor and box from a gsxr 1100m and flat sides and front end in it, ballistic
Lovely video , really enjoyed it .
Your riding is impeccable sir !
Yamaha diversion though ?!!!!! Always been a big yam fan but in that incarnation id rather go shankseys …
I predict 1200 bandits going up on the second hand market 😮
glad you enjoyed it mate. To be clear its not me riding all the bikes. Some but not all 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂 The Divvy splits opinions a bit but as you will see in the comments, it has many fans. and Im just biased on Genesis era engines (Ive got 2 FZR's lol) Totally agree on the Bandit 12. a future classic for sure. I think these are all bikes that will go up in price now too ruclips.net/video/RkMPFU4QLzg/видео.html especially the Blackbird, they are so cheap right now it is silly. a good honest one (same owner for the last 12 years) just went for £900 ready to ride away with a long history from a knowledgable owner, and they really are fantastic bikes
I had the ZX9R you shown in this video, it was fast and I loved the power curve.
great bikes 🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
You gave the Ducati ST2 a mention with was great. I own a 2001 ST4 and absolutely love it. I've had it for 15 years now and is my daily ride. It's all the ST2 was but with the beautiful and hugely more powerful 916 engine plus better all round suspension.
Loved this video as it reminds me of the heyday of real sports tourers.
great bikes, I had to stop somewhere though mate 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
The Honda NTV 650 or NT 650 is worth mentioning. Nearly undestructible and fairly cheap, if you are looking for a bike that gets you from A to B. Its pretty low though, so better suited for shortlegged people.
The Bros (NT 650) got a mention in this one 🙂ruclips.net/video/Y_xublpCH7Q/видео.html 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
WILL AGREE! used one, thrashed it, got some GREAT lean angles and it torqued it's way out of corners (right rubber), only thing was, they were prone to 2nd gear issues. A little ungly, but, better looking than the CX500 'Pig' before it. Remember the VT500 too? (those enclosed disk brakes! Jeez!) haha 🤔😏
@@thedarkknight1971 tell me a bike that isnt better looking than the "Maggot" as we called the CX lol. and yes, ive spent many an hour on those $%^&^% brakes lol cheers for watching and for the comment mate, have a great week 🙂
I kept my rc31,rc36, and nc27 because 90's Honda's are the king!
@@aodhokelly8811 i think the sweet spot for me would be 85-95 ish 🙂
Love your videos mate you’re so well researched, knowledgeable and the fact that you clearly live for all things motorbike shows in spades. You also have a great voice for broadcasting and I look forward to every video
thanks for your support 🙂Cheers for adding your bit too mate. Ride Free 🙂
As far as things about Harleys, my limited experience tells me to watch out for the Mikuni carbs dropping off the XS750.
🙂cheers for adding your thoughts mate, enjoy the ride
Really liked the video!
I owned a ZX9-R (Kawasaki Green) and Sprint RS (yellow!), rode the CBR600F II and Suzuki Bandit 1200..all good machines. Now riding a Triumph Daytona with Superbike handelbars and Tiger headlight/screen and a Honda VFR750F ('89)..for fun! Keep up the good work! 👊😁
As a kid growing up in the 90's, seeing a cbr900rr up close pretty much sealed the deal of getting into sport bikes.
I currently have 2 from the early 2010's, but man, if I had the space and budget/time I always wanted a bike from the 90's. Dream bike is NSR250R, but so many including the 900rr that I'd be very happy with.
it was a great time for motorcycles 🙂cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride
My zxr400 was a 92 and it was / is, one of the best handling bikes ive ever ridden, especially the front end, it was awesome and easily better than the nc30 of my mates and it embarrassed my other pals sv650 till i started feeling sorry for it😊 just remembered, i also had a mate who was the very proud owner of a disgustingly beautiful Aprilia RS250 i believe it was an SP version. It was very fickle and highly strung but when it was right it was sublime. The absolute high king of the twisties. I doubt ill ever ride anything that handled like that without borrowing a Moto3 bike. 90s was THE golden era of sports bikes and especially little angry baby racers!!
@@ryanturner9509 Have to say, the Laverda Im riding here ruclips.net/video/8OkejZPQbMs/видео.html rewrote the handling book for me, Nico Bakker designed chassis, and a 750 four stroke twin tuned so you had to ride it like a two stroke lol , happy riding mate
@@ryanturner9509Love those 400cc 4 cylinder bikes from the 90s. I bought an RVF 400 from a company that imported JDM cars into NZ, if there was any room in the containers they used to put inn a few 400 or 250cc Japanese 4 cylinder race reps, the market had changed tastes over there, and they were going cheap, many with amazingly little km on the clocks and usually with some tasty bits on them.
I saw this RVF in their car yard an asked about it, they couldnt start it and were going to get a bike mechanic to look at it. One look at it and i made an offer, a low one. And they accepted. Someone back in Japan had REALLY loved this bike, and spent some real cash, it was mint, and it was wearing a Suzuka 8hr type, offset single headlight fairing, and it was sporting a TSR full exhaust with under an over cans, when i got it home it only got better, I found it had, HRC F3 kit cpu, and HRC airbox and jet kit, and larger custom ally rads. The starting issue was because of old fuel left inn the bowls had turned to sludge, they were dissembled and cleaned, and all other fluids and oils changed and it was good to go. That bike was an absolute rocket in the bends and no slouch down the straights either, it was dynoed at 68 at the back wheel. I rode it for 3 years, and finally sold it too a guy who pestered me the whole time i had it, to sell it to him, so thinking i needed a bigger bike, i relented and sold it for what i thought was a good price (a lot more than i paid for it) only to see it up for sale for half as much again, a week later on a online market place. The guy was a dealer, in JDM bikes. He just wanted to make a quick buck.😤
That thing you like in the Sportster is torque. It's a characteristic of the v-twin. It makes a difference in rideabilty that you don't get by simply making revs.
glad you enjoyed it mate, i run a Dyna and other twins going back to the 70s, i know what torque and power can do, ive spent many many hours on a Dyno with many bikes 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel and the website, let me know what you think. hope youll climb aboard. We do have a great bunch as subscribers and i can thoroughly recomend reading some of the comments too, some funny and most informative too. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
Had 3 900 diversions, lovely bikes, really comfy and smooth. I definitely agree about the 6th gear!
imagine how much difference it would have made to sales, it was one of few things they were criticised for 🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I have had a couple of the 600 Seca IIs they are a great little bike. It's a shame it's big brother didn't cross the pond.
great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
Loved that vid. Some fantastic bikes, you have me hankering after a VTR1000 Firestorm. Great to see the CB500 at the beginning, when I lived in London 20 odd years ago I used these to get around. Narrow, revvy and flickable, I can't think of a quicker bike for central London. Tough as old boots as well. I cartwheeled one after slipping on a patch of diesel. Bent the bars, snapped a footrest hanger and mashed the top box. New bars were £15, got the footrest hanger ali welded (thanks Exactweld of East Grinstead) for a tenner and back on the road a day later. I sold one of mine with 117,000 miles on the clock, still going great. I still have one in the garage, and it's great to pull it out every now again for some real back to basics riding.
cheers, theres nowt like a bare bones ride to keep you in touch with the roads 🙂 have a great day mate
I can understand if you didn't include one of my favorite bargain bikes because it's a rare bird with not much back up for parts but the Buell xb Firebolt is one of the most fun bikes that I've ever ridden. It weighs no morre than an old 500cc Triumph (about 400 lbs.) and packs about 80+ hp with the same wheel base as my old 500. It gets odd looks from both the zoomies and the Harley riders when it starts up. Best of all you can pick up one in good nick for about $3,000 to $4,000 CDN. And the handling is worth every penny. Loved the video. cheers. Tim.
great bikes, I do like Eric Buells approach, my mate ended up with shares in Loctite though when he had his lol, its the only bike i know that lost more nuts than my old Dr600 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
I loved my 1993 CBR600R, it was a great sports bike on the back roads but comfortable enough to do 10 hours rides across the state
great bike all around mate 🙂Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
I had the 93 in the black silver an red. Love it. I had it built up an used it for road racing. Loved it.
F2 ftw
600R? Was that perhaps the 600F? Are you in the UK?
@@TheOriginalCoda You are correct, it was an F and in Australia ... sorry brain fart due to old age :)
I have a 1988 Lowrider FXRS-SP, it is hotted up a bit these days, I got it in 1989 and I run a sidecar on it most of the time, it is a beast. I do have a modern bike, 2022 Pan Am Special, which is one amazing machine, more power than you need, and tech that makes every mode feel like you are riding a different bike.
im just not a fan of the tech on most modern bikes mate, i prefer simple lol it breaks less from my experience :-)
Hi I had a T595 and when it ran it was sweet But every time I went on it it broke down 😢
that bike was the turning point i think, the 595 just wasnt quite there, the 955 had a lot of the problems fixed, but jesus, did we really need 36 different Triumph special tools for 1 bike !!! cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Thank you. I sure enjoy your videos.
One can pick up a nineties Diversion 900 with 50K km’s for squat. (€1200-1500) They are a sure bet.
With some TLC these will easily last for another 50K, plus they aren’t thirsty so you’ll be less frequently visiting the petrol station.
What do you think of the TDM’s 850-900? I think they’re also great bargain bikes for commuting for instance. Stick a pair of nubby’s on and go off-road in for a bit.
love the TDM, had a series 1 850 for a while, they feature in the first bomb proof bikes video here ruclips.net/video/WikCG7WxPy8/видео.html 🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
What...!!
No ZZR1100 absolutely outrageous..😢
i had to stop somewhere mate and they will show up at some point, they do go for a steal nowadays 🙂cheers for watching , enjoy the ride
Thanks for your reply
The ZZR was the king, for many a year
I've had one for 31 years all black , 1992.. it's been and is still superb
I'll keeping watching hoping it will show up..
Enjoyed the video thank you. 🙂
@@Claude1100 the ZZR 1100 got a bit of a bad reputation here for being too soft but it wasnt as bad as people sometimes say, it just wasnt a sports bike and some people dont seem to see that. the 600 is just a great bike as an all rounder 🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend
Yes, mine has a Hagon on the rear and I fitted progress springs to the forks many moons ago, And as the world's first Ram air motorcycle, the induction noise on acceleration is fantastic, I've also a Hyabusa and several others ,but ZZR is a great all rounder, I toured here in Europe last year on it , and my brother on his 1200 gs..
Look forward to your next video.
Best regards.
Suzuki RF900R
I love how mine does everything. Not too heavy to chuck around a bit, heaps of power, good wind protection and super comfy for a long ride. Plus Ferrari Testarossa knock off looks to boot ❤
Still an underrated bike 😊