Hi,
I'm John-Paul AKA OldGreyWizard. I've had my TDM for about 6 weeks now and love it. I've recently crossed the divide between Sports Bike to tourer. Do I miss it, well no, I rarely used my last bike, R1, more than 50% of what it could do. The TDM is so much more comfortable and has the very useful top box.
Below is my bike history the 1976, gives you a clue to my age, read if you really are a bike nerd..
Look forward to meeting some of you sometimes
Regards
OldGreyWizard
Bike history, might jog a few memories of the older members:
1976 Garelli Tiger Cross
Good bike to learn on, Neary died on this one, car pulled out in front of me. Went clean over the top.
1979 Honda 250N Super Dream
Still got the receipt somewhere, £750 on finance. Eventually sold it for £50
as the new learner laws made it worthless over night.
1985 Honda CX650 Euro
I needed a commuter bike, this fitted the bill perfectly.
1987 Honda VF750SC
Probably the worst bike I ever had, handled badly and would cut out at the first drop of rain.
1988 Yamaha SRX600
I bought this as after the VF I wanted something simple, I got 2 x 3 points riding this one.
1990 Kawasaki KLX650
I liked the SRX single but needed something a bit bigger.
1992 Suzuki GSX1100 SE
I loved the GSX1100 so much power and street cred. Not so good around corners.
1993 Suzuki GSXR75 0J
My first true sports bike, I kept this one for ten years.
2001 Honda CBR900 RX Repsol colours.
I started a job 60 miles away, I needed a reliable bike that could rack up the miles.
I dropped this on a country road adverse camber on fresh horse shit.
2001 Yamaha R6
An impulse buy, It was fun on the track but just too small for me.
2002 Honda CBR900 RX
I'm a big fan of the CBR900's, do almost anything bike. Not the fastest but as this one proved,
when it is set up well, it is a great on a track as well as the road. Did 40k on this one.
2003 Suzuki GSXR750 K2
I've a soft spot for GIXER's too. Great fun on a track.
2004 Honda CBR900 RW
I put 35k on the old CBR, bought on e-bay. This RW handled like a pig when when I first got it.
Applying the settings from the previous bikes fixed this.
2006 Honda CBR1000 06
I'd ridden a couple of the earlier CBR1000 bikes as wasn't too impressed, this one looked great and was fun to ride.
The generator packed up at 6,000 and 13,000. I got rid of it as I didn't want to pay for the next failure.
2007 Yamaha R1 07
Without doubt the best sports bike I've ever owned, but the truth is that it was a better bike than I am a rider.
It developed the Yamaha "Tick" which drove me crazy, it is still in piecws at the dealer.
2008 BMW R1200GS
This was my brothers bike. I borrowed it whilst the R1 was off the road, noisy engine. It is a huge beast.
I'd probably still have it today but for the fact that it is just too big for filtering through London traffic at speed.
2008 Yamaha TDM900A
An so to my current bike. It was a year old, with 2,500 miles. I bought this as a compromise. I'd heard good reports about them,
I need a big bike, I'm 6'5" tall, that can get through the traffic easily and is comfortable to ride.
I find the front end a bit vague. I've read in this forum that dropping the front forks 20mm or putting on a 17" R1 front wheel
improves things. I've had the bike just over six weeks. I ride Monday to Friday with not much use over the weekend.
I've fitted, crash bungs, to protect the bike in a spill and maybe save my legs and a taller screen.
I'm John-Paul AKA OldGreyWizard. I've had my TDM for about 6 weeks now and love it. I've recently crossed the divide between Sports Bike to tourer. Do I miss it, well no, I rarely used my last bike, R1, more than 50% of what it could do. The TDM is so much more comfortable and has the very useful top box.
Below is my bike history the 1976, gives you a clue to my age, read if you really are a bike nerd..
Look forward to meeting some of you sometimes
Regards
OldGreyWizard
Bike history, might jog a few memories of the older members:
1976 Garelli Tiger Cross
Good bike to learn on, Neary died on this one, car pulled out in front of me. Went clean over the top.
1979 Honda 250N Super Dream
Still got the receipt somewhere, £750 on finance. Eventually sold it for £50
as the new learner laws made it worthless over night.
1985 Honda CX650 Euro
I needed a commuter bike, this fitted the bill perfectly.
1987 Honda VF750SC
Probably the worst bike I ever had, handled badly and would cut out at the first drop of rain.
1988 Yamaha SRX600
I bought this as after the VF I wanted something simple, I got 2 x 3 points riding this one.
1990 Kawasaki KLX650
I liked the SRX single but needed something a bit bigger.
1992 Suzuki GSX1100 SE
I loved the GSX1100 so much power and street cred. Not so good around corners.
1993 Suzuki GSXR75 0J
My first true sports bike, I kept this one for ten years.
2001 Honda CBR900 RX Repsol colours.
I started a job 60 miles away, I needed a reliable bike that could rack up the miles.
I dropped this on a country road adverse camber on fresh horse shit.
2001 Yamaha R6
An impulse buy, It was fun on the track but just too small for me.
2002 Honda CBR900 RX
I'm a big fan of the CBR900's, do almost anything bike. Not the fastest but as this one proved,
when it is set up well, it is a great on a track as well as the road. Did 40k on this one.
2003 Suzuki GSXR750 K2
I've a soft spot for GIXER's too. Great fun on a track.
2004 Honda CBR900 RW
I put 35k on the old CBR, bought on e-bay. This RW handled like a pig when when I first got it.
Applying the settings from the previous bikes fixed this.
2006 Honda CBR1000 06
I'd ridden a couple of the earlier CBR1000 bikes as wasn't too impressed, this one looked great and was fun to ride.
The generator packed up at 6,000 and 13,000. I got rid of it as I didn't want to pay for the next failure.
2007 Yamaha R1 07
Without doubt the best sports bike I've ever owned, but the truth is that it was a better bike than I am a rider.
It developed the Yamaha "Tick" which drove me crazy, it is still in piecws at the dealer.
2008 BMW R1200GS
This was my brothers bike. I borrowed it whilst the R1 was off the road, noisy engine. It is a huge beast.
I'd probably still have it today but for the fact that it is just too big for filtering through London traffic at speed.
2008 Yamaha TDM900A
An so to my current bike. It was a year old, with 2,500 miles. I bought this as a compromise. I'd heard good reports about them,
I need a big bike, I'm 6'5" tall, that can get through the traffic easily and is comfortable to ride.
I find the front end a bit vague. I've read in this forum that dropping the front forks 20mm or putting on a 17" R1 front wheel
improves things. I've had the bike just over six weeks. I ride Monday to Friday with not much use over the weekend.
I've fitted, crash bungs, to protect the bike in a spill and maybe save my legs and a taller screen.