greatest/proudest biking moments

Reaching Pacific Coast Highway Santa Monica on my **birthday, after riding 3300 mile across America from Wisconsin, with my daughter right behind me on a thundering Harley Sportster!

Proudest= passing test.
Greatest= first full throttle opening on the sv, that was fun

I don't take much pleasure from "beating" other bikes, however potent. I went through that phase in cars when I was 17.

proudest- passing my test first time too.

and the day of the delivery of my SV

greatest- first time i really opened the my SV up, first time i went over a ton+, oj and riding round feeling like the mutts nutts!

Riding Tail of the Dragon for the first time, at night, in light rain, 2 up on a Goldwing. Absolutely no other traffic about, really old (1940s) crackly music playing on the radio. Probably the most magical experience of my life and certainly my best biking one. Properly racing (and winning) against a tuned car at over 100mph (private road officer) comes a close second. Very different sensations, almost at opposite ends of the biking experience.

This must be a festive topic. The same thread came about last year around the same time.

Good times:

Riding my smuggled-into-the-country 1990 Yamaha DT-200RA from Connecticut to Mount Washington (a decent haul).
I rode with guys on a CB-900F and CB-700SC Nighthawk S, and at least one of them was skeptical as to the ability of the 200cc bike surviving such a trip without either exploding en route from the constant revs out on the Interstate or at the very least being completely worn out upon returning and requiring an engine overhaul.
The bike was geared up as tall as I could make it (as large a front sprocket that would fit and about three teeth down on the back sprocket) and fitted with road-biased dual-purpose tires (and the wheels were ballanced), but otherwise stock.
Top speed according to my speedo was between 95 and 100mph, and we kept this pace for hours.
One of the guys was all giggly at the DT's ability to run that speed for hours, while my buddy that was skeptical kept waiting for the explosion that never came.
Fun trip, all-in-all.

*******************

Buying my first "real" sportbike:
1994 Yamaha YZF-750RF.
Brand new, and they were pricey for a 1994 750.
Awesome machine, killer suspension (meaning good), fine handling and feel.
Had a lot of fun on it.

*******************

Being right in the middle of the big hoopla when the 1998 YZF-R1 was released in the spring of 1998.
I was the first to get one from the local Yamaha dealer (where I also worked) and this bike delivered on all the hype, the fact that it was a very good-looking machine was an added bonus.
Everybody wanted the blue one (which I bought, too), and it seemed the only guys who wanted the white/red were guys who had to either take that or nothing.
The thing that made this exciting was that there was a feeding frenzy about being able to get one before they were all sold, and I was accused of "buying the bike out" from another guy.
The scene was interesting, yet still a good memory.

*****************

The latest good thing is the purchase of my SV-650K7.
Although I learned this many years ago, it reminded me that the amount of maximum power isn't everything and the way it is delivered (and even sounds) and the way the bike feels while you toss it around accounts for so much.
I love it when some kid not even half my age (and fresh out of his basic rider's course, carrying his GSX-R-matching HJC under his arm but getting beads of sweat in it from his tank top exposing his underarm area while thumbing his cell phone for the latest text message) asks why I "went down" in engine size from the YZF-R1s and FZ-1s (perhaps assuming I must have run into financial difficulty and that was all I could afford).
Actually taking the time to explain how I feel about it results in a confused look on their faces, especially when they're told the bike makes 70hp max. at the rear wheel and isn't the best choice for wheelies.
To me, this is comical.

My best biking moment was my first ride on my SV, it was a moment I've dreamed of...looking in my mirrors and seeing my dad behind me on his GSXR, father and son out on a ride. Perfect

Matt

The SV cranked right over, flat out, on the A87 towards the Isle of Skye, then stopping at Eilean Donan castle and waiting for ages for the guys I was with. When they arrived they told me they'd watched me joining the bridge over the south end of Loch Duich from 1/2 mile behind me and stopped to take photos of me blasting up the other side of the loch.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.sr...=newsearch.srf

Not sure whether I would want to do it again, but I think passing my bike test was my best day.

I already had Car and HGV. So after many years of struggling with a damaged hip. It was so painful to walk and couldnt sit astride a bike until I had a new hip fitted in the March and passed my bike test 2 weeks later.

Originally Posted by YZEtc

Buying my first "real" sportbike:
1994 Yamaha YZF-750RF.
Brand new, and they were pricey for a 1994 750.
Awesome machine, killer suspension (meaning good), fine handling and feel.
Had a lot of fun on it.

I had one of those too. I thought exactly the same as you. And they had the biggest front brakes at the time too.