Welcome to the bike section of my web where I will tell you about the bikes I have had since I started biking in 1959. At the moment I have now got two bikes, a 1991 Yamaha XJ600 (pre-Diversion) and a 1978 Honda CB400/4F.

The Yamaha XJ600 is in fairly good condition for its age and looks quite tidy except for the silencer. I got it from a chap in Nairn and it has been off the road since Oct 2008 and there is a wee bit of work to do on it to get it MOT'd. I might just keep this one when I get it all finished.

The Honda CB400/4F was a bike I fancied away back when they come out back in 1975. I will need to get back on with it and get it back on the road then I can sell it on to someone who will appreciate it. I will be adding more detail and a report on how it's all going in a few weeks once I have time to get it sorted and get out for a few runs. It's a nice light nimble bike that is easy to ride and work on. So there is plenty of work in the future to keep the mind and body exercised.

I have just sold the Bonneville Silver Jubilee now that it is back on the road. The 'Bonnie' was a bike I had wanted since before I even passed my test in 1960 so now at long last I can say I've had one, a nice one too once it was complete. Sorry in a way to see it go but you can't keep too many bikes, can you! Still I have had a bonnie, rescued one and got it going again so that can't be bad really.

Now that I have retired I have been getting some more miles under the tyres and hope to get a few more in the future. Also I've more time to do the things I have always wanted to get done but didn't have the time to do. But I also find that the time just slips by quicker or is it that I have slowed down with age.

Further down this page are some pictures and a very brief note on the other bikes that I have had in the past. To see a larger photo or details of any bike just click on the photo to open up its page.

The BMW K100RT was getting a bit on the heavy side so I did a swap for a 1977 Triumph Bonneville T140V Silver Jubilee. It was a great bike and having the full fairing and shaft drive makes it a great touring bike. The only thing I didn't like about it was the weight, did my back in to get it back on the centre stand so I got a lighter more nimble bike as I didn't use the Bemmer to its full potential.

The Bonneville Silver Jubilee had been off the road since 1991 and looked a sorry state when I first saw it. I took pity on the poor old bike and as I had always wanted a Bonnie I just had to get it and put it back on the road again. Well I did that and thought it was time to move on again, so I sold it.

I have also recently sold three triples to clear things out and let somebody else get the chance to finish them off to prevent them just rusting away in my garden. They were a British classic 1972 Triumph Trident T150 and two Yamahas - a 1978 XS750E and a 1977 XS750D. These three were all 750cc Triples and what a great sound you get from these old 3-cyl bikes especially if their silencers are not too restrictive.

Other bikes I have had in the past few years are a 1993 Suzuki GSX600F, a nice easy bike to ride and an ideal sports bike for someone getting back into biking or their first big bike. Then there was a 1994 Suzuki GSX1100F, some machine that was and fast, which is the reason I sold it. I could see my licence disappearing as it was too easy to get well over the speed limit and not realise it. Yes I do prefer to stay legal, as boring as that may sound, I had my time back in the 60's - see below. The other was a Yamaha Virago which was a nice bike and a comfortable shaft drive cruiser but not really my style I'm afraid.

I have also included photos of three of my earlier bikes. These are from my youthful times back around the early 60's. Some of you will remember these times before open road speed restrictions, when you could use the full speed of your bike even though it was only 110 - 120mph. Not all that fast by todays standards but remember that the brakes were poorer too. There was also the advantage of far fewer cars etc on the roads to get in the way. I started biking with an AJS 16 350cc single back in 1959 and kept that till I had passed my test in 1960 and then I got a Triumph Tiger 110 which was my first real big bike. Next, in 1963, I got a Norton Dominator 88 while I was station at RAF Nicosia in Cyprus.

In between times I have also had a 1954 Triumph 650cc Thunderbird (with a sprung hub), a Moto Guzzi 850, a Honda 250 and a hybrid that I built around a Royal Enfield super meteor 700cc engine in 1976.

To view a larger image of any of the bikes just click on it. Any comments good or bad are always welcome and can be left using the Mail-to link at the bottom of my Home Page. I look forward to reading them.

Photographs on this web site are not to be reproduced in any form without the express permission of the author. Normal copyright restrictions apply.
This web page was created by:- Stan Pyke, Lhanbryde, Scotland on 12th Jan 2002. (Last updated 18th August 2009).