Motorcycling
A life in the (occasionally) fast lane ...

  Dave got his first motorcycle back in 1978 and has had at least one bike most of the time since then. After starting work, the lure of powered travel was more fun than all that hard work cycling, plus everybody else seemed to have a motorbike. Since then, many years of great fun and interesting memories, with some painful incidents along the way.

  May 2006 - Having owned a Kawasaki ZXR-750L for 4 years, we decided it was time for a change. The rock hard rear suspension, stunning front suspension and great engine made for a fantastic bike but it's hard work on long journeys and we wanted something with a bit less agression and more touring poise. We set off with a list including various BMWs, Suzuki Hayabusa, Honda Pan European, Yamaha Fazer, Suzuki Bandit and many more. We tested, tried, thought, went to the pub and got blind drunk, and eventually... we decided on a 1999 Ductati ST2, 944cc, panniers and tank bag, 10,000 miles, comfortable and with character and style coming out of it's ears! Don't worry, it's a Northern thing...

More about the Ducati

  Some pictures of the bikes in the car park of Thorne Superbikes, supplier of the new Ducati. Friendly bunch of guys, and lots of interesting bikes to choose from.

  To see the rest of our biking history, start with the earliest bikes at the top of the page and work down to the latest toys at the bottom, click here to jump straight to the bottom of the page. Some of the older pictures ares scanned from fairly dodgy prints taken on an old plastic Kodak camera, so the quality isn't all it could be, sorry but that's life.

  Just to prove that we do actually use the bike occasionally, have a look at the pictures from our ZXR-750 trip to Portpatrick in Scotland in 2004, click here to see them and then follow the links at the bootm of each page to see the rest of our bike trips.

  Dave started motorcycling when the bank rashly agreed to lend enough money to buy a used Honda CB250G5. It snowed on the day the bike was collected, not a great start but it has been better since then, even if it's never been much more exciting. Here's the Honda on the campsite at Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.

  In late 1978, the Honda was replaced by a Yamaha RD400C, which Dave had first ridden when it was on the trip to Malham shown in the previous picture. It was a great machine, exciting and fast if you could keep the front wheel on the ground. It got used for touring which it wasn't ideal for, this picture shows Dave about to set off for the Yorkshire Dales again.

  In 1979, the RD400 seized a piston the day before the 2 week summer holiday started, so a friend was persuaded to lend his Kawasaki Z1B, 900cc of ill handling brute power. It was a great 2 weeks, the superbike bug was well and truly established. This is the Kawasaki on the campsite at Swanage in Dorset.

  After attempting to race the RD400 in a production class, resulting in a crash damaged bike, a more serious attempt followed during 1980, in the form of a Yamaha RD250B production bike. Here's Dave lining up for the 250cc Production Bike race at Elvington in East Yorkshire.

  It might look like a YDS6, but you could do tricks like that in those days. It was a real bitsa, built from spares and the local scrap yard in a couple of days. It lasted half a season, until it became obvious that it would never compete with the much newer Suzuki X7 and Yahamha LC. A lighter, and better, rider might have made a difference. Oh well, it was fun whilst it lasted.

  The RD400 lasted a couple of years before being replaced by a brand new Suzuki GS1000S in 1981. It was february when Dave collected it from the shop in Hull, it snowed that day as well. Seen here in it's original livery, it was a stunning bike although it never recovered it's looks following a major smash a couple of years later. It kept going for 5 years before being sold as a restoration project to a guy who made a pretty good job of it, he even brought it round to show it off. A brilliant bike at it's peak, solo or two up and full of camping gear, it behaved perfectly all of the time, even after the crash somewhat surprisingly.

  During one of the Suzuki's rebuilds, a Kawasaki appeared, another bitsa with both 250cc & 350cc S1/S2 engines and a KH250 frame. It was oily, smelly, noisy, unreliable, didn't handle and terrifying in the rain. It was also Karen's first experience of motorcycling. Here it's seen in it's 250cc / S1 version.

  After the Suzuki departed, a Honda 50 moped provided transport although a winter living in the wilds of East Yorkshire persuaded us to start buying reliable cars in 1986, thus beginning a love (or occasionally hate!) affair with Citroens that has continued off and on to the present day. There are no pictures of this one, surprisingly !

  Having nearly bought a Honda CB900F in 1982, we got the chance to buy one in 1990 when Dave B. decided to sell his. A bit rough around the edges, Dave painted it purple and gold, gave a it a quick service and we had a few years of fun with it. Eventually, we moved into a small house with no garage in 1998 so we sold it because we had nowhere to keep it, and we spent most of the next few years wishing we'd kept it. A great bike even though it was past it's best and the handling was a bit exciting, especially with the camping gear on.

  After a few years without a bike, in 2002 we went to a house warming party where we found this rather nice Kawasaki ZXR 750 L2, it looked like the perfect bike to fill the space in our garage and it's still there ... We really intended to get a nice quiet tourer, more suitable to our advancing years, but this one's a lot more exciting to ride ... Perfect for those summer evening trips to the coast.

See the pictures from our 2004 trip to Scotland by clicking here or our trip to Wooler in Northumberland by clicking here.

  In May 2006, we traded the Kawasaki for a Ducati ST2, read all about it on the next page by clicking the link below.

	Ducati ST2

Pictures and text are copyright © Dave & Karen Petty- All Rights Reserved, please don't copy anything without our permission. Thanks, D & K.