Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict
Two wheels good trip. Four wheels bad trip.
1994 BMW F650 Funduro
| The BMW F650 Funduro was the first bike I ever owned. Boy was I happy chap when I bought it 2nd hand! The Rotax powered 4 valve thumper was a great allrounder, and even though I didn't take it out on gravel roads I hear it's capable of that too. A good bike that gave me many hours of fun riding. It was produced by Aprilia, who actually used a 5 valve version of the same engine in their Pegaso. I sold it in 2001. |
Photo: BMW |
2001 BMW R1150R
| This had only 3600 km's on the odo when I bought it 2nd hand after the Funduro. It's a 85 hp boxer engine with the pretty revolutionary (for its time) Hossack fork. It was made as an entry level large displacement BMW. Mine had a black seat, a blue tinted fly screen and original hard bags. I sold it in 2003, and still regrets it. It would've been a great sidecar bike, especially for the TripTeq Heeler. But we had this idea of buying us an apartment downtown Oslo, which would've cost us a fortune. So I sold the R1150R to raise some money. In the end we stayed put. Only now I was without a bike. But not for long... |
Photo: BMW |
1999 Laverda 750 S Formula
| In hindsight I really don't understand why I bought this one. Well - I do, actually, because it was mighty good lookin', a sound to die for and all the extra farkl you could ask for as standard. However, it ran like a pig under 4000 rpm. It was impossible to idle it, and the EPROM was quite possibly blown. Over 4000 it was one hell of a racer, though. The guy I bought it from had probably not a clue what he was doing when he tinkered with it. So I had to get rid of it because I couldn't get the parts I needed, and - quite frankly - it never suited my riding style. I love its looks though. It was sold in late 2003. |
Photo: Motoplanete.com |
2001 Triumph Sprint ST 955i
| I was looking for a somewhat sportier bike to replace the Laverda, and had never looked twice on a Sprint ST. A friend of mine let me try his, and boy! was it a lean machine! I bought one in 2004 from a dead guy's widow. It looked like the one here, only black and with carbon cans. It sounded like heaven! Not too loud, but distinctively a triple. It had enough power and grunt to have real fun even on the odd track day and was all in all a great sports tourer. Only I was looking more and more at big trailies because I could never do seriously long stretches on the sportier bikes without taking a break every 100 km due to aching butt... So it was sold in January 2005 to a guy in Karmøy west in Norway. |
Photo: Triumph |
2003 Honda XL1000V Varadero
| This 6 speed, fuel injected version of the Varadero was bought in February 2005, when the roads was still covered in snow. I was on my way to be the big trailie fan I'm now, and this bike was actually a great one - as long as you stayed on the road. Despite its guise it is namely a road bike. I put serious kilometers on it, some 27000 km's in one season, which isn't half bad considering you can only ride from late March until October in Norway. I sold it early 2006 because I thought I wanted a sports tourer again. | Photo: HansP |
1994 Ural 650 with sidecar
While still having the Varadero I felt a sudden urge to start riding also during winter. Three studded wheels and cheap was the key words, so I bought a Ural outfit from a guy just north of where I live. The guy was full of shit and even if the Urals are made poorly this one was particularly crappy. I was still a novice with the wrench and didn't know he tricked me with this piece of crap. But I hade a couple of nice trips with it that winter. A more experienced Ural rider let me trade it in for the Watsonian sidecar that is currently on my Guzzi T5 rig in 2006. Ural? Never again. Probably. | Photo: Tor Seim |
2006 E-Ton Vector 250 ST (ATV)
| Although the E-Ton is not a MC I present it here anyway. After the Ural I was still looking for something with which I could commute during winter and still use the green lanes. The E-Ton was the answer. Capable of just over 80 kph I rode it to and from work the whole winter 2006-2007, from October to March. It started even down to -20 centigrades, which was the coldest I experienced that winter, and was out in the cold all night. It never failed me. I ran it on studded knobblies which gave sufficient traction. Only one time did I have real difficulties, after a heavy snowfall with a lot of snow still on the roads. I sold in 2007 it after the MoT banned ATVs in the bus lane.
| Photo: Sølvi |
2004 BMW K1200GT
| I sold the Varadero early 2006 because I thought I wanted a sports tourer again. I looked at a couple of options, e.g the BMW R1100S and a Honda VFR800, but ended up with this K1200GT which I bought 2nd hand from a dealer in Hamar 2 hrs north of Oslo. I debuted with it on a trip to Sicily the same year, and boy was it a sweet highway tourer! It was made for Autobahns and Autostradas, and was literally King of the Road there. It was too heavy, though, for really joyful rides in Norway, so it had to go in 2007. I had to change the clutch at 40 000 km because of an oil leak in a seal making the clutch slip. BMW didn't even bother to answer my claim for repair under warranty. Never again BMW (I think), and besides: by now I was hooked on Guzzi... | Photo: HansP |
2004 Husaberg FE 450
| Here's the gravel hooligan's toy #1: The incredibly powerful Husaberg. It's a handful, no doubt about that. I bought it in the spring of 2008 to start practicing enduro. I was warned that a 450 - especially the 'berg - might be too much. The experts even reminded me that the best enduro riders used 250's, sometimes with 350 kits. But did I listen? Nooo way! 450 - or nothing! So I was riding around in the nearby woods, taking an occasional ride at a nearby track, trying to cope. I finally sold it 27. August 2008. Next time I'll go for a 250 or 350. | Photo: Sølvi |
2008 Yamaha XT660Z Tenere
The Yammie was the newest addition into the garage. A sweet gravel conqueror that I did a 4000 km break-in tour on in July 2008. Even fully laden with luggage and my daughter riding pillion, the Tenere performed very good. Indeed it's a 660 thumper, but it pulls willingly with all of its 48 hp, even though you need to plan take-overs somewhat. And yes, it can wheelie... But even if it is a great bike it felt a bit like a Toyota Corolla: Very good, but veeeery boring. I longed for more Guzzis, so the Tenere was sold 28 May 2009. | (Click on image to view specs) |
