Dreads bike history

Yamaha FS1E.

My first bike came in a box. Yep a pile of bits. I didn't even know a clutch from a crank, But my best mate did. Dave had been into bikes for years, so he set about building my bike. I fetch coffee and handed him rags and spanners whilst he pieced it all together.

We took off the pedals and made foot pegs so that I could say I had a bike mot a moped.

The piston was seized into the barrel so Dave placed a block of wood onto it and knocked it free with a hammer. The bike started and sounded great. Surprisingly it did a respectable 55mph, no where near the 135mph of Dave's XJ900.

Whilst rebuilding the Fiz we took the opportunity to personalize it a little. Dave sprayed the air filter up to look like a Coca Cola can. Little was he to know just how many paint jobs I would lumber him with in the years to come.

I went everywhere on my Fiz, every spare hour I would be out with no purpose other than just to ride.

This was it, I was a biker. No other biker ever acknowledge me, but I was one of them. I still to this day don't understand why plastic riders don't acknowledge custom riders and nobody acknowledges learners?

Here I'm lying on my back trying very hard to make my Fiz look as big as Dave's XJ900. I nearly managed it.

Suzuki GP100.

Not a bad bike I here you say, this one was. 60mph flat out. Dave once again resprayed it for me, it looked better than it went. I did pass my test on it so it should hold so affection in my heart but it doesn't. It blew up once, putting a nice hole through the piston. Blew up again cracking the piston into three.

It was the first bike I had an accident on:- A drunk lost control and broad sided me. I learned a lesson here, if you have gravel rash (painful) pick it out yourself. I went to hospital and had it scrubbed followed by a tetanus, I hobbled for days. Dave resprayed the bike, but the forks where bent. Enter Grandad whom I lived with. Dave and I where trying to straighten them when Grandad a retired blacksmith took charge, he rolled the forks and bashed them and rolled them and bashed them until they where straight. I then sold the cursed thing.

Honda XL185

I brought this bike from a shop, it was battered but I wanted it. For some reason I never discovered it had a starting problem, I would kick and kick and it wouldn't start. Every time I pushed it to the shop the mechanic would kick it and pop pop pop it started?

I loved this bike, 60mph again but it would do it anywhere.

Dave yet again resprayed it and helped tidy it up. 

Here's a picture after Dave had finished with it. I dubbed this bike "Stomper" because that's what the low revving engine did.

I went trailing on it across a field when suddenly the bike was ripped from under me. I had hit a wire fence, a single wire fence strung between posts. What a lucky boy I was, the front tyre was cut in half and I looked a prat as I sailed through the air.

Nothing would put me of this bike though I loved it and have very fond memories of it. I could get the pegs down on dry days, it was a fun bike.

Kawasaki KH250.

I had two off these plus loads of spares but I never had time to get these running.

Suzuki X7.

I brought a Suzuki 250 X7(No Photo). This was the ultimate boy racer bike. Tuned with Micro exhausts it would do 105mph (including a wicked wobble at about 80) Dave resprayed this in Triumph signal red. I thrashed the Suzuki everywhere until it popped. We rebuilt it (thanks Dave) I did 150miles one evening to run it in, 150 miles up and down one road not far from home just in case it blew again. A couple of weeks later BANG! So we rebuilt it (thanks Dave) I sold it.

Honda 250N Superdream.

I swapped the two earlier mention KH250's for this. Thanks Dave. It blew up, we fixed it, it blew up, we fixed it, it blew up, we fixed it, it blew up. 

Now as you can see it looked nice. Superdreams should be reliable they were for everyone else. Honda hadn't banked on me.

This resilient little engine that has been used for years by commuters and winter bike riders just couldn't handle the thrash that I dished out.

Here's a picture of it with the engine out. This is how the bike looked most of the time.

Dave was to regret the day he ever sold me this heap. (It was fine for Dave and Rob they guy who had it before him)

Day after day it blew up.

We stripped it.

Again.

And again.

In fact we stripped it so many times we started a pictorial guide to stripping a superdream. We could get the engine out and on the bench within an hour.

Yamaha RD400.

This bike started a long love affair with RD'S. I'd found a bike made for me. Cheap to insure, cheap to buy and it would blow the big boys away.

Dave as per usual resprayed it for me, it never blew up either.

I put 250 stickers on the side, in a bid to lur

Yamaha XS250 Custom.

I loved this bike, it wasn't fast 80-85mph but it looked the part. We put a CM250 tank on it and resprayed it. Wedged the biggest back tyre in to the swinging arm that it would take.

My first real custom.

It never blew up either!

Yamaha RD400.

My need for speed had returned, I had this bike for a while. 9 months or so, a friend at work brought it from me then sold it for a hansom profit. Again it never blew up, and yes Dave did respray it.

Yamaha XS400 Custom.

I had this one for a week (Dave sprayed it, very nice job:- aconite) and sold it to the guy who had my RD400, this time I made a small profit. He sold it for even more. What was I doing wrong.

Yamaha RD430.

This bike deserves a page of its own.

Click the picture for more.

Honda 250N Superdream.

This Superdream restored my faith in the old plodders. I put 20 000 miles on this in one year. This photo is just before I sold it.

I sprayed this one, however Dave help rebuild the engine when  it was tired and worn.

I owe a lot to this bike, it saved me a fortune in fuel bills at a time I needed the cash.

Kawasaki Z400.

This was the first bike I could tour on. Yep by now I've grown up, no more thrash left in me (well almost). I clocked up a lot of miles on it, because at last I had a bike that never broke down (probably because I never abused it).

I swapped Dave a car for this bike. I resprayed it. Yep I've eventually learned and don't have to rely on anyone.

Along with the XL I really liked this bike and would recommend them to anyone. Great fun.

Kawasaki Z1300.

This bike also needs a page of it's own.

Click the picture for Dreads Zed.

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