COMPLETE BIKING HISTORY

[Christian Raith]

Some story and great photo's, makes me wish I had a camera going back in "The old days"
I don't have any photo's from way back that is why I've told my daughters they should keep a diary of everything they have done.
Can't remember what I did 
But my first bike was a Suzuki step through, then I graduated to a Yamaha 80 and so the love affair began, all yamaha's from then on.

[Evil Eric]

As my son grew up, I gradually moved away from fast riding, and switched to being a car builder/team owner (cook, chief and bottle washer) in Polo Cup car racing for a few years. Despite doing very well, I packed it in due to the high levels of commitment and cost.  When my son was old enough I started him in go-kart racing. He did very well, and dad is very proud of his achievement, but as he got very good in multiple sports, we had to cut some of his commitments, and the go-kart racing drew the short straw.

By evileric at 2011-09-15

By evileric at 2011-09-15

During this period there was very little motorcycling, but when it stopped that time and resources were redirected back to my first love - biking. This is when my experience with the Yamaha XS1100 kicked into a much higher gear (refer to the Yamaha XS1100 thread). Apart from the XS1100’s I have (had) a few other bike mainly used for different purposes.  I first bought a Suzuki GSXR1100N, and had that for a few years. Later I complimented it with a Suzuki GSF1200S (Bandit), but when my old friend Alan fell with his bike and crushed his shoulder, and after trying many bikes, he could only ride my Bandit. Against doctors orders, but to remain riding he swopped me by giving me his Suzuki GSX1300R (Hayabusa) for my Bandit. I still have the Hayabusa , and is the ultimate high speed tool.

By evileric at 2011-09-17

By evileric at 2011-09-17

By evileric at 2011-08-28

Allthough I concentrated on Yamaha XS1100’s, I still have (had) other classics, like a 1968 Honda CB350 twin (my wife’s) and a 1972 Honda CB350Four. The later was sold last year.

By evileric at 2011-09-11

We live in such a beautifull part of South Africa, but sometimes requires a little ‘off the beaten track’ riding to see all its splendour. As my wife also ride bike, and we do most of our rides together, we got ourselves each a Kawasaki KLR650, which we mostly use when we do our touring. Excellent bikes.

By evileric at 2011-09-17

Allthough I stopped racing years ago, I still love to get on a race bike and ‘hang it out there’. As I started  my son to race short circuit (on a Suzuki RG125), I joined him just for the fun. My chosen weapon is a Aprillia RS125.

By evileric at 2011-09-17

By evileric at 2011-09-17

That is mainly why I have such a diverse collection of bikes, as I enjoy almost every facet of bike riding. I hope you enjoyed the tour through my life, and my garage….

[Evil Eric]

My riding took a huge notch up,  especially in the mountain passes in the Eastern Transvaal  (South Africa). For pillion riding I had a Suzuki GS1000S. A good solid ‘old school’ bike, and another bike I wish was still in my collection.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

I was also recruited and employed as a race engineer for some of SA’s leading bike racing teams and riders at the time, like for instance Rod Gray for his last years as a professional racer.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

By evileric at 2011-08-28

When Rod retired from professional racing, I purchased his race bike from the team, to compliment the Harris for riding in the mountain passes. This is the days before open track days in SA.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

By evileric at 2011-08-28

My racing friends convinced me to start racing, as the mountain racing was very dangerous, with quite a few of my friends killed over the years. As I was still very active in the racing teams we built my first race bike for the Super Mono class. It was a Yamaha TZ250 rolling chassis fitted with a Suzuki RM 250 engine. It was a perfect match, but it couldn’t match the out-and-out pace of the 4-stroke bikes, especially out the corners. For the next season, we built a 4-stroke bike using one of the first Suzuki RGV250 frames in SA, matched with the latest Yamaha TZ250B wheels and brakes, and a highly modified Suzuki DR500 power plant. This was THE bike at the time. I still have this bike in my collection. I later built a bike based on a very similar concept , using much cheaper  components, for a friend of mine. It turned out to be quite a good racer, despite its ’cheap’ look, and when he retired from racing I bought it, and it is also in my collection.
My 2-stroke;

By evileric at 2011-08-28

By evileric at 2011-08-28
My 4-stroke;

By evileric at 2011-08-28

By evileric at 2011-08-28
The bike I built for my friend;

By evileric at 2011-08-28

I stopped racing after my son Alain was born, and briefly returned to some mountain racing, before stopping all together. In the meantime I upgraded my Suzuki GSX750 for the GSXR1100, to stay ahead of the pack and the latest  hyper sport bikes on offer.  Still one of the most capable bikes around, just with mods these days.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

[Evil Eric]

I modified it slightly for this forum, OK here goes..........

My previous thread described ‘My history with the Yamaha  XS1100 marque’, but excluded the rest of my motorcycling history. This one fills in the blanks.

I started riding bike at the age of  around 11 on my friends Honda ST70 DAX. Many years later I bought the bike from my friend and it is still in my collection, with another restored version of the same model.

By evileric at 2011-09-13

As I was old enough, I became a frequent partner with my dad on runs , tours and rallies.

By evileric at 2011-09-13

When my dad sold his motorcycle shop, I inherited the old delivery bike. It was a Honda CG110. I changed it back to a normal bike, and I had that bike untill I was 16, when my dad sold it to buy a Yamaha XS750 triple.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

For my 16th birthday I got a Yamaha FS1. As I was working in a bike shop after school and school holidays, within a short period of time I modified it extensively.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

A year later, and with the help of my dad, I bought my first big bike, a Honda CB550F Super Sport. It will always remain the bike I will relate my youth with, and remained in my life untill my early twenties. Not long after this point my dad purchased his Yamaha XS1100E.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

By evileric at 2011-09-13

My next bike was my own Yamaha XS1100, the sport Rod Gray replica. After it was sold to purchase a car, I didn’t have a bike for a few years, untill my paths crossed with a Harris F1 Moriwaki Kawasaki. It was love at first sight, and a marriage made in heaven - that is untill I got my Suzuki GSXR750. Unfortunately this bike got totalled when my dad took a high speed tumble down a mountain. Miraculously my dad escaped with minor injuries.

By evileric at 2011-08-28

By evileric at 2011-09-13

[Eveready1100]

Hi Eric. I started a thread on here a while ago - Previous Rides - CLICK with just that idea in mind. It had quite a few good submissions from the guys, and the photos brought back fond memories for everyone.
It sort of got lost in the translation as people would start new threads with their pics, instead of just adding to the existing one, which would've made it easier for newcomers to get the whole history lesson from one thread, instead of having to search through a number of topics to get the same info.
It'd be good of you to put your history in that thread which would give it a good bump and maybe get the ball rolling again.
That topic title of yours would be much better than mine, though. It's much more specific and everyone would understand the idea with that one.
I wonder if Christian would be able to work his magic and put my thread under your title?

[Evil Eric]

A little while back I contributed to a thread for another biking forum detailing my whole biking history, and not just the Yamaha XS1100 portion, as detailed below. That forum is not a bike specific forum, and they have a very good thread where people have described their biking history in detail. I found it very informative, and nice as it allows you to know your fellow biking comrades much better. There are some amazing people out there. 

Now the question is, would you guys be interested for me to post my portion on this forum, and other members to add their histories to mine, to also give all on this forum some insight onto each of ours individual contribution to our collective love for bikes.