What's your dream bike garage?

Come on, we've all thought about it: "What would I do if I won the lottery..." is a question which is both exciting and thought provoking but also a bit of a kick in the balls - the fact it's not really going to happen.

Sweep skepticism aside for a moment and have a bit of fun. What would you fill your garage with? Sports or adventure? Old or new? Japanese or European?

Would it look like this? (picture courtesy of www.gezagear.com)

Personally, I think I would have a bike which was there purely for road trips. Although I've never ridden one, I would love a Royal Enfield Classic T5 in battle green; slow, reliable and timeless, the bike would be loaded up with a few ammo boxes as panniers and a high level exhaust. With my love for V twins and classic sportsbikes, a Ducati 916 would be sat under a blanket - ready for those sunny days. I would have some heavily modified Victory Hammer with pipes that make your ears bleed and a back tyre wider than the Vicar of Dibley. A do-it-all bike, most likely a KTM 990SMT, a few more classics and a few more mad ones. And of course, I'd buy all of my old bikes back again - who wouldn't?

...or this? (courtesy of www.bikeexif.com)

As daft as that paragraph may seem, I think it's a good thing to have a dream bike garage of your own. Although it is reasonably unrealistic for most, it does give us good targets to reach for. Yes, you may never own a Ducati 916, r1200Gs and a Suzuki Kettle all at the same time - but maybe you could own one of them. Perhaps this dream bike garage makes us realise what bikes we really desire or maybe which types of bikes we crave for.

But if someone were to ask you "If you could have any single bike in the world what would you have?" that beautiful, two stroke triple Gt750 might not be top of your list anymore. The more 'real-world', modern, all rounder BMW may be the answer. Of course it might not be but it makes you think about what bike you actually want... or think you should have.

You may wish to own a 2014 'big bang' R1 and I can tell you; if you really want one, you'll have one, one day. Whether that's next year on finance, or in twenty years time when they're less than £1500. If you really want one, it's easily possible. You may have to skint yourself out, you may have to wait a couple of decades, but it will roll onto your driveway one day. Just keep the dreams alive.

Although, I will wish my best of luck to the poor git that dreams of an Nr750...

My Biking History until now

As my 16th Birthday approached I managed to persuade my Mom to allow me to buy a motorbike. I remember the day I bought my bike, me and my Dad drove all the way to Brighton (about 200 miles away from Kidderminster) with our bike trailer attatched to the back of the car. It was a Derbi gpr 50 nude that I had bought, a very smart bike it was - totally standard though (meaning it could only just get to 50mph) and only a year old. It was a good bargain, I never had any problems with it at all, with the exception of my indicators sometimes flashing super fast - but who really cares about that?

I took my CBT when I had turned sixteen and I was a nervous wreck, terrified of the little 50cc I had. It wasn't the speed that scared me (there wasn't much of that anyway) it was the fear of dropping it and stalling at traffic lights. To be honest, my first month of riding was absolutely awful, I would prepare myself at the traffic lights and as soon as they turned green, I would panic and stall. Or at other times I would see an oncoming car and panic and go too wide around a corner (I am a bit of a dithering idiot).

Me on my 50, a few hours after passing my CBT - January 2010

Thankfully for me (and other road users) this dodgy riding didn't last long, and before I knew it I was high flying on the way to my first camping trip to Welshpool in May. I was joined by two of my riding buddies on their 50's (a Motohispania Rx50 and a Yamaha Tzr 50) and it was a pretty good trip.

The three of us setting off to Welshpool - May 2010

However, shortly after this trip I had my first accident on Father's day. I remember this because me and my Dad had decided to go for a father-son ride out and then come back home to watch the Moto GP later. There was slippy diesel on a round-a-bout which ended up with me low-siding across the road. Luckily, I was only doing about 20mph so I wasn't hurt, but for the next few weeks I had started to wince whilst going around corners as I still had the sensation of falling off my bike fresh in my mind, making my riding a lot less fun.

My mate also suffered from a slightly more serious crash down a 40mph dual carridgeway, hitting the central reservation. Whilst my other friend had rode straight into a hedge at 55mph and another coming off in the rain, and with everyone crashing I was starting to feel a little anxious about whether having a bike was a good idea.

However, I pushed this worrying thought out of my head as we embarked on our second road trip to Fairbourne (in Wales) which had taken place in August. This trip was even better than the last and the weather was gorgeous - it couldn't get any better than this.

On the way to Fairbourne - August 2010

However, a few weeks after we had arrived home the winter was approaching and there wasn't much riding time left, and with my 17th Birthday coming closer I had to make a decision - Do I learn to drive a car or stick with the bikes?

It turned out I wanted to try and do both on two paperounds and a measly McDonald's wage. So I sold my 50 and bought a Hyosung Gv 125 Aquila for around about the same price - I still saw my bike as my top priority. The Hyosung was alright but wasn't a massive difference from the 50 to the 125 it was very heavy and slow, it did look like a huge bike but it certainly didn't go like one, which was a shame really. I was also really keen to buy some loud pipes for it but nowhere supplied any. I never really had much of an emotional attatchment with this bike - don't get me wrong it's a great bike but I drive like a maniac and this bike really was never made for that.

The Aquila - January 2011

I also managed to save up to buy a Saxo to learn to drive. I found driving a car quite fun although it had none of the adrenaline rush of being on a bike. I really tried to keep my car lessons going, as a car is so much more practical during the winter and rainy days (which we have a lot of in the UK). However, I knew that I could never afford the insurance (£4200!!) and decided to sell it and then spend all of my money on a bike, which I did.

My little car - March 2011

In June, six months after buying the Hyosung, I bought a Yamaha Yzf R125 which is the best bike i've ever bought - it is truely amazing. It has a remus exhaust, K&N air filter and tail tidy. It really does sound mean and looks it too. It will probably be the best looking bike I could ever afford, I really cannot criticise it in anyway other than it doesn't have USD forks or a forged yoke which would improve the handling, as compared to it's regular telescopic forks and (reasonable high) clip on handlebars.

Me and my Yamaha - June 2011

 A few months later our third and latest road trip took place. We went to Woolacombe which is in North Devon and it was a brilliant trip although the weather was nothing compared to year before (look at my articles for more info on the trips).

The campsite in Woolacombe - August 2011

I'm still riding this bike now and I will be upset the day I will sell it for something faster, i've definitely developed a bond with this bike. So that's where I am now, when my test is done expect to see and hear about some other awesome machinery.

Tom