What do you call your bike?

[dbeardslee]

I've been asked on several occasions why I call my bike Betsy. The most common misconception is that it was an old girlfriend, which couldn't be farther from the truth. The truth is, it came from the old Daniel Boone TV series.

When I first got out of the army in the early, early 80's, I bought a 1972 Honda CB500 Four. She looked just like this...



She was a good solid bike and in excellent condition, but there were a lot of much faster machines coming out around that time. My younger brother, who must have been a comedian in a previous life, bought a brand new Kawasaki CSR 650 that was quite a bit faster, and he couldn't resist rubbing my nose in it. We were going someplace (can't remember where) and he turned to me and said "you gonna ride 'Ole Betsy?" And for those of you unfamiliar with the Daniel Boone series, 'Ole Betsy was Daniel's trusty flint lock rifle.

Anyway, the name stuck. I didn't much like it at first, but over the years it grew on me, and now I always refer to my motorcycle as Betsy.

So what do you call your bike, and what's the story behind it?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey DB,

Not wanting to kill your thread, it's been while since it's been talked about, but here's a thread....and it says Bike Nicknames and that may be why IF you tried searching first, why you wouldn't have found it!

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...bike+nicknames

I had never named a bike until I came to this site. I was resurrecting my 81SH from it's ~9 year nap, and wanted a name that reflected it's perserverance, power, had a gutteral sound as well as matching the same first letter of my last name, etc..

I finally figured it out... what's that Japanese Green Beast that never dies?

GODZILLA!

[tomcos67]

name

Have not named Her yet.But recently have been thinking along those lines.Been leaning toward Ethel....As that was a girl I had a fancy for when I was in my teens...

[jwhughes3]

I always had a thing for pirate ships and the free-ranging lifestyle that motorcycles mimic in my mind.

My old 82 XS400 was Ranger, a 6 gun (later 10 gun) brigantine slave trader Captained by Charles Vane, Black Bart and Calico Jack Rackham before he lost her.

My 80SG was Great Ranger one of Bartholomew Roberts' (Black Bart) flagships.

My 81 XS400 that Dylan rode was Little Ranger, a 10 gun sloop in Black Bart's fleet.

My 78 XS11 was Rising Sun, a 35 gun ship Captained by William Moody.

My 81 Navy Bike is Enterprise which was an anti-pirate Navy 12 gun schooner and later a 14 gun brig originally seeing service in the Barbary Coast from 1799-1823. Since it was Navy, I figured it could be one of the good guys.

John

[dbeardslee]

Hey DB,

Not wanting to kill your thread, it's been while since it's been talked about, but here's a thread....and it says Bike Nicknames and that may be why IF you tried searching first, why you wouldn't have found it!

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...bike+nicknames

I had never named a bike until I came to this site. I was resurrecting my 81SH from it's ~9 year nap, and wanted a name that reflected it's perserverance, power, had a gutteral sound as well as matching the same first letter of my last name, etc..

I finally figured it out... what's that Japanese Green Beast that never dies?

GODZILLA!

I took a look at that thread, and there's some good 'uns there. It actually helped me with an issue my brother and I are having. He's got a real nice '80G, but alas, no name. Something burped in my brain-pan while I was perusing the other thread, and this is what I've come up with.

Remember the old song "Purple People Eater?" Well, my brother's girlfriend has a Harley Sportster 1200 Custom, and my brother's gas tank has purple flames on it. Put it all together and you get the Purple Harley Eater. My bro thought it was pretty funny, but I don't think she's going to like it very much.

[CaptonZap]

Years ago, when I was into trail riding, a friend asked me iof I was interested in a 250 Ducati that had been burned. Free. "Anything free is a groove" says I, so I took it. The owner had become disenchanted with Italian electrics, and had taken it to the field, poured some gas on it and lit it off.
After a close inspection, the internals seemed to be fine, and with a new primary case cover and carb, the engine was OK. I rebuilt the rear of the frame to replace some warped members, and a set of who knows what shocks made it whole.
The electrics were another story. The designer was too clever by half, with a burnt transformer and other components causing me to scratch my head in confusion. Saying "Screw that", I figured out a way to put a diode and cap in the circuit, and came up with a sort of magneto arrangement. I was helping a friend with a baby Caterpiller crawler, and had some paint left, so I painted the bike frame and home made fiberglass tank Caterpiller Yellow.
The bike, with knobby tires, was un stoppable on most grades, and if it wouldn't haul my lard ass to the top, it would dig a furrow up to the place where it wouldn't go any higher, and then dig a pit.
So I would brag to the guys that it was just like sitting on a chair lift, and hence the name, The Yellow Chair Lift.
I still have it, and I ought to refurbish it and relive the glory days.
Naw, prolly hurt myself.

CZ

[ViperRon]

Mine I call Rodan Basically Fire Rodan tied to the little link in my profile of the original Godzilla monster. If I go past you some time you may see and or feel the correlation the 1198 overbore adds a little to the top end.

[dbeardslee]

Mine I call Rodan Basically Fire Rodan tied to the little link in my profile of the original Godzilla monster. If I go past you some time you may see and or feel the correlation the 1198 overbore adds a little to the top end.

Holy Ultraman, Batman! Before there was animé, there was Godzilla and Rodan. I remember them well. And both are great picks for bike names.

[3Phase]

"Columbo," like, Lieutenant "Just one more thing!" Columbo. NISM?

"Bush" because I had to cut it out of a bush to load it on the truck and take it home.

"Old Faithful" just needed a home and a name besides, "Spare Parts."

.

[dbeardslee]

You know what these forums really need? A "Like" button. 'Cause I'd be likin' every one of these posts.

[Pablo]

I call her....

.... I call her money pit. Luckily I work as an apprentice mech at a shop, but still.... money pit.

[Wildkat]

I call my regular ride "Somethin' Special". I resisted riding her at first and she was simply called SWMBOXS. She's earned her new name.
My bike in Maine I call Noreastah. I had named her before we picked her up but there was a pretty good storm the day we got her.... No snow, but still....

[Bikes]

I call mine "Eleven" or "the Eleven". One for obvious reasons, two because i say it like those two Scots in the voice activated elevator on youtube....cracks me up every time...check it out....
http://youtu.be/5FFRoYhTJQQ

[Wildkat]

Okay... That was funny.

[madmax-im]

SwampThing is what she has always been...I'm just the current caretaker...y'll know the history...My XJ1100 Maxim that I owned 30 years was known as MadMax...seems to be a popular name..at first i just called him Max...but after the Mad Max movies in the 80's I changed it to MadMax...