The majority of the Wemoto crew does. What names do we use? 'Suzi' (no surprise that it's a Suzuki). 'Rory' (Honda Varadero). 'Hayley' (Suzuki Hayabusa). 'Glorius Gladius' (Honda City Fly 125). 'Jeanelle' (Honda CB 125). 'Ruby' (red Yamaha Fazer). '63' ( Honda VFR with a big 63 sticker on it). 'Shania Twain' (CPI GTR 50, because it doesn't impress its owner much).

One bike even has two names. 'Speedy Suzi' or 'Stubborn Suzi', depending on how much work it's requiring at the time. This one, contrary to what you might have guessed, is a Honda VFR.

The reason why most of us name our bikes? Because they're more to us than just pieces of metal. So much more that they deserve names.

There are a few here who choose not to name all their bikes. Reserving names only for the bikes which they come to love. Then there are, admittedly, the blasphemous bike namers. Those who give their bikes colourful names whilst shouting at them as they refuse to perform as expected.

And then there's the small minority. Those who think bike naming is, well, honestly, a bit naff. 'As much as I love my bike', one colleague tells me, 'it's just an object. If we start naming objects, where do we stop?.'

So, where do you stand on motorcycle naming? Do you give your bikes names, and if so, what names? If not, why not? Do you find bike naming embarrassing or essential, or somewhere between? Let us know at [email protected]

03/10/16 - Quite rightly ...

03/10/16 - I call one of mine the "bride of Frankenstein" cos she's made from bits and it's a miracle she lives

03/10/16 - I was going to name my bike, but then I remembered that I'm a grown-up man.

          03/10/16 - yes boy! f**king nice one

03/10/16 - Daisy Deauville...and why not? If you want to, name it, if you don't want to then that's fine too.

03/10/16 - Of course. There's been the duke, trevor and T2, Dyson, wet(!) and more, currently Sooozuki but that's a bit obvious

03/10/16 - Named by a mates girlfriend-
My XV125 bobber - Clarice
My race tuned sub 100kg NSR JC22 - Hannibal

03/10/16 - I only call my bike names when its being a pain, but most people call it the chocolate bike due to its Cadburys livery

03/10/16 - I'm a biker I'm not grown up haha

03/10/16 - Same colour scheme as the AA van

03/10/16 - The B**locks!

03/10/16 - Another Lemon

03/10/16 - Brian and Gerald ... yes really!

03/10/16 - Rufus...cos it was a bit of a dog...

04/10/16 - Depends on my mood..

04/10/16 - The Beast

04/10/16 - We have "Smokey" he's a Bandit obviously. "Rupert" the Jawa. "Sven" aka "The Pointy Rat" which is partly SV650, partly most other things. "FT" The Guzzi 1200 Sport (it's an acronym, work it out), Nelson the other Bandit. For some reason my Ducati never had a name, nor did my Versys outfit. Last one is "Ninny" the Z1000SX.

04/10/16 - My Faithful Suzi gs500 e is now of age.
21 years old only 50,000 odd on the clock. And named by me and friend as she recovered in the shed and I recovered in hospital.  She was hit side ways on and flew then slid 15 odd yards breaking her pointless full fairing and bending her break lever.  We named her ...
不屈の
Fukutsu no
= Indifatigable.

This pic before atc at TT 2012

Many years ago in the 80s !
This was a ratty bannana coloured Suzi gn 400 I named Bannana Rat.

Further back in time My VESPA 210. Named after the Youslosh album. Glorious Racket

04/10/16 - I have a Royal Enfield Bullet 500 that I call Betty.

05/10/16 - I have Maud the Marauder and an unnamed Kawasaki GT550.

05/10/16 - Yep I name all my bikes!! I have zoomer the Suzi gsxf, cos she zooms! And leeloo the yam xjr because she is the ultimate being!

05/10/16 - My 350 Royal Enfield Bullet is called 'Bertha".

05/10/16 - Phastasphuk for my CBR1100XX

05/10/16 - My FZR is Yeti, the White Beast!

05/10/16 - No. I've never understood refering to a vehicle as "she". It does not have a gender, nor personality, nor life. It has no feminine foibles, nor atributes. It works or it doesn't. It's a thing. It may be the subject of my endeavours, my affection, my admiration, my enjoyment, my devotion even, but it's still inanimate, a thing, a collection of metal parts, assembled in a factory, made down to a price, which I have tried to improve, or personalise, or probably both. I love it to bits, but it isn't human. It's a machine. It's my machine, but it's not my child even. It's my bike. Simple as that.

          05/10/16 - Its the same with adverts referring to the bike as she

          05/10/16 - Don't ever go to France then. Everything is either masculine or feminine.

          05/10/16 - Le haha! Main oui, mon ami!

05/10/16 - Billy the ZZR600 and Tank the Triumph 1200

05/10/16 - My Yam is Derek the Diversion.

05/10/16 - The Black Elk

05/10/16 - "Black Betty" after the song by Ram Jam

05/10/16 - Bert

05/10/16 - No definately not

05/10/16 - Nope. When I had British bikes and c**p japanese, they were very often called - b**tard. As in "start you b**tard". But that's as far as names go with me and mechanical stuff.

05/10/16 - The red baron...because its red and ive put an iron cross on either side of the tank..i get some funny looks from folk,wrongly and ignorantly thinkin its nazi!

05/10/16 - Vinnie Virago!!! My SR 125 was called Sean!! x

05/10/16 - My Blackbird was called Whoopie !

05/10/16 - Bernard... as in nursey in blackadder... all bikes are female... but my xv950 racer looks like a bloke

05/10/16 - Vervada which means storm cleaver From the book eldest

05/10/16 - General Sir Grizwald Hampton Esq. He's a 2011 GSX1250FA with tasty mods.

05/10/16 - Mine is Claude..a French import.

05/10/16 - I call mine the "BEAST"

05/10/16 - I have a Royal Enfield Bullet 500 that I call Betty.

05/10/16 - Depends on my mood..

05/10/16 - The Beast

09/10/16 - I own a Kwak zx6r it's my SPROUT! 

02/11/16 - Stabbed rat

02/11/16 - Back when I first got my Yamaha YBR, I struggled to give her a name, I knew as my first brand new bike I wanted to give her personality (lets say) so I tried, eventually I went with Ahamay as it sounds good and is Yamaha backwards. That didn't feel like the right fit, being in Lincolnshire and going to bike nights at the aircraft viewing enclosure at waddington and the fact that I had put a car sized poppy onto the front of "Ahamay" I decided I should rename her as she is black and red -and with the poppy (that's never removed) she should be called Poppy. Not looked back since this decision and yes I'm one of the strange ones that talks to my bike (because someone has too).

02/11/16 - my four bikes all have names

enid and Ethel     both Honda cb125T  1978.

Anna       honda cb350f       1972

The Duchess        Honda cb750 k3  1973

02/11/16 - I have Strumpet the Trumpet..ST1050 and Baktu the Futura .... Aprilia RST1000 Futura.

02/11/16 - My name for my 1500 Kawasaki Nomad is ‘TONKA’ !  Perhaps for obvious reasons.

02/11/16 - My 23 year old Red NTV650 V twin Honda has always reminded me of Ermintrude, the cow from The Magic Roundabout the seminal children’s tele prog.  It’s the rounded look of the bike and the way it lazily flumps around.  Mind you it surprised me back in 2012 on a three week UK tour two up with kit; that motor may not be fast but it doesn’t care how much weight is on its back, Ermintrude still pulls away effortlessly.  Ah the joys of a v-twin!

02/11/16 - I have 2 bikes...

MV Agusta F3 800 - "Shiny" (for obv reasons)

Honda RVF400 -"yippit" cos she reminds me of a small, excitable puppy

02/11/16 - Bikes only get a name if it springs to mind while riding, hence XL185 was called “XL185”

Angelica- V50 monza Moto Guzzi, who’s previous owner died in a tragic accident.

Sod (you motorbike)- XBR500 which used to stall at junctions. (set the mixture rich and lumpy to cure this)

Slug or The 150 Mile Per Hour Ebay Shopping Bike, or The Speed Barge.- A CBR1000f Jelly Mould Honda bought off ebay for 600 quid.

Thug- V1000 Moto Guzzi, twin plug raceco motor, 40mm Del Orto pumpers, spoked wheels, Akront rims, etc, dressed as a Lemans 1.

Grrr- XR400, but only got a name after it was bored to 450 and given a Mikuni flat side carb.

Nasty, or Oooh You Nasty B**tard- VTR1000 SP2 named at the first roundabout, after the snatchy throttle  response put it sideways in the wet.

The Batbike- Original C50 Honda, field bike, pushrod engine, and backswept pressed steel handlebar shroud, bought in secret when I was six years old. (dad would have done his nut.)

02/11/16 - My wife believes it is compulsory to name bikes.

Basil is her BSA A10, named by the previous owner as he was always "Faulty". Not so these days as Basil gets looked after.

Her BSA B32 Goldie is Corky due to the wine bottle cork stuck in the steering lock hole.

Her Kawasaki Versys is Nobby because of the shape of the exhaust tailpipe cover.

She named my old Yamaha YR5 Issi after the '70s childrens TV magic panda Issi Noho - reg plate letters NHO.

My Yam 350LC is Elise. Everybody elses seemed to be Elsie so I anagramed it.

My HD MT350 is Steve. Well of course - he is a Harley!

My Triton and Suzuki SV1000 don't have names but I'm sure my other half would think of something quick enough.

02/11/16 - All bikers name their bikes at some time and the ones that don’t well aren’t Bikers they are just riders.

Mine main ride is a Stratoliner which I call her “The Queen Mary” as it seems to take a mile to turn her.

03/11/16 - Naming your bike? Of course, it's natural, and there's a point to it too. If you have family member or a partner who don't share your passion, it's a psychological way for them to accept them. My "Yamaha XJ600 3KM", was bought new out of the shop window in February 1992, it's hardly a name that rolls fluidly off the tongue, particularly if your knowledge of motorcycles stops at a brief count of the number of wheels fitted. The XJ is universally known in all my circles as "Jay Jay", easier to remember, and embued with rather more personality than even Yamaha intended.

The naming ceremony is brief, I glance at the number plate and the name will come to me in a flash.

I also have an XJ900 Diversion called "Watson" and an XJ600 Diversion called "Red DIva", or just "Red" for short. In fairness whilst "Jay Jay" and "Watson" live in Southampton, "Red" is languishing in a garage in Almaty, Kazakhstan where I rather abandonned the poor thing after riding it across the Tian Shan mountains in 2015... a feat it accomplished surprisingly well. Whilst it's KTM and BMW stable mates sprung oil leaks, gearbox issues, punctures, rich cuts and bent wheel rims - "Red" sailed serenly through the experience on baldish road tyres!

Each bike has a personality, don't be shy - honour them with a name.

How about "Bikey McBikeface"

03/11/16 - I call my MZ  251,  Stinky.

03/11/16 - My transalp is called The Tran slapper. The divvy rat is called Rattrap and my Srx 250 is the K9 Assassin ( a dog ran out in front of me). The picture of Rattrap under going it's reincarnation

03/11/16 - Yes my Harley Sportster is Pegasus as she has gold wings on her tank and flys when needed

04/11/16 - Our CBR 600 is named Lotty after the animal Axolotl, which has the ability to regenerate whenever it loses any bits! It also happens to have the same purple and pink colour scheme which Honda chose back in 1994!

04/11/16 - I named my boyfriend's Ninja: BUBBLES... he was fixing this yellow ZX10R Stalker replica and put my laundry's Oxalic acid to clean the leaking radiator (according to YouTube instructions, he said). When he took it for a spin the mixture boiled over and created a lovely trail of bubbles following the bike, much to his surprise.  The name was born.

Goes without saying: my boyfriend was not impressed and still won't let me have a go on it.

04/11/16 - I’ve had my XJR1300 for 16 years, had lots of fun on it, and call it Ha Ha!, as in Yamaha ha!

08/11/16 - Im not on closet terms so use a  first name.

so I address my motorcycle as Miss

Miss fire.