Suppose I should chime in here. I've had bikes for 30 years now.
My first was a 75 Suzuki GT500 two-stroke twin. That was some fun.
Then I sold it and bought an 80 Honda CB750F. Put a few miles on that thing. Rode it from Mpls to Glacier Park and back with my sister on the back.
After I sold that to a friend I bought a pretty clapped out 84 Kawasaki 750 Turbo. I worked in a machine shop that the time so we made new bearings for the turbo.
Here is a photo of a nice looking copy. Unfortunately not mine.
This was also the only bike I've had a get-off on. In the middle of nowhere Utah I had an oil cooler line let go and cover the rear tire with oil. Since I was in Utah, the road was straight, so I kept it up while I pulled off the road. Had to wait quite a while for someone to stop and help. Ended up taking it to some welding shop where they brazed the line back together.
Unfortunately the braze let go in a curve on Bear Tooth Pass in Wyoming. This time I went down. Manage to bang my elbow and maybe crack a bone in my thumb. The whole left side of the bike was also pretty smashed up. I jumped up, cussing, and managed to get the bike off the road. Then I caught a ride to Yellowstone National Park with a couple of German tourists. Ended up bussing and flying home. A month or so later I borrowed a pickup and roadtripped out with a friend to pick up the bike. The insurance company totaled it, but I repaired it and sold it to a co-worker. I still miss that bike. I keep thinking I'm going to buy another one sometime. That bike was a hoot and a half.
After I got back from Yellowstone I bought an 81 BMW R100RS from a friend who was selling it because he was getting scared of riding it in traffic. I love that bike and still have it.
Here it is in Bear Tooth Pass (yes, I went back. I love Bear Tooth Pass.)
I hopped it up with a two into one exhaust and some flat-slide Mikuni carbs. I never did get the carbs dialed in very well, but it was fun to ride. I parked it about 7 years ago, but just dug it out to get it running again. Should have it going in the spring.
In 99 I bought a friend's 92 BMW K1100RS. This bike was setup for long distance riding and had completed two
Iron Butt rallies. I have run several Minnesota 1000 rallies - a one day version of the Iron Butt. Here is
my first try.
This is what the K1100RS looked like when I bought it. You can read more details
about it here.
A few years ago I got some freshly painted nicer bodywork for the beast and now it looks like this.
The K1100RS has been my daily driver pretty much since I bought it.
Last year we bought at 84 Honda CB450 twin for the wife to ride. Maybe next year she will actually have time to ride it.
I have also owned and sold:
- A 73 Honda CB350 Twin - given to me by a friend who ran it out of oil. I took it apart in my basement where it lived in boxes for many years until I sold it, still in boxes, for 18 cans of Guinness.
- An 83 Kawasaki GPz305 - cute little twin version of the GPz bikes. I sold it because my wife wanted something more upright.
- An 8? Yamaha Seca 750 that I got for free and bolted a sidecar to. After a couple of years I took the sidecar off and sold them both - the bike because it needed work and I wish I had kept the sidecar...
- A 92 Yamaha FJ1200 that I also got for free. It had a jillion miles on it. I put about $500 worth of parts in it, did a 1000 mile rally and decided it just didn't fit me. Managed to sell it this fall to pay for parts for the R100RS.
So, currently three in the garage.
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"Nothing exists except atoms and empty space. Everything else is just opinion." -Democritus
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Come check out my custom 1911 grips and other wooden items at my
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