Joe28
10-22-2008, 10:51 AM
I've been riding on 2 wheels since '66, racing motorcycles since '68, raced/owned I bet 100 bikes over the years.
All dependable! Some dependable to get you through the entire race or home from far away, and some dependable that you KNEW you would be stranded by them!
Triumphs that sucked valves if you over reved them, Suzukis that ate pistons every moto, Cagiva's that the carb needed to be re-jetted ever 2 degrees or 10' of elevation. BSAs and Harley that dripped oil, Royal Enfields that vibrated EVERY bolt loose.
But, over the years, even bikes I HATED, (as a support rider for Kawi in '87-'88, they made me race a KX 500. Scariest bike I ever rode)!:eek:, they always were even tempered until................
I retired from off road racing to foolin'@ on trials bikes and road bikes, (just too many nagging injuries).:(
The club I joined, most guys have Gold Wings.
Well, I don't want to stand out, I'll get one too!:p
So, my quest for a Wing brings me to E bay late last summer.
A 1995 1500 Interstate came up for bidding. I looked at it, seems it was a former N.J. police bike, a guy had bought a few of them and was selling them.
Low miles, bad alt., a little "grungy" but looked ok.
Few bidders, so I toss a bid and won!:)
I haul it back in a "big ass" U haul truck, strip it down, rip all the police wiring off it, (no wonder they smoked the alt, all the crap they had wired into the electrical system).
Clean/polish EVERYTHING, change all the fluids, engine drive belt, everything I could think of.
Spend a pile of money on all the usual "goodies guys put on Wings.
I take for a few rides before the cold weather hits and park it in eager anticpation of next years fun!
2008 riding season comes and I haul the "Black Wing" out.
First ride I KNEW that bike was EVIL, it hated me!:confused::eek:
I had a friend and my wife buy 2 gremlin bells, a few more goodies to try to win it over, but I KNEW first chance it had I was going down BIG time on it!
It never skipped a beat in the motor, handled wrong, just a,BADfeeling I got on it!:confused:
We rode it 3 months and I told my wife about it.
She said I was crazy, but one day it was in the yard, I had been polishing it.
She was reading the paper on the edge of our deck like she does alot. She got up, fell and broke both her ankles!
I'm sure this bike did it!!:eek:
I parked it and was NOT going to rideTHAT bike again.
It wasn't my riding skills. The only time I feel "normal" is on a bike. I can adapt to any bike in a short time. From years of racing I have pretty good handling skills. It was THAT bike!
When I told her I was going to sell it, she was ticked, "you did all that work and spent all that $$ on it and now your gonna sell it? Are you nuts"?
I took a bunch of pics of it and sent it to the block on E bay one day while she was on the couch mending the ankles.
A guy bought it to ship to his son in Italy. I told him I was selling it cuz I was "uncomfortable on it".
I've since bought 3 bikes and all of them have, "good Mo-Jo"
So, beware when you buy a bike,............................:eek:
Joe
I ride, therefore I am!;)
All dependable! Some dependable to get you through the entire race or home from far away, and some dependable that you KNEW you would be stranded by them!
Triumphs that sucked valves if you over reved them, Suzukis that ate pistons every moto, Cagiva's that the carb needed to be re-jetted ever 2 degrees or 10' of elevation. BSAs and Harley that dripped oil, Royal Enfields that vibrated EVERY bolt loose.
But, over the years, even bikes I HATED, (as a support rider for Kawi in '87-'88, they made me race a KX 500. Scariest bike I ever rode)!:eek:, they always were even tempered until................
I retired from off road racing to foolin'@ on trials bikes and road bikes, (just too many nagging injuries).:(
The club I joined, most guys have Gold Wings.
Well, I don't want to stand out, I'll get one too!:p
So, my quest for a Wing brings me to E bay late last summer.
A 1995 1500 Interstate came up for bidding. I looked at it, seems it was a former N.J. police bike, a guy had bought a few of them and was selling them.
Low miles, bad alt., a little "grungy" but looked ok.
Few bidders, so I toss a bid and won!:)
I haul it back in a "big ass" U haul truck, strip it down, rip all the police wiring off it, (no wonder they smoked the alt, all the crap they had wired into the electrical system).
Clean/polish EVERYTHING, change all the fluids, engine drive belt, everything I could think of.
Spend a pile of money on all the usual "goodies guys put on Wings.
I take for a few rides before the cold weather hits and park it in eager anticpation of next years fun!
2008 riding season comes and I haul the "Black Wing" out.
First ride I KNEW that bike was EVIL, it hated me!:confused::eek:
I had a friend and my wife buy 2 gremlin bells, a few more goodies to try to win it over, but I KNEW first chance it had I was going down BIG time on it!
It never skipped a beat in the motor, handled wrong, just a,BADfeeling I got on it!:confused:
We rode it 3 months and I told my wife about it.
She said I was crazy, but one day it was in the yard, I had been polishing it.
She was reading the paper on the edge of our deck like she does alot. She got up, fell and broke both her ankles!
I'm sure this bike did it!!:eek:
I parked it and was NOT going to rideTHAT bike again.
It wasn't my riding skills. The only time I feel "normal" is on a bike. I can adapt to any bike in a short time. From years of racing I have pretty good handling skills. It was THAT bike!
When I told her I was going to sell it, she was ticked, "you did all that work and spent all that $$ on it and now your gonna sell it? Are you nuts"?
I took a bunch of pics of it and sent it to the block on E bay one day while she was on the couch mending the ankles.
A guy bought it to ship to his son in Italy. I told him I was selling it cuz I was "uncomfortable on it".
I've since bought 3 bikes and all of them have, "good Mo-Jo"
So, beware when you buy a bike,............................:eek:
Joe
I ride, therefore I am!;)