I rode a Yamaha 465 with drum brakes. 
Speaking of dirt, I’ve done some great multi-day gravel routes in my area on my DR650. I just read about a new Backcountry Discovery Route coming for MT (won’t be released till 2026) and it makes me want to get on the DR650 again. I’ve mainly been doing road trips the last several years on my Buell since my wife can tag along. I need to replace the fork seals on my DR so I need to get that done.
Scary!
Here’s the estimate for finishing off the R1.
Fork seal set…35.95
2 EBC front brake pads…91.38
DID o ring chain…135.47
Michelin Pilot Power 2CT tires
…front…185.95…160.00
…rear…279.95…240.00
Labor, 4.0 hr…440.00
Fork oil, tire disposal, shop supplies…32.95
Subtotal…1135.75
Tax…102.22
Total…1237.97
Got the R1 back. Nice ride home, and my faulty knee wasn’t too bad. I was thinking about getting my backpack and going back to the supermarket, but my ride to the shop (i.e. my wife) stopped on the way home. I heard my message alert on my phone. I was at the stop light where you turn to go to the store. 
My wife ordered a new jacket for me for my birthday.
There’s this guy who comes round every year to see if I want to sell my R1. I hope he comes again this year, and that I’m out riding when he does. Guy: ‘Hi, do you still have the R1?’ Wife: ‘Oh, Johnny’s out riding it.’
Love the updates. Glad you’re getting some seat time between repairs.
My neighbour, who fixed the R1, just picked up a 1977 Yamaha IT175 for $200.
Probably going to make it a little more street legal and ride it to work. Really piss off the neighborhood!
My Dad had a saying that I’ve kept up:
Everything I own is for sale. For the right price.
Dad spent a couple years overhauling & re-covering a Citabria (fabric-covered light airplane) in our garage. Stupid amount of work but it was beautiful when it was done.
Somebody offered him stupid money and it was sold after the initial test flight plus 2 more for fun.
Something to consider …
My first vehicle was a Honda 360, which I bought in high school. The salesman was a real wiseguy. He laughed as he said, “Don’t run over any dogs, cause they’re slippery and will cause you to fall.” He thought that was hilarious. I didn’t. He then took me to the back lot so I could test drive the bike. This was my first time on a motorcycle. Before I completed my first circle around the lot, I mixed up the controls and accelerated hard into the fence, severely damaging the bike. I quipped, “Well, at least I didn’t run over a dog.” I thought that was funny. He didn’t. They repaired the bike, and I bought it. It was my high school wheels.
Most embarrassing moment: riding home from school one day, I spotted a neighborhood girl on her front lawn who I had a crush on. I thought I’d impress her by popping a wheelie in front of her house. Instead, I took a spectacular spill. She ran up to make sure I was okay. Just my pride was hurt. But, I did ask her out a couple of months later, and we dated for a while.
Then I got a 1975 Kawasaki Z1 900. Lots more power. Lots more fun. I took a lot of risky chances on that bike, which make me shudder to think about now, but I do miss the wind in my hair. I miss my hair, too.
Oh My God! My friend had one of these back in the day. I had the 465, my other friend Mike had a YZ 400. It was a pretty exciting time all riding together. Mike and I could just twist the throttle and conquer anything that got in our way. The 175 had a light-switch powerband and was frequently left in the dust, only to come flying after us, mostly on the ragged edge of control. We grew up in the mountains, and there were lots of big, steep long hills to cause him much grief. It was missing the rear fender and the silencer was held on with bailing wire and duct-tape. Good times!
We saw the neighbour giving one of his daughters a ride around the block on the IT175 yesterday. I little bit later, We saw them go around again on one of his Honda CT110s (the restored one). He said in a text he even let his daughter ‘drive’ it.
The neighbour said he plans to restore the IT175, and I think he’s looking at DG custom parts for it. (Though a video he sent said the custom forks are made of unobtainium.)
Okay. I need to tell this story about Steve and the 175…
Mike and I had just finished rebuilding the top end in my garage. Steve was a very impatient guy and really wanted to hear it run, to make sure it was done. Problem was, the exhaust pipe was not there (the reasons are lost to the mists of time and faulty memory) and the throttle cable was unusable. But Steve just had to get this thing running.
We disconnected the front brake and somehow rigged it up to the carb, but you had to use it with the brake lever. (Do we see a problem here?) Mixed up some gas, Steve got on and Mike and I pushed him down the street. Steve popped it into second gear and after a second or two the beast fired up. Full Throttle! The return spring wasn’t strong enough, or Steve didn’t let the lever go or who knows. Tore off down the street, howling and shooting flames out the front of the cylinder. Steve quickly realized he was in big trouble and just laid it down before running out of road. Took a couple rolls and got banged up pretty good.
He was dejected, and just started walking away… but the engine was still going full throttle, still shooting flames! I ran down to try to … I don’t know… do something. No kill switch. I was worried it would blow up or ignite the leaking gas. I instictively reached down and yanked the plug wire off. It was probably spinning around 9k. Damn! Ever grab a plug wire running hot?? Hurt like hell and my fingernail beds turned black a short time after.
I don’t know what we were thinking back then. Stupid Idiot High School kids! I still piss myself laughing about this incident as I can remember it like it was yesterday.
I bought a DT175 without my Mom’s knowledge and forged her signature to get my learner’s permit when I was 15. Likewise did a lot of silly stuff on that bike. No flames, though. I was working at a restaurant that summer and didn’t get off work until 10 pm. Learner’s permits are daytime only. Got pulled over by a local cop who said he wouldn’t ticket me, but I had to leave it and walk or push it the mile home… Of course I pushed it until he stopped watching, then rode home.
That was a piss-your-pants quality story. I was right there with you in the telling. Well done and thank you!
I’ve got a couple broadly similar tales of high school-aged follies with dirt bikes and field expedient engineering moronic MacGyvering. It’s a wonder I’m alive, much less can still walk straight 50 years later.
Were there any bikes between the 360 and the Z1? That’s a big leap!
Well, while I had my 360, I got a summer job assisting a dozen Suzuki mechanics flown to the U.S. in order to convert the 1975 Suzuki RE-5 into the 1976 model (a hush hush operation). Riding those bikes on break made me realize I wanted (needed) something with more power than my anemic Honda, so soon after, I decided on the Z1.
Those Japanese mechanics were amazing, and I wish I could have asked them more questions during the 3 months I was with them, but only one of them spoke [very] broken English. One lunch hour I told him I was having a mechanical problem with my bike and he said no problem, they’d fix it on lunch hour. They also wanted to study the inner workings of a Honda. They had my bike torn down to nuts and bolts and rebuilt before lunch hour was complete. And, it ran better than ever. They also let me keep a lot of the '75 RE-5 parts that they stripped off the pre-converted bikes (too expensive to ship them all back to Japan). I found a buyer for some of them (helpful income for a poor student). Loved that job!
One of the worst, defiantly the ugliest, and the most profitable (at resale) bikes I’ve ever owned.
I think it just looks like a UJM. Nothing wrong with that.
Not In Person. Truly an Unlovely Machine. The instrument “Thermos”, the signals and taillight, all of it was just clunky and ugly. But that’s why it was worth so much when I sold it. Unique and Hideous. I made bank on that monstrosity. I rode it a few times. Heavy, cumbersome and nothing worth mentioning.
But,… Rotary! Wankle!
Edit: I’m sure the guy I sold it to will make 10x bank when he dumps it on Jay Leno
Yeah, that tin can instrument cluster was indeed ugly, and one of the parts we replaced in the ‘76 model. They gave me a big box of them, which ended up in my garage for years, till I threw most of them out.