Yet another motorcycle thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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A lot of the motorcycle threads are: “I want to buy a motorcycle. Recommendations, please?” or “I’m getting my motorcycle license. What bike should I get?” I thought it would be fun to have a thread just for chatting about riding in general, our rides, our experiences, etc.

I took my new 2002 Yamaha YZF-R1 (a link, for those of you who haven’t seen it :wink: ) to the shop today for it’s 600-mile check/maintenance. Although it is a 2002 year model, it’s brand new. The 2003s don’t come in red. People who drive cars might wonder about taking a bike in for maintenance after only 600 miles. I’ve found this to be common with bikes. They change the oil and filter, which probably have metal in them due to the new engine breaking in, check the fluids, make sure all of the bolts are tight, etc. Basically, the first 600 miles are a “shake down cruise”, and the first check is to see how it’s holding up (and to replace the break-in oil and filter). I did exceed 600 miles by 82. I had to get that one more ride to work and back before I took it in. I started out later than I had planned today, so I didn’t get the bike to the shop until after noon. I walked down to the bus stop and caught a ride for 75 cents, and then walked about a mile home from the stop. I haven’t heard from the shop, and even if I do I don’t have a way to get down there before closing time to pick the bike up. So it will be Tuesday before I get it back. (The shop is closed Sunday and Monday.)

But I can’t not have a bike to ride! I pulled the Willys out and parked it tail-in. My trusty old 1994 Yamaha Seca II is now in front of it, ready to go.

That Seca has been a good bike. I remember when I got it I had a 1979 Honda CX500 I bought for a dollar. The performance increase over the Honda was surprising – and fun! You can laugh, but after being on a big heavy 500cc tourer, the Seca seemed to have “rip your arms off” performance.

I started up the Seca (which started hard, having been sitting for a fortnight) and it was loud. I damaged one of the pipes in a slide, so I replaced the twin pipes with a 4-into-1 Vance & Hines unit. Coldfire says it’s the “most bad-ass XJ600” he’s heard. It’s certainly louder than my new litre-bike.

The first thing I noticed after starting it up was how comfortable it is. The seat is bigger and softer than the R1’s and the riding position is more upright. This little 600cc standard that replaced my mini-tourer now feels like a touring bike itself!

Well, I put it in gear and pulled up the driveway. It’s amazing how underpowered it seems after riding the R1. Not surprising, really. The XJ600 Seca II was designed as a sporty entry-level bike. And the power isn’t very smooth, either. If I ever decide to spend the money for a jet kit, I’m sure it will be better.

Will “Old Blue” (I don’t actually call it that – I just thought it would sound good) be relegated to the dusty end of the carport? Will it lie idle with its gaskets drying out and spiders building webs in its many crevices? Nope. With its new Bridgestone Battleaxe tyres and new brakes, its ready to go. I love the R1, but why rack up the miles mundanely commuting? The Seca has provided 77,000 miles of faithful service. It gets better mileage too. The Seca will be, as always, my commuter bike. The R1 will be for weekends and for variety during the week.

My first bikes were a Taco 44 and a Bonanza mini bikes (Briggs & Stratton 4 hp and Tecumseh 5 hp, respectively). The first true motorcycle I rode was a well-used 1964 Yamaha 80. My first bike was a new Yamaha 100 LT2 Enduro, followed by a Yamaha DT1 250 Enduro, the 1979 Honda CX500, the 1994 Yamaha Seca II, and the 2002 Yamaha R1. Bikes that I’ve ridden but did not own (in addition to the '64 Yamaha 80) include a 1970 Honda CB100, a 1970 Honda CB750 (which was entirely too big for me at the time!), a '72-ish Honda CB360T, A Suzuki GS500E, a Suzuki GSXR750… and I think that’s it. (Though I seem to remember riding a Honda Trail 90 once when I was a kid.)

If this thread takes off I might post about my first crash, the time I was hit by a truck, brush-hopping in the desert, or whatever. In the meantime, how about posting your experiences? :slight_smile:

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I bought an 80cc scooter this year. I hurt myself my first week out and had to get stitches, got some bad road rash, hurt my shoulder, and wounded my pride because I was stupid and hadn’t ridden anything on two wheels in many years.

I am surprisingly unashamed of all of this and am riding once again (much more carefully)

Fear my mad scootering skillz. :slight_smile:

(I have my regular bike license, but have a real love of scooters, so that’s what I got. Next year I shall get a bigger one that goes faster then 35mph. WOW!)

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My riding experiences have only involved the lot where I got my motorcycle liscence, but I was able to do a complicated really twisty maze in first at a low speed on a cruiser. As I was riding along, I kept thinking, wow Im riding a motorcycle, and I dont have to be a passenger any longer. I havent gotten a bike yet, I am thinking of buying one in the winter time since our season is really short, and I need to practice my turns in parking lots for a while, so might as well start again in the spring time. But Im looking forward to it.

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I’ll get back to you in about a year or so Johnny ;).

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Hiya Johnny,

I also had the LT2. When I was 11, wrecked it and put 130 stitches in my head.

Had a DT250B as well. That was a good old bike. Stripped it down and put a big ass sprocket on the back and knobbys. It would go anywhere.

Went bikeless for a few years, then bought a '78 Yamaha XS650 Special. Love the old verticle twin, and at $200 bucks, I couldn’t resist.

It’s running pretty good right now, but has a few ‘issues’. For instance, whoever owned it last rebuilt the engine. Rebuilt it 180 degrees off. Took me for ever to figure out what was wrong.

Hmm, timing looks ok, compression is good, rebuilt the carbs, spark is good. What the heck is wrong here, it should at least pop. It wasn’t untill I physically inspected the position of the valves that I figured out what was wrong.

So, I switched left coil to right plug and visa versa and bingo. Instant motorcycle.

I think I actually did a happy dance.:smiley:

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alpine: Speaking of “instant motorcycles”, I saw a Seca II at the shop yesterday. I think it was a '93 – dark metallic green – and it looked new. And well it should, with only 4,400 miles on the clock. The mech said that it had had a broken starter ring gear, and that unfortunately you need to split the case to get to it. (i.e., remove the engine and take it apart – at $70/hour.) The owner decided it wasn’t worth it and sold it to another mechanic for $500. Of course, the mechanic can fix it on his own time and not have to pay shop charges. So now the mechanic (not the “top guy”, who I talk to all the time) has a great bike for half a kilobuck and some “sweat equity”.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it seems the mechanic took advantage of the seller. He picked up an excellent motorcycle at a bargain price, just because the owner didn’t want to pay the exhorbitant shop charges. (And I do think $70/hour is outrageous – but it’s the going rate.) On the other hand, the guy had a nearly-new 10-year-old motorcycle that was worth around $2,000. Maybe a little more. I don’t know how much he bought it for, but it might have been worth it to keep it. It’s his own decision, and he didn’t have to sell it. He could have gotten a manual and changed the gear himself. (Heh. I’m the one who doesn’t have a garage, time, or tools. Who am I to say that?)

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HEEEEEYYY I love the 02 red model…I have seen one with white wheels, and it looked amazing…

nice bike

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Let’s see. Started out with homebuilt mini-bikes with chainsaw engines, and then got a Honda CT70. Basically a name brand minibike, but I rode that thing to pieces. Then came a beat up Honda CR80, then a beat up XL125. Took turns with my friends on their beat up Yamaha 250’s. Soon we ditched the dirtbikes and went to Honda 110 and 185 three wheelers. They were much more practical living in northern swamplands. Two older kids (H.S. seniors) I knew occasionally let me ride their Yamaha Seca and 650 Special, and it was then that I was hooked on street bikes.

When I was in the service I bought a beat up but great running Honda Silverwing. I rode that for about 2 years before it lowsided down a cliff after hitting sand in the road. A pile of rocks and a small tree kept me from going there too. It was about a year before I got the nerve to get another bike and found my dream. BMW K1. My dream turned into a nightmare which lasted three days. Hated that thing. Never buy a bike that you want without a test ride. It just didn’t fit me in any way at all. Then came my Shadow 500. I went everywhere and anywhere on that. True love. Even after a fairly spectacular crash, in the eyes of my riding partner who watched it, that twisted up the handlebars and tweaked the frame a little, I rode the daylights out of it. Even after meeting my wife, we both went everywhere on it.

We moved to the desert, and after a couple of years, I couldn’t take it anymore. Between the summer heat, winter cold, constant high winds, and sand on every road (which still terrifies me), riding was no longer enjoyable at all. Plus, being a government employee, I couldn’t get to work on it without having to wear the orange vest. I accepted that in the military, but as a civilian, I couldn’t take it anymore, and sold it to a guy who made a sand buggy out of the engine.

Moved here a couple of years ago and thought of a bike again until I was on the freeways here. I was everywhere on SoCA freeways, but I never saw anything like the insanity on these roads. Being in a car was often frightening. They don’t call it the NASCAR circuit for nothing. I even remember telling Spiny Norman when he was here that there was no way I would ever ride a bike out here. It was suicide. Then I started noticing that as stupid and nuts as people are here, all the bikes I saw on the freeway were often surrounded by a very wide berth. Suddenly I had the urge to at least give it a shot.

I wanted an ST1100, but didn’t have the cash for one and didn’t want to finance a bike for what may have been a bad decision. Then I found my PC800. An older gal who only rode it on weekends (really, she was a senior flight attendant so was rarely home) was selling it because her legs were just a hair too short for it, even after she had the seat scooped. She loved it, but had dropped it at stop signs one too many times and wanted a shorter Shadow. She was crying when I was signing the papers, she loved it so much. And although not at this particular moment, I know why. It is an absolute dream to ride, and although not quite as nimble as my dear Shadow was, can nearly be ridden on willpower alone. Even though it sails along nicely at high speed, I just wish it had a hair more power, and am still fighting the urge for an ST. I almost gave in to desire a couple months ago for a VTX Retro, but I’m a sport/tourer at heart nowadays.

As for riding out here, what I saw is true. While I have an average of two incidents a day that spike the adrenaline, I feel far safer on my bike than in the cars on these freeways. Fall is soon upon us here which means getting up early and checking the road temperatures, hoping for just one more day of riding before winter storage times starts.

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I rode my first mini-bike when I was six. Maybe five, as my mother says, but I’ve always said six; so six it is.

My helmet was metal-flake gold. Remember metal flake? The seat was covered in metal-flake gold vinyl, and the mini-bike frame was blue. Fitting for a Navy brat. I had one of those bubble shields on the helmet. Orange. Dad started up the old Taco 44 by pulling the rope on the 4 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. I trundled up the sidewalk past the Grugels, past the Parkers, and to my best friend’s driveway. It was then that I realized that I didn’t know how to turn around. I ploughed straight into a low brick wall and took a header into some rose bushes. Scratched the hell out of my new bubble shield. The way mom tells it, she insisted my helmet have the bubble shield and oh, boy, was she right! Me? I tell her that she cheated me out of some dueling scars that I could tell the grrls that I got whilst fencing in Heidelberg.

And that was my first crash.

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I’ve been dreaming about getting a red Dukati, but part of me wants a classic old Royal Enfield. THIS would be really fun:

Touring India/Nepal/Asia on an old Indian-made British bike.

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In the past I have owned a '74 Honda sl 70, Honda cr 125 (elsinores were BAD!), Honda cb 750A, '73 Norton commando, '67 BSA 441, BSA b50, '52 Triumph trw, '95 Triumph speed triple, '36 BMW r2, '66 BSA a65h (cafe racer). I only have the '66 BSA, the trw and the '36 BMW now but I am looking for a Norton Dominator 88 or 99 or a drum brake Commando for my next bike.

unclviny
BooksWoods, I sell the new Enfields and they are great!, low tech, sunday through the park bikes (and they are cheap!)

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BooksWoods: You may not think it since I just got an R1, but I’ve wanted a Royal Enfield Bullet (a green one) for a few years now. Great looks and 1950s British technology. :wink: And I like the way a 500cc thumper with a top speed of 70 is called the “Bullet”. :stuck_out_tongue: I’d probably have one if they were California-legal. But…

I’m having a 1966 MGB roadster restored from the ground up, and it’s costing about twice as much as I had anticipated. Then there’s the R1 I have to pay for. And I’ve just made an offer on my best fiend’s house. The Bullet will have to wait.

unclviny: Sounds like you really like those classic British bikes!

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I have always loved riding. My uncle bought a MC when he came back from Vietnam and would give us rides when visiting (age 6-10). I was a pedal pusher until about 12 when I got my first taste of power. A friend had a 3 hp mini-bike. My parents would not let me own a bike until I took a MC riding and safety class. When I was 16, I took the class and got my license. I rode a Yamaha 125cc Enduro and an old Honda 90cc. I bought a mid 70’s Kawasaki 400cc 3 cylinder 2-stroke. At the time it was made it was one of the fastest production bikes made. That bike was pretty quick right up to about 100-105mph. A group of used to get our kicks Canyon Bashing. This usually entailed double to triple recommended speed through the turns.

I have gone down on a bike twice. The first was on the 90cc going through a field. I came across an old irrigation ditch hidden by grass. It was too wide and the 90cc did not have enough power pull the front end up. A nice little “endo” followed. The second time was more serious. It was the spring of 82 or 83. I was riding alone and hanging it out pretty far. I was in a tight left and as I hit the apex of the turn I see where a pothole had been filled in with dirt/gravel. I really couldn’t change my line far enough to miss it. The back end slid out and I tried to counter steer to keep it up. All along the edge of the road was a wide band of pea gravel left over from the winter sand trucks. I hit that sideways and the bike flipped several times. I was lucky that I only broke a leg. The front end of the bike was toast.

I started looking at a new bike. I took the Kawasaki GPZ 750cc for a test ride. As I accelerated away from the dealer, I jumped on it and the front end came right up. I realized that I would probably wind up dead with that bike. I didn’t buy it. After fixing the KZ400, I found that I couldn’t hit the turns the same way. I wasn’t comfortable anymore. I changed my riding habit to a more sedate pace.

I bought an 85’ HD Wide Glide. Marriage came, a child came, and momma hen wanted a nest. I sold the bike to put a down payment on the house. I lived without a bike for almost 8 years. I bought a 2003 Heritage Softail in March. So far I done short rides just putting around plus trips to Red River and Sturgis.

**Johnny L.A.[b/], I have two friend that ride R1’s, they both love the bike.

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I currently putt around on a highly tweaked 1995 ZX6R and a bone stock EX250, both track whores. I stopped riding on the streets here in Houston after some jackass with crappy insurance u-turned 50 feet infront of me. My resolve was doubled about how dangerous street riding is when a good friend was involved in a very very nasty accident on 610 at the 59 exit here in town.
Those of you in Tx or the surrounding areas, check out www.lonestartrackdays.com if you have never been to a track day. great stuff, lots of fun, and maybe we can meet up one day ince I’m at almost all of the events.
I’m also currently up to my elbows in a complete rebuild and restoration of a 1986 VF500F. Nice, fun little bike. I’d love an old Norton Commando as a cafe racer showpiece, but I have too many other expensive hobbies at the moment. Or maybe an old Ducati. I’m planning on racing next season when my times have dropped to respectable levels.

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I almost started a thread like this a couple of weeks ago when I reached my five years with my motorcycle license. I got my first bike, a Honda Shadow VLX 600 in July of 98.

I tooled around town for a few weeks, then in the middle of August I went to Shenandoah national park in Virginia. This would be the first of many things to happen to me. First off I started on some crazy obsession of collecting national park stamps. Mostly because The Iron Butt Association has a tour where you collect at least 50 stamps in 25 different states. Why anyone would try and do such a thing having a grand total of a months experience want to do something like that I will never know.

Secondly I learned that even when it’s hot one place, it can get damn cold way in the mountains. The ex and I froze going through the park. We ended up getting a room and the next day got rained on.

Within a few weeks we made our way to New Jersey, and got rained on again. Soon after that we made our way well into New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and the rest of New England. Coming home from Albany we got rained on the entire way. Twelve hours in the rain is no fun.

Near the end of October I hit a deer, almost totaled the bike, and killed the deer. Only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to eat the deer. Spent a couple of months off the bike waiting for parts, though I did have to ride it home a couple of days later. I did learn one thing though, to wear boots at all times on the bike.

I ended up going though many of the southern states the next summer, from Florida over to Louisiana and up back through Maryland. During this time I also completed my first Saddle Sore during an endurance rally. Just over 1100 miles in 24 hours. June and July of that month were big, something like 7-8000 miles.

In September of that year I bought my Concours. It was almost brand new, someone bought it, put 50 miles on it, and brought it back. I got it the next day. The next year on the Connie saw ~20,000 miles and almost all of the states east of the Mississippi and a few on the west of it as well.

Then in November I slid in the rain in a construction zone. Again another few months out and when I got it back in Feb I slid again on some black ice. That was not fun, the last two times I was on the bike I had slid, that’s not good for the head. I was scared to do corners after that for a long long time.

In 2001 I did a Butt Burner Gold, which is 1500 miles in 24 hours. Later that same summer I did the Iron Butt Rally coming in in the middle of the pack. The past two years I have seen the rest of the lower 48 states, and visiting 130 or so national parks. I commute everyday to work during the summer by bike. I’ve also come close to having 100,000 miles on a motorcycle, I think that I’m within 5-6000 miles and should have that by September. That is if I get my bike out of the shop.