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I have been riding for four decades now and gone through many machines over that time; 32 or so. This thread will challenge many of you to remember all the bikes you've had, especially if you have had as many or more than myself.
Tell us a little about the machine and what made it cool or not. I'm not looking for a full ride review mind you. That can be a whole new thread for each review.
In any case, here is my list I researched over the last couple of years...
This was quite the challenge for me, a struggle to remember all of them after 42 years of riding. I had to reach deep to try and put the pieces together and write this down. I know it is only important to me, but once I started writing it down, lots of great memories (and a few painful ones) came back to me.
These are the bikes I have either owned or had use of for long periods of time.
Starting off is two, 1968 OSSA 250 enduros. These were acquired so I could race one of them and the other became my parts bike. The good(ish) one ran for several months. I raced it around the Texas Panhandle in 6 of 7 races before it was done. This was 1980, I was 15 years old when this bug bit me hard.
The third bike was borrowed from a friend to use whenever I wanted; 1978 Yamaha YZ100. This little bike seemed to be indestructible as it was abused in a way only teenage boys can do.
Bike #4 is also a borrowed bike, this time a street bike. It came from a friend’s older brother who had an accident and could no longer walk. I first borrow the 1978 CB400 to take my rider’s test. He allowed me to keep it for about six months before he decided to sell it. During the time I had it in my possession four other buddies took their rider’s test on it; all passed first time.
I won’t count this bike but will give it honorable mention; a 1973 Honda CB100. This was the ranch bike that I rode fence on at the “Horn B” wild game ranch in Donnelly County Texas. For three years I abused this little bike on all sorts of rutty areas, roots and sand. Our bull Bison “Big Red” hated it and I had to give him a wide berth or he would chase me; something the boss frowned on. It ran well and always started.
I joined the Navy in 1983 and went a few years without having a bike. I rode several here and there, mostly dirt bikes. Then, in 1985, bike #5 fell into my hands by chance. A Navy buddy was forced out of the Navy and needed money fast. I got his 1981 Honda CX500. This has a transverse V-Twin like Moto Guzzi. This is a bike I wished I had kept, but sold it before my first deployment.
After my first deployment, a shipmate let me use his 1984 Honda VT700 Shadow for several months, this is 1986 so the bike is almost new. I had a car, a wife and two kids now. She needed the car during the day so I rode the bike as my commuter. I remember thinking that a 700cc bike is getting kind of big, but it is a very easy bike to ride. I asked if I could buy it from him but he said no so I sent it back while I went back out to sea for a month.
When I came back from this at sea period, I went to the used bike lot on base and found a 1983 Iron head Sportster (XLH). Now this was a huge bike to me at 1,000cc, it was the biggest bike so far. It only has a four speed transmission though I never seemed to mind. It felt fast but not as comfy as the Shadow was. I had it for nine months and 9,000 trouble free miles then sold to a squadron buddy for $900 more than I bought it for. If I had of named it, I guess "Nines" would be appropriate.
I became aware of a new bike from Yamaha called the V-Max. I was in love right away but holy cow that is a scary bike. I told myself that someday I would have one after seeing one in person. More on this later...
It is 1987 now and I went back to the used lot and found #8, another almost new Shadow and brought it home that night. This one was a 1986 VT700. Another sailor needed money and sold it at a great price. I kept this till I moved to Pensacola in 1988.
In 1988 in Pensacola, I now had three kids and my first new car payment. I did have a nice reenlistment bonus though and since we needed two vehicles, a bike soon followed. That bike is a 1986 Yamaha XV 750 Virago. I liked it better than the Shadows for some reason. I lost this bike when a buddy crashed it on a corner near the Alabama line.
The buddy who crashed the Virago only had road rash which is amazing since he had no helmet on. To make up for his mishap, he got me my next two bikes; dirt bikes this time.
The first was a 1987 Honda CR 250. We were both in the same off-road club which only had the rule that you drive off-road; so dirt bikes were cool here too. Obviously a dirt bike is not worth as much as a street bike, but I had moved on base by now and could run to work so having a second road vehicle was not as important. I road this CR 250 for two years and could not tear it up. It is here that I learn the value of hand guards. The woods in Florida are mean on your hands for sure.
A few months after he gave me his CR 250, he calls me up and says he has a Yamaha dirt bike that he thinks is better than the Honda and offers it to me as well. It was 1989 Yamaha YZ 250; and yes, it was way more fun than the CR 250. There is just something awesome about the expansion chamber in the Yamaha. Both of these bikes really are outstanding bikes and do well in dirt or mud. And Florida has a lot of mud. I broke the YZ one day in said mud. I was flying down a dirt road and came to about 200 feet of mud. No worries as that is how long our mud pits are when we conduct races at the fairgrounds. I was ahead of the group and went through easy the first time followed by a few others. One guy hit it wide open throttle (WOT) and man did it look cool. I went back through the opposite way at WOT and found a root that was easy to get over the first direction but stopped the bike going back. Just before I hit it, the front tire dove down slightly, then stopped. I think I was maybe 25 MPH or so but when the bike came to a complete stop, I got to imitate Superman. I had good gear on and broke no bones. However, both fork tubes were bent so bad the wheel would not turn. That didn’t matter anyway as the rim was bent too. The bike was submerged was a few minutes in the muddy water and after cleaning it up some on site, we could not get it started. The guy I got it from gave me $250 for it as is.
I rode the CR till I left Pensacola in 1992. I didn’t get another bike since kid #4 had arrived. I sold the CR and moved back to Jacksonville where I completed re-training and deployed right away. When I came home, I needed another bike. On cruise, a shipmate told me about his CR 250 that he would sell me cheap. It ran good when we left he said and since I had one before, I figured it would be good; and it was. It is a 1991 and while it did run well, it was scratched up pretty good. The clutch lever was broken but usable. The foot brake lever had been repaired with JB Weld and every piece of plastic (both fenders, both front and rear panels) was broken and held together with duct tape. The bike looked like hell and is not even two years old but it started on the second kick, I took it and now have bike #12.
Life always presents itself in ways we do not expect. I remarried in Jacksonville and gained another 2 kids. Getting another street bike was constantly on my mind but not in the bank account. I needed money like so many others so I sold the ratty CR for the same as I paid for it.
In 1996 I found myself in Omaha on recruiting duty. If there is ever a stressful job where one needs a bike, this is it. The first bike I found at a garage sell while out visiting a potential recruit. It is the 1995 Yamaha XV1100 Virago and a great price. They wanted $3,000 for it. New it had an MSPR around $7,600. I said I could give them $2,000 and they took it. It had belonged to the brother who had passed away from cancer. The bike only had 1,200 miles on it and was almost two years old now. I rode it for about five months when I was offered an amount of money for it I could not turn down ($4,000) so I sold it. Another regrettable decision too.
Bike #14 came the following week; a 1990 Honda VF 750 Magna. The torque it had coming out of the Nebraska and Iowa curves was a blast. The frame was tight compared to the last bike. Mine was plain red but shined under full sun. I like the graphics on other bikes with the black lines coming front to back. But the price on this was something I couldn’t pass up, $1,200.
The Marine recruiter next door to us was transferring out and sold me his dirt bike, a 1994 Honda CR 250. This one was not as ratty as the last one I had and I did not get a chance to make so it while in Nebraska. The job took a lot of time, kid #7 came along and my first wife was fighting for custody. I sold this one about 2 months after getting it, needed the money so good bye bike #15.
I sold the Magna before I transferred to San Diego in 1998. After re-training was complete, and the fact I lived 22 miles from base (that meant 1 to 1.5 hours drive time each way), I got another Magna. This one is the color I wanted and a 1996. One big difference is the exhaust. I really like the older style but performance seemed to be great either way. The southern California hills gave me a whole new appreciation for motorcycles. Traffic was horrible up there but better than in the city. Splitting traffic was allowed and cut my commute to work by an hour at times.
Bikes #17 and 18 are back to dirt bikes and once more, got these from sailors transferring away. The first is a Yamaha YZ400F. I love the blue color and was under the impression it would not fade under sunlight like the red plastics do (I was wrong). Anyway, riding in the desert of SoCal is awesome, even in the heat. There are so many camps where you can ride all day. Getting into the rocks is awesome too but one must be on their toes and in the correct gear. I rode the impossible Railroad on this bike and met some really nice Park Rangers. They didn’t ticket us but did give us a stern warning and went on about how hard it is to rescue dirt-bikers here. I decided not to mention I train in this area for just such missions. I put maybe a 1,000 hours on this bike and then sold it to one of my buddies.
Bike #18 was my first Kawasaki, a KX250. I got it cheap too as it had a broken chain, the owner said it broke often. I looked it over and could not see anything so I took it. I had been giving another buddy a lot of crap about his KX 250’s color, now I had one. His never seemed to fail so I figured we could solve the chain issue. However, six months of riding it hard revealed nothing. I sold it and the Magna before moving to Fallon, NV in January 2001 for my final tour in the Navy.
Once we settled in Fallon, I saw that having another dirt bike would be mandatory. I found one not running and bought a 1992 Kawasaki KX 250 for $50. I washed the bike well and sprayed carburetor cleaner all over. I dumped the tank out, cleaned it and cleaned the fuel filter. It almost started when kicked. I sprayed some ether in the intake and kicked it again and it started. I ran a tank of Seafoam in it and it lasted for about a year before I sold it to a buddy.
Two of my boys (kids #5 and #6) were getting into dirt bikes and asked me if they could get one too. They were 10 and 8 respectfully. I found a 1993 Honda CR100 and got it for them. None of the older kids seemed to like bikes, but these two boys fell in love right away. And so did I watching them ride this little bike. As a dad seeing his kids follow in his own love is great. I watched them ride in soft sand same as I did back on the Ossa. They rode in the rocks with me and across the hot desert. We even rode in the snow. I had a blast on the little bike too. The older one had a scary crash going down into a sandy gully once. He endoed and landed face first hyper extending his neck. The bike came down on his back. Scared the crap out of me, but he was good and so was the little Honda. He even carried his four year old brother on the back as he gained confidence.
At the same time I got the boys the XR, I bought a much older 1978 CR500. Why would anyone buy a 23 year old dirt bike? It was only $100, that’s why. I did not know this would be the last dirt bike I would own but it turned out to be the bike I kept the longest, 12 years on this bike.
When I got it, it would barely start. There was a hole in the top of the metal tank that someone had tried to close with JB Weld to no avail. The shocks were shot but the tires were newish. The single piston rattled around in the cylinder like it wanted out. I took it home and cleaned the fuel filter, changed the oil and ran Seafoam through the tank. Over the next 12 years through retiring from the Navy to moving to Colorado, the only maintenance I ever did on this POS bike was change the oil and tires. I never fixed the tank as I could not find another metal one to replace it and I was not going to put a plastic tank on it. I used duct tape to keep most of the fuel inside the tank when riding. It remained hard to start and took about 10 minutes to get to a good operating temperature. But once it was warm, HOLD ON TIGHT! Oh my goodness I had a blast on this machine. There was nothing I could do to break it. I crashed it every time I rode it. I tried to do stuff on this that I could do on the smaller dirt bikes I previously had and it would figuratively and literally flip me off. I lost track of the number of levers I had to replace or how many times I had to straighten the bars. In the end, I sold it because it would take me two weeks to recover after a half day of riding it. What a wonderful way to bruise the body! (Inside and out)
While at Fallon, NV, I searched the ads in the paper for another Magna but found a 1999 Honda Shadow 1100 Spirit for a good price, bike #22. I drove over to Reno and got it from a fellow who said he is getting to old to ride at 65. He did ride this one though, at 2 years old it had 15,000 miles on it. This is another all-around good machine. Before I left Fallon and sold it, I put another 15,000 miles on it. I do think I get why he wanted to stop riding though, I recall bottoming out the rear shocks often on this bike. Something that I have done on many other bikes but it is becoming more noticeable now.
My second wife accused me of being an old man because I did not ride sport bikes. I thought about this and decided I just didn’t really like leaning so far forward. But a buddy at work mentioned that Sport Touring bikes don’t lean so far forward and are just as fast. I found an ad for a Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird and went to look at it. This was just shortly before the Navy lowered the High Year Tenure to get rid of senior personnel. I test rode the Blackbird and fell in love with it. I bartered with the guy and got him down $500 off his asking price and rode it home. I now have bike #23. This 1100cc engine was so different from than the Shadow and I realized I had to learn a new way of riding with it. A week later, I rode it to work and over heard a buddy asking others whose bike it was. He said he drove over to Reno to buy one a week before and someone from Fallon had bought it out from under him. He was angry I heard him say. I went over and said I bought it. We talked for a bit about it and why he “needed” it more than I did, I told him that I would sell it to him before I left. Little did I know that my time was being shortened. A month later I found out I had to retire. I asked if he still wanted it and he did. He asked if he could pay the same as it was listed for before, I said sure. He went home and brought the cash back within 20 minutes. I never told him I had talked the guy down on the original price.
I retired from the Navy in 2004 and sold the Shadow before leaving Nevada. I took the two dirt bikes on the move to Colorado though. There is a place south of Denver called Rampart Range and it has some of the coolest trails to bomb down. Just invest in quality shin and hand guards.
The first year was tough to settle into civilian life. I got 2001 Honda VTX 1300R to commute on. The guy I bought it from weighed around 600+lbs. I did not think that would be an issue with the bike though he did mention it was not big enough to carry him. My test ride was just up and down his street and it seemed okay. Over the next few weeks though, I noticed it did not handle well. It was quite rough actually, maybe worse than that Iron Head Sportster. I figured out the rear shocks were busted. I liked the bigger bags it had and the windscreen though. But, I was working long hours and didn’t want to mess with it. I sold it after having it for 2 months.
I went several months without a bike over the first winter there. When spring came around though, the urge was great for another set of two wheels. I was now able to search online for bikes easier than the newspaper ads. I found cycle trader online and called on a Kawasaki VN800 (classic) I saw there. When I showed up at this dealer, the Kawasaki had sold. But he had a 2001 800cc Vulcan Drifter. I liked the bike a lot, it looks like the old Indian bikes. I took it home and had it a week before the dealer called me and said I had to bring it back as there was a problem with the title. Here is where I learned about shady dealerships! Evidently, they had not yet bought this bike. The owner had it in for servicing and never came back for it. They tried to sell it to cover their costs but sold it too soon to be legal. The original owner came back for it with money to pay the bill and his attorney. Bike # 25 really doesn’t count I guess but it did look cool.
Uncertainty in life happened next as work was winding down. I was able to catch a break on an overseas job with the company and off I went to the Middle East. I spent a year and a half there but saved some nice bank. When I returned in 2008, I went down to a new dealership and looked at the big Yamaha Raider. Man that bike looks awesome and I have enough to pay cash. But…
Being that I had not seen a VMAX for years and remember reading something back in the late 90s about it coming to an end, I casually asked what Yamaha had replaced the VMAX with. The salesman looked at me and said they just discontinued it in 2007, but they have a new 2006 upstairs. I thought no way. We looked at it and I rode it home an hour later. Bike #26 is my first brand new bike.
I had not ridden a street bike for close to two years at this point and decided to take another bike safety course since I was getting on one of the most radical bikes made. I rode the VMAX to the course and the instructor asked what I was doing with that as my first bike. I laughed and told her my past and why I am here. It was a good course too, better than the courses we had to take while I was active duty. Her co-instructor was kind of a jerk though but that’s not always bad.
About 7,500 miles later while out riding with two buddies (one on a Buell Ulysses and the other on a Honda Super Hawk) one of them Rocky Mountains reached out and slapped me off the VMAX; this was Aug 2009. It was totaled and I nearly was as well. I fractured my left humorous, five broken ribs and had a six week long concussion. By the way, the Shoei RF 1000 helmet is awesome.
Honorable mention is my wife’s first bike, not mine though I do admire it a lot. It is a 2009 Kawasaki EX500 Ninja. We bought it new soon after the VMAX. She wanted a Ducati Monster but for the price, I didn’t want that to be her first bike. Later, she fell in love with the little Ninja and didn’t like the way the Monster felt when she test rode it. The Ninja has done duty as first bike for her and taught my three youngest sons to ride on the street. And, the middle of these taught his fiancé to ride on it. All around, it is an awesome bike. My 26-year-old son has it now in Denver.
After crashing the VMAX in Aug of 2009, I was out of work and looking for a new job. I got one in November of 2009 and moved to Virginia. The wife and kids stayed back in Denver. When spring came around, the urge for another bike was great. I scanned Craigslist till I found a good “Rehabilitation” bike; a 2002 Yamaha FZ1. I test rode it and bought it right away. This guy had meticulous records on it and I love the blue color. Oh, it handled so much better than the VMAX did and still had arm stretching toque. I rode the tar out of this beauty until August of 2011. That’s when I met Bambi on a wooded curve here in Virginia. Damn, second bike totaled. I only broke one rib this time and my sternum right down the center.
Okay, deep breath, pause, exhale. I did not get my next bike for over two years. Not because of the crashes, but just went through some low budget times. But then, by chance, I opened a new account at the local Credit Union. The guy asked if I wanted a loan for anything. Without hesitation, I said, “Sure, I need a new motorcycle”. I knew full well that banks don’t give loans for bikes. He looked at me and said, “How much?” Oh dang, he is calling my bluff. Banks at the time didn’t give loans for bikes, but Credit Unions do. I said $20K and he said how about $25K? Well son of a gun, looks like I am going straight to Harley and getting a big “glide” of some sort.
Instead I went home and sat down in front of the computer. I asked myself if I could only have a single motorcycle from now on, what do I actually need it to do? Well, I need it to be my daily commuter. Two, it must be able to do a coast to coast trip if I wanted it to. And finally, it must be able to carry me and my new girlfriend on a three day weekend trip with everything we would need… That’s it.
I spent about an hour online and narrowed the list down to just ten motorcycles. I spent another three hours analyzing them via reviews and advertised statistics. I dropped Indian off the list first as the closest dealer was four hours away. Keep in mind this is late summer early fall of 2013. The credit union loan was good to the end of October and if I didn’t spend the check by then, I could go back in and get a new one.
I spent the next six weeks going to see the bikes in person. I dropped the Suzuki 1500 cruiser next as it just didn’t move my inner self. Not a thing wrong with it, just didn’t pop my corn. The last three bikes on my list were the Harley Road King Classic and Street Glide, and Triumph Rocket III Touring. I went to the Triumph dealer and rode the Rocket III Touring and fell in love right away. I did not buy it then as I still had the two more Harleys to test. I wrote my notes and reviewed my way of scoring it and saw that the Rocket was now #1. I rode the Street Glide and it fell out at #3 so far, with the Yamaha Stratoliner at #2.
The next day I finally had my appointment to ride the Road King Classic. The standard sat at #4 on my list but I think I like the Classic's look more, I just need to test ride it as it had different tires, seat and bars. Luckily, it was at a dealer only 2 miles from the house. However, this Harley dealer was (and still is 9 years later) stupid. I told the salesman I had test rode nine other bikes. This is the last on my list. I have the money in my pocket for it. I intend to buy a new motorcycle today. Yet after two long hours at the dealership, I still had not test rode it nor even heard it start. I left to have lunch and it hit me; Harley wants me to buy my first Triumph. And I did.
This was late October 2013 and they had just unboxed him the day before I rode it. Now in 2022, I have put 89,000 miles on it and hope to keep it as my forever bike. Now I just need to continue to learn how to do all my own maintenance on it; outside of the engine replacement a shop is doing Jan/Feb 2023. I call this bike Brahma.
Speaking of learning the intimate details of bike maintenance, a Buddy gave me bike #29; a 1981 Yamaha SX650SH. It had been sitting in the weather since 2001. It took me three months to get it titled in my name but it is. We named it Rusty as it is hard to tell what the OEM color is. It is the dark blue Yamaha used back then and I planned to restore it. I acquired some parts and tools I needed for the work. No garage so time will tell how long this takes; it is my first try at a full restoration… And I failed. I sold it cheap and moved on.
I picked up a 2006 Stratoliner in the spring of 2020. A cousin bought it and finds that it is too big for him. I drove down to Texas and hauled it home in my pickup. It had 117,000 miles on it at that time and I put another 6,000 on it before it died. I messed with it for four months, changed the bad fuel pump and many other troubleshooting things. Finally, it sat half apart awaiting a miracle. I sold as is. This was #30.
In the fall of 2021, a youngster on the XS-650 forum posted his bike for sale. He had fallen on hard times with being laid off due to pandemic issues at work. He had a 1982 XS-650G as his daily rider and since I had recently sold my restoration bike, I figured I would get a good runner and give that a go. (I gave him a tad more than the bike is worth, but he is a good fellow and had an honest need). Over 9 months of riding it alternately with my R3T, I put 6.000 miles on it. Unfortunately it lost all ignition power while I was on an out of state work trip June of this year. I rented a U-Haul and brought it home. I am looking at replacing the harness and a few other electrical part, after all, it is 40 years old.
Since I ride year round here in Northern Virginia, I need at least two running bikes at all times. I decided to buy a new bike. Triumph has stopped making the big touring cruiser I have now and appears they will not make another. The current R3s are fun as hell for sure, but they do not meet my needs. The big four from Japan have also ended their run of big touring cruisers without a fairing. So, I narrowed the list to just five others: BMW's R18 Classic, Indian's Super Chief and Springfield, and Harley-Davidson's Road King and Heritage.
All five are quite worthy for sure, but I have to cut them down to one. The first two I removed are the Heritage and Super Chief. They are excellent competition for each other and if they were the only two left, I would go with the Heritage. It has a bigger tank and bigger bags. But alas, neither bike is big enough to carry me and all my work gear when I am on the road so neither make the cut.
Next to go is the R18. Of all these bikes, it has the best feel off the line. Its bags are big enough for my lunchbox and other goodies, but it does not come with a luggage rack. They don't even make one. It does not come with engine guards either and if any of these need them the most, it is the bike with big jugs sticking out the sides. It has the lowest MSRP, but once I source the few things it must have, it is on par with the Road King in price.
I love the look of the Black and tan Springfield. But no one on the East coast has one. I can order one and it would come in sometime in September and it is July now. And talk about sticker shock. $27K+ out the door. I must pass on it.
That brings me to the FLHR Road King. I bought one down in Orange, VA in late July of this year. Due to many factors like the pandemic, they are hard to find and only five exist on showroom floors within 250 miles of my house. HD only offers the standard in three colors, luckily the dealer had one in the fastest color, black. My Pretty pillion was along with me and gave me a gremlin bell so I could have a safe ride home. Remember that stupid dealer I mentioned earlier? Yeah, they still do not want my business.
I look forward to many miles with the FLHR under me and hope to add something to this group as life unfolds around us all.
Tell us a little about the machine and what made it cool or not. I'm not looking for a full ride review mind you. That can be a whole new thread for each review.
In any case, here is my list I researched over the last couple of years...
This was quite the challenge for me, a struggle to remember all of them after 42 years of riding. I had to reach deep to try and put the pieces together and write this down. I know it is only important to me, but once I started writing it down, lots of great memories (and a few painful ones) came back to me.
These are the bikes I have either owned or had use of for long periods of time.
Starting off is two, 1968 OSSA 250 enduros. These were acquired so I could race one of them and the other became my parts bike. The good(ish) one ran for several months. I raced it around the Texas Panhandle in 6 of 7 races before it was done. This was 1980, I was 15 years old when this bug bit me hard.
The third bike was borrowed from a friend to use whenever I wanted; 1978 Yamaha YZ100. This little bike seemed to be indestructible as it was abused in a way only teenage boys can do.
Bike #4 is also a borrowed bike, this time a street bike. It came from a friend’s older brother who had an accident and could no longer walk. I first borrow the 1978 CB400 to take my rider’s test. He allowed me to keep it for about six months before he decided to sell it. During the time I had it in my possession four other buddies took their rider’s test on it; all passed first time.
I won’t count this bike but will give it honorable mention; a 1973 Honda CB100. This was the ranch bike that I rode fence on at the “Horn B” wild game ranch in Donnelly County Texas. For three years I abused this little bike on all sorts of rutty areas, roots and sand. Our bull Bison “Big Red” hated it and I had to give him a wide berth or he would chase me; something the boss frowned on. It ran well and always started.
I joined the Navy in 1983 and went a few years without having a bike. I rode several here and there, mostly dirt bikes. Then, in 1985, bike #5 fell into my hands by chance. A Navy buddy was forced out of the Navy and needed money fast. I got his 1981 Honda CX500. This has a transverse V-Twin like Moto Guzzi. This is a bike I wished I had kept, but sold it before my first deployment.
After my first deployment, a shipmate let me use his 1984 Honda VT700 Shadow for several months, this is 1986 so the bike is almost new. I had a car, a wife and two kids now. She needed the car during the day so I rode the bike as my commuter. I remember thinking that a 700cc bike is getting kind of big, but it is a very easy bike to ride. I asked if I could buy it from him but he said no so I sent it back while I went back out to sea for a month.
When I came back from this at sea period, I went to the used bike lot on base and found a 1983 Iron head Sportster (XLH). Now this was a huge bike to me at 1,000cc, it was the biggest bike so far. It only has a four speed transmission though I never seemed to mind. It felt fast but not as comfy as the Shadow was. I had it for nine months and 9,000 trouble free miles then sold to a squadron buddy for $900 more than I bought it for. If I had of named it, I guess "Nines" would be appropriate.
I became aware of a new bike from Yamaha called the V-Max. I was in love right away but holy cow that is a scary bike. I told myself that someday I would have one after seeing one in person. More on this later...
It is 1987 now and I went back to the used lot and found #8, another almost new Shadow and brought it home that night. This one was a 1986 VT700. Another sailor needed money and sold it at a great price. I kept this till I moved to Pensacola in 1988.
In 1988 in Pensacola, I now had three kids and my first new car payment. I did have a nice reenlistment bonus though and since we needed two vehicles, a bike soon followed. That bike is a 1986 Yamaha XV 750 Virago. I liked it better than the Shadows for some reason. I lost this bike when a buddy crashed it on a corner near the Alabama line.
The buddy who crashed the Virago only had road rash which is amazing since he had no helmet on. To make up for his mishap, he got me my next two bikes; dirt bikes this time.
The first was a 1987 Honda CR 250. We were both in the same off-road club which only had the rule that you drive off-road; so dirt bikes were cool here too. Obviously a dirt bike is not worth as much as a street bike, but I had moved on base by now and could run to work so having a second road vehicle was not as important. I road this CR 250 for two years and could not tear it up. It is here that I learn the value of hand guards. The woods in Florida are mean on your hands for sure.
A few months after he gave me his CR 250, he calls me up and says he has a Yamaha dirt bike that he thinks is better than the Honda and offers it to me as well. It was 1989 Yamaha YZ 250; and yes, it was way more fun than the CR 250. There is just something awesome about the expansion chamber in the Yamaha. Both of these bikes really are outstanding bikes and do well in dirt or mud. And Florida has a lot of mud. I broke the YZ one day in said mud. I was flying down a dirt road and came to about 200 feet of mud. No worries as that is how long our mud pits are when we conduct races at the fairgrounds. I was ahead of the group and went through easy the first time followed by a few others. One guy hit it wide open throttle (WOT) and man did it look cool. I went back through the opposite way at WOT and found a root that was easy to get over the first direction but stopped the bike going back. Just before I hit it, the front tire dove down slightly, then stopped. I think I was maybe 25 MPH or so but when the bike came to a complete stop, I got to imitate Superman. I had good gear on and broke no bones. However, both fork tubes were bent so bad the wheel would not turn. That didn’t matter anyway as the rim was bent too. The bike was submerged was a few minutes in the muddy water and after cleaning it up some on site, we could not get it started. The guy I got it from gave me $250 for it as is.
I rode the CR till I left Pensacola in 1992. I didn’t get another bike since kid #4 had arrived. I sold the CR and moved back to Jacksonville where I completed re-training and deployed right away. When I came home, I needed another bike. On cruise, a shipmate told me about his CR 250 that he would sell me cheap. It ran good when we left he said and since I had one before, I figured it would be good; and it was. It is a 1991 and while it did run well, it was scratched up pretty good. The clutch lever was broken but usable. The foot brake lever had been repaired with JB Weld and every piece of plastic (both fenders, both front and rear panels) was broken and held together with duct tape. The bike looked like hell and is not even two years old but it started on the second kick, I took it and now have bike #12.
Life always presents itself in ways we do not expect. I remarried in Jacksonville and gained another 2 kids. Getting another street bike was constantly on my mind but not in the bank account. I needed money like so many others so I sold the ratty CR for the same as I paid for it.
In 1996 I found myself in Omaha on recruiting duty. If there is ever a stressful job where one needs a bike, this is it. The first bike I found at a garage sell while out visiting a potential recruit. It is the 1995 Yamaha XV1100 Virago and a great price. They wanted $3,000 for it. New it had an MSPR around $7,600. I said I could give them $2,000 and they took it. It had belonged to the brother who had passed away from cancer. The bike only had 1,200 miles on it and was almost two years old now. I rode it for about five months when I was offered an amount of money for it I could not turn down ($4,000) so I sold it. Another regrettable decision too.
Bike #14 came the following week; a 1990 Honda VF 750 Magna. The torque it had coming out of the Nebraska and Iowa curves was a blast. The frame was tight compared to the last bike. Mine was plain red but shined under full sun. I like the graphics on other bikes with the black lines coming front to back. But the price on this was something I couldn’t pass up, $1,200.
The Marine recruiter next door to us was transferring out and sold me his dirt bike, a 1994 Honda CR 250. This one was not as ratty as the last one I had and I did not get a chance to make so it while in Nebraska. The job took a lot of time, kid #7 came along and my first wife was fighting for custody. I sold this one about 2 months after getting it, needed the money so good bye bike #15.
I sold the Magna before I transferred to San Diego in 1998. After re-training was complete, and the fact I lived 22 miles from base (that meant 1 to 1.5 hours drive time each way), I got another Magna. This one is the color I wanted and a 1996. One big difference is the exhaust. I really like the older style but performance seemed to be great either way. The southern California hills gave me a whole new appreciation for motorcycles. Traffic was horrible up there but better than in the city. Splitting traffic was allowed and cut my commute to work by an hour at times.
Bikes #17 and 18 are back to dirt bikes and once more, got these from sailors transferring away. The first is a Yamaha YZ400F. I love the blue color and was under the impression it would not fade under sunlight like the red plastics do (I was wrong). Anyway, riding in the desert of SoCal is awesome, even in the heat. There are so many camps where you can ride all day. Getting into the rocks is awesome too but one must be on their toes and in the correct gear. I rode the impossible Railroad on this bike and met some really nice Park Rangers. They didn’t ticket us but did give us a stern warning and went on about how hard it is to rescue dirt-bikers here. I decided not to mention I train in this area for just such missions. I put maybe a 1,000 hours on this bike and then sold it to one of my buddies.
Bike #18 was my first Kawasaki, a KX250. I got it cheap too as it had a broken chain, the owner said it broke often. I looked it over and could not see anything so I took it. I had been giving another buddy a lot of crap about his KX 250’s color, now I had one. His never seemed to fail so I figured we could solve the chain issue. However, six months of riding it hard revealed nothing. I sold it and the Magna before moving to Fallon, NV in January 2001 for my final tour in the Navy.
Once we settled in Fallon, I saw that having another dirt bike would be mandatory. I found one not running and bought a 1992 Kawasaki KX 250 for $50. I washed the bike well and sprayed carburetor cleaner all over. I dumped the tank out, cleaned it and cleaned the fuel filter. It almost started when kicked. I sprayed some ether in the intake and kicked it again and it started. I ran a tank of Seafoam in it and it lasted for about a year before I sold it to a buddy.
Two of my boys (kids #5 and #6) were getting into dirt bikes and asked me if they could get one too. They were 10 and 8 respectfully. I found a 1993 Honda CR100 and got it for them. None of the older kids seemed to like bikes, but these two boys fell in love right away. And so did I watching them ride this little bike. As a dad seeing his kids follow in his own love is great. I watched them ride in soft sand same as I did back on the Ossa. They rode in the rocks with me and across the hot desert. We even rode in the snow. I had a blast on the little bike too. The older one had a scary crash going down into a sandy gully once. He endoed and landed face first hyper extending his neck. The bike came down on his back. Scared the crap out of me, but he was good and so was the little Honda. He even carried his four year old brother on the back as he gained confidence.
At the same time I got the boys the XR, I bought a much older 1978 CR500. Why would anyone buy a 23 year old dirt bike? It was only $100, that’s why. I did not know this would be the last dirt bike I would own but it turned out to be the bike I kept the longest, 12 years on this bike.
When I got it, it would barely start. There was a hole in the top of the metal tank that someone had tried to close with JB Weld to no avail. The shocks were shot but the tires were newish. The single piston rattled around in the cylinder like it wanted out. I took it home and cleaned the fuel filter, changed the oil and ran Seafoam through the tank. Over the next 12 years through retiring from the Navy to moving to Colorado, the only maintenance I ever did on this POS bike was change the oil and tires. I never fixed the tank as I could not find another metal one to replace it and I was not going to put a plastic tank on it. I used duct tape to keep most of the fuel inside the tank when riding. It remained hard to start and took about 10 minutes to get to a good operating temperature. But once it was warm, HOLD ON TIGHT! Oh my goodness I had a blast on this machine. There was nothing I could do to break it. I crashed it every time I rode it. I tried to do stuff on this that I could do on the smaller dirt bikes I previously had and it would figuratively and literally flip me off. I lost track of the number of levers I had to replace or how many times I had to straighten the bars. In the end, I sold it because it would take me two weeks to recover after a half day of riding it. What a wonderful way to bruise the body! (Inside and out)
While at Fallon, NV, I searched the ads in the paper for another Magna but found a 1999 Honda Shadow 1100 Spirit for a good price, bike #22. I drove over to Reno and got it from a fellow who said he is getting to old to ride at 65. He did ride this one though, at 2 years old it had 15,000 miles on it. This is another all-around good machine. Before I left Fallon and sold it, I put another 15,000 miles on it. I do think I get why he wanted to stop riding though, I recall bottoming out the rear shocks often on this bike. Something that I have done on many other bikes but it is becoming more noticeable now.
My second wife accused me of being an old man because I did not ride sport bikes. I thought about this and decided I just didn’t really like leaning so far forward. But a buddy at work mentioned that Sport Touring bikes don’t lean so far forward and are just as fast. I found an ad for a Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird and went to look at it. This was just shortly before the Navy lowered the High Year Tenure to get rid of senior personnel. I test rode the Blackbird and fell in love with it. I bartered with the guy and got him down $500 off his asking price and rode it home. I now have bike #23. This 1100cc engine was so different from than the Shadow and I realized I had to learn a new way of riding with it. A week later, I rode it to work and over heard a buddy asking others whose bike it was. He said he drove over to Reno to buy one a week before and someone from Fallon had bought it out from under him. He was angry I heard him say. I went over and said I bought it. We talked for a bit about it and why he “needed” it more than I did, I told him that I would sell it to him before I left. Little did I know that my time was being shortened. A month later I found out I had to retire. I asked if he still wanted it and he did. He asked if he could pay the same as it was listed for before, I said sure. He went home and brought the cash back within 20 minutes. I never told him I had talked the guy down on the original price.
I retired from the Navy in 2004 and sold the Shadow before leaving Nevada. I took the two dirt bikes on the move to Colorado though. There is a place south of Denver called Rampart Range and it has some of the coolest trails to bomb down. Just invest in quality shin and hand guards.
The first year was tough to settle into civilian life. I got 2001 Honda VTX 1300R to commute on. The guy I bought it from weighed around 600+lbs. I did not think that would be an issue with the bike though he did mention it was not big enough to carry him. My test ride was just up and down his street and it seemed okay. Over the next few weeks though, I noticed it did not handle well. It was quite rough actually, maybe worse than that Iron Head Sportster. I figured out the rear shocks were busted. I liked the bigger bags it had and the windscreen though. But, I was working long hours and didn’t want to mess with it. I sold it after having it for 2 months.
I went several months without a bike over the first winter there. When spring came around though, the urge was great for another set of two wheels. I was now able to search online for bikes easier than the newspaper ads. I found cycle trader online and called on a Kawasaki VN800 (classic) I saw there. When I showed up at this dealer, the Kawasaki had sold. But he had a 2001 800cc Vulcan Drifter. I liked the bike a lot, it looks like the old Indian bikes. I took it home and had it a week before the dealer called me and said I had to bring it back as there was a problem with the title. Here is where I learned about shady dealerships! Evidently, they had not yet bought this bike. The owner had it in for servicing and never came back for it. They tried to sell it to cover their costs but sold it too soon to be legal. The original owner came back for it with money to pay the bill and his attorney. Bike # 25 really doesn’t count I guess but it did look cool.
Uncertainty in life happened next as work was winding down. I was able to catch a break on an overseas job with the company and off I went to the Middle East. I spent a year and a half there but saved some nice bank. When I returned in 2008, I went down to a new dealership and looked at the big Yamaha Raider. Man that bike looks awesome and I have enough to pay cash. But…
Being that I had not seen a VMAX for years and remember reading something back in the late 90s about it coming to an end, I casually asked what Yamaha had replaced the VMAX with. The salesman looked at me and said they just discontinued it in 2007, but they have a new 2006 upstairs. I thought no way. We looked at it and I rode it home an hour later. Bike #26 is my first brand new bike.
I had not ridden a street bike for close to two years at this point and decided to take another bike safety course since I was getting on one of the most radical bikes made. I rode the VMAX to the course and the instructor asked what I was doing with that as my first bike. I laughed and told her my past and why I am here. It was a good course too, better than the courses we had to take while I was active duty. Her co-instructor was kind of a jerk though but that’s not always bad.
About 7,500 miles later while out riding with two buddies (one on a Buell Ulysses and the other on a Honda Super Hawk) one of them Rocky Mountains reached out and slapped me off the VMAX; this was Aug 2009. It was totaled and I nearly was as well. I fractured my left humorous, five broken ribs and had a six week long concussion. By the way, the Shoei RF 1000 helmet is awesome.
Honorable mention is my wife’s first bike, not mine though I do admire it a lot. It is a 2009 Kawasaki EX500 Ninja. We bought it new soon after the VMAX. She wanted a Ducati Monster but for the price, I didn’t want that to be her first bike. Later, she fell in love with the little Ninja and didn’t like the way the Monster felt when she test rode it. The Ninja has done duty as first bike for her and taught my three youngest sons to ride on the street. And, the middle of these taught his fiancé to ride on it. All around, it is an awesome bike. My 26-year-old son has it now in Denver.
After crashing the VMAX in Aug of 2009, I was out of work and looking for a new job. I got one in November of 2009 and moved to Virginia. The wife and kids stayed back in Denver. When spring came around, the urge for another bike was great. I scanned Craigslist till I found a good “Rehabilitation” bike; a 2002 Yamaha FZ1. I test rode it and bought it right away. This guy had meticulous records on it and I love the blue color. Oh, it handled so much better than the VMAX did and still had arm stretching toque. I rode the tar out of this beauty until August of 2011. That’s when I met Bambi on a wooded curve here in Virginia. Damn, second bike totaled. I only broke one rib this time and my sternum right down the center.
Okay, deep breath, pause, exhale. I did not get my next bike for over two years. Not because of the crashes, but just went through some low budget times. But then, by chance, I opened a new account at the local Credit Union. The guy asked if I wanted a loan for anything. Without hesitation, I said, “Sure, I need a new motorcycle”. I knew full well that banks don’t give loans for bikes. He looked at me and said, “How much?” Oh dang, he is calling my bluff. Banks at the time didn’t give loans for bikes, but Credit Unions do. I said $20K and he said how about $25K? Well son of a gun, looks like I am going straight to Harley and getting a big “glide” of some sort.
Instead I went home and sat down in front of the computer. I asked myself if I could only have a single motorcycle from now on, what do I actually need it to do? Well, I need it to be my daily commuter. Two, it must be able to do a coast to coast trip if I wanted it to. And finally, it must be able to carry me and my new girlfriend on a three day weekend trip with everything we would need… That’s it.
I spent about an hour online and narrowed the list down to just ten motorcycles. I spent another three hours analyzing them via reviews and advertised statistics. I dropped Indian off the list first as the closest dealer was four hours away. Keep in mind this is late summer early fall of 2013. The credit union loan was good to the end of October and if I didn’t spend the check by then, I could go back in and get a new one.
I spent the next six weeks going to see the bikes in person. I dropped the Suzuki 1500 cruiser next as it just didn’t move my inner self. Not a thing wrong with it, just didn’t pop my corn. The last three bikes on my list were the Harley Road King Classic and Street Glide, and Triumph Rocket III Touring. I went to the Triumph dealer and rode the Rocket III Touring and fell in love right away. I did not buy it then as I still had the two more Harleys to test. I wrote my notes and reviewed my way of scoring it and saw that the Rocket was now #1. I rode the Street Glide and it fell out at #3 so far, with the Yamaha Stratoliner at #2.
The next day I finally had my appointment to ride the Road King Classic. The standard sat at #4 on my list but I think I like the Classic's look more, I just need to test ride it as it had different tires, seat and bars. Luckily, it was at a dealer only 2 miles from the house. However, this Harley dealer was (and still is 9 years later) stupid. I told the salesman I had test rode nine other bikes. This is the last on my list. I have the money in my pocket for it. I intend to buy a new motorcycle today. Yet after two long hours at the dealership, I still had not test rode it nor even heard it start. I left to have lunch and it hit me; Harley wants me to buy my first Triumph. And I did.
This was late October 2013 and they had just unboxed him the day before I rode it. Now in 2022, I have put 89,000 miles on it and hope to keep it as my forever bike. Now I just need to continue to learn how to do all my own maintenance on it; outside of the engine replacement a shop is doing Jan/Feb 2023. I call this bike Brahma.
Speaking of learning the intimate details of bike maintenance, a Buddy gave me bike #29; a 1981 Yamaha SX650SH. It had been sitting in the weather since 2001. It took me three months to get it titled in my name but it is. We named it Rusty as it is hard to tell what the OEM color is. It is the dark blue Yamaha used back then and I planned to restore it. I acquired some parts and tools I needed for the work. No garage so time will tell how long this takes; it is my first try at a full restoration… And I failed. I sold it cheap and moved on.
I picked up a 2006 Stratoliner in the spring of 2020. A cousin bought it and finds that it is too big for him. I drove down to Texas and hauled it home in my pickup. It had 117,000 miles on it at that time and I put another 6,000 on it before it died. I messed with it for four months, changed the bad fuel pump and many other troubleshooting things. Finally, it sat half apart awaiting a miracle. I sold as is. This was #30.
In the fall of 2021, a youngster on the XS-650 forum posted his bike for sale. He had fallen on hard times with being laid off due to pandemic issues at work. He had a 1982 XS-650G as his daily rider and since I had recently sold my restoration bike, I figured I would get a good runner and give that a go. (I gave him a tad more than the bike is worth, but he is a good fellow and had an honest need). Over 9 months of riding it alternately with my R3T, I put 6.000 miles on it. Unfortunately it lost all ignition power while I was on an out of state work trip June of this year. I rented a U-Haul and brought it home. I am looking at replacing the harness and a few other electrical part, after all, it is 40 years old.
Since I ride year round here in Northern Virginia, I need at least two running bikes at all times. I decided to buy a new bike. Triumph has stopped making the big touring cruiser I have now and appears they will not make another. The current R3s are fun as hell for sure, but they do not meet my needs. The big four from Japan have also ended their run of big touring cruisers without a fairing. So, I narrowed the list to just five others: BMW's R18 Classic, Indian's Super Chief and Springfield, and Harley-Davidson's Road King and Heritage.
All five are quite worthy for sure, but I have to cut them down to one. The first two I removed are the Heritage and Super Chief. They are excellent competition for each other and if they were the only two left, I would go with the Heritage. It has a bigger tank and bigger bags. But alas, neither bike is big enough to carry me and all my work gear when I am on the road so neither make the cut.
Next to go is the R18. Of all these bikes, it has the best feel off the line. Its bags are big enough for my lunchbox and other goodies, but it does not come with a luggage rack. They don't even make one. It does not come with engine guards either and if any of these need them the most, it is the bike with big jugs sticking out the sides. It has the lowest MSRP, but once I source the few things it must have, it is on par with the Road King in price.
I love the look of the Black and tan Springfield. But no one on the East coast has one. I can order one and it would come in sometime in September and it is July now. And talk about sticker shock. $27K+ out the door. I must pass on it.
That brings me to the FLHR Road King. I bought one down in Orange, VA in late July of this year. Due to many factors like the pandemic, they are hard to find and only five exist on showroom floors within 250 miles of my house. HD only offers the standard in three colors, luckily the dealer had one in the fastest color, black. My Pretty pillion was along with me and gave me a gremlin bell so I could have a safe ride home. Remember that stupid dealer I mentioned earlier? Yeah, they still do not want my business.
I look forward to many miles with the FLHR under me and hope to add something to this group as life unfolds around us all.
