| | | | This is off topic but I really enjoyed this commerical. Be sure to turn your sound up. |
| | Bike | Year Bought | Here is a little bit of me and my bikes. I always meant to make a list and even did a few years ago. I've since lost it so I figured I might as well make another one before I forget some of them. By the way, be sure to reload a new copy of this if you've been here before since I'm constantly updating it. I've also recently started on a Car List. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view. |
| 1 | Fox Minibike | 1959 | My first two wheeler with a motor. Wow! Bought it for $50 from a neighborhood rich kid. |
| 2 | Moped | 1959 | Italian descent. Can't remember where I got it from or exactly when. |
| 3 | '60 Puch 175 | 1964 |  "Twingle" 2 cylinder two stroke, one combustion chamber, one plug. My first real motorcycle. Imported by Sears :-) On a ride in New Zealand in 2000 we happened by a used bike dealer in Christchurch. Unbelievably he had this one on the floor. I almost bought it except that the shipping would have cost more than the bike. I figured I'd hang it from my garage ceiling or something. Silly idea. Check out the other bikes he had. It was like a vintage used car lot. |
| 4 | '64 Ducati 250 | 1965 |  Found it parked in Hells Kitchen better known as New York City's lower west side. I left a note on it and was contacted by the owner who had me come to his apartment to finalize the deal. He signed over the paperwork while laying in bed with his girlfriend! Those were the '60s after all. I crashed this one into a VW Beetle broadside. Some girl drove it into the main drag from a side street without looking. She got to the middle of my lane, took one look at me and stopped. I flipped over it landing on my feet dropping both arches! This bike and bikes in general are most likely responsible for my being alive today. In 1968 I was drafted during the Tet offensive. Two guys left the induction center not on a military transport, one of them was a heroin addict and the other was the guy with flat feet, me. The radiologist responsible for making the call was a Norton rider (wink, wink). Amazing how things work themselves out. Actually, that could be the story of my life. Things always just seem to work out. |
| 5 | '60 BMW R60 | 1968 |  Purchased from AMOL Precision in Dumont, NJ. (You may have heard of Kurt Liebmann who was the son of AMOL's owner. He was quite an accomplished roadracer back in those days and worked as a machinist in their adjoining machine shop.) I put a German fairing on it. My Uncle and mentor who fought in WWII couldn't understand how I could own something made in Germany. I sold it to a friend so I could buy a... |
| 6 | '50 Harley Hydra Glide | 1968 |  Purchased from the HD dealer in West New York, NJ. Mine had a chrome tank and had been converted to foot shift. I think it was an ex-police bike. It was by far the hardest riding bike I've owned. No rear suspension other than the sprung seat! I rode this bike all winter that year. I remember getting all layered up including a hooded parka in order to ride. As long as the temps were over 20F and there wasn't ice on the road I was good to go. Only problem was trying to get the bike kicked over. In that temperature the oil was like molasses. By the time I'd get it running I would have stripped off most of my cold weather gear and be sweating like a pig. I remember collapsing on the seat one day in utter exhaustion. I ended up pushing it over to the hill near my house so I could coast down and bump start it. Fortunately it started or I would have really been up the creek. This was one of those bikes that had the timing retard built into the left grip. God help those that forgot to retard the timing before trying to kick it. The bicycle pedal they used to kick start it was positioned perfectly to either toss you over the bars or simply break your leg. No liability worries in the Eisenhower days I guess. |
| 7 | '68 Harley Electra Glide | 1969 |  Also purchased from the dealer in West New York. A real beauty in black and yellow. I spent the summer that year chasing the AMA flat trackers all over the Northeast on it. The Big D in Nazareth, PA was my favorite track and Gary Nixon was my favorite racer. He'd be sitting on a lawn chair behind his van between races just BSing with the fans. So cool! (Update: Aug '11, Gary Nixon died recently due to complications from a heart attack. A little piece of me went with him.) I traded the Dresser for a... |
| 8 | '69 Harley Sportster XLH | 1969 |  Purchased from the HD dealer in Clifton, NJ. Mine was gold colored. The first time I ever successfully outran a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) was on this bike. Of course the Fuzz were in a Country Squire station wagon so it wasn't much of a chase. I was so excited I ended up getting lost in town and eventually pulled up right behind them. A big GULP and a bigger U-turn! I fell off of this bike and scrapped my forearm up pretty bad the weekend before I was to start as a Customer Relations Rep for Worldwide VW. We had to wear a shirt and tie and here I was with a gooey forearm leaking through my shirt. Nice impression, huh? I only had the Sportster for a short time and then the multi cylinder bikes hit the market. So I traded the Harley for a... |
| 9 | '69 Triumph Trident | 1969 |  Purchased from The House of Power in Nyack, NY. 3 cylinders and Buck Rogers mufflers. Fast but an oil leaker and clutch cable snapper. The second and last time I ever tried to run from a LEO, with a girl on the back no less, was on this bike. Lets just say that cops from three different towns plus a couple of state troopers made sure I wasn't successful. But that's a story for another day. I can assure you I never attempted that again! My friend Hank Nieb and I went to Bridgehampton to watch a sports car race and during the intermission two bikes took to the track for a demo ride. My mouth dropped open when I saw a... |
| 10 | '69 Honda CB750 | 1969 |  In RED. Unbelievable! 4 cylinders, OHC, 4 pipes, disc brake. An original K0 sand caster. What more could there be? I had to have it so the Trident was sold and I bought one of the first Honda Fours in my area from AMOL Precision. The only thing I did was to install a set of Triumph Girling rear shocks to replace the wimpy stock ones. That bike never did as much as blow a bulb. Perfection! 1969 was obviously a great year! And that doesn't even include Woodstock which is another story yet. I was working for Porsche as their youngest factory Service Rep so money wasn't a problem. That bike was so great I had to get a... |
| 11 | '70 Honda CB750 | 1970 |  Also in RED from the House of Power. This one was traded for a... |
| 12 | '71 Honda CB750 | 1971 |  In Gold from the House of Power. This was the only picture I could find in the right color. Mine didn't have all the add-on crap pictured. I did add a Vetter Windjammer fairing during the winter of 1970. As a matter of fact, right after New Year's 1971 I hooked up with another couple of guys and left the New York area for the warmth of Southern California. I got a job as the service manager at a Suzuki/Triumph shop in Dana Point. While there I installed a kit consisting of modified 350 pistons which added lots of power but also made it ping. I never rode it much after that. The guy who machined the pistons to fit had a shop in association with Long Beach Honda. His name was Herb Leach (sp?) and I was in awe of his abilities. He was probably in his mid to late 60's by then and seemed to suffer from really bad flat feet. Not a good thing for a machinist I've since discovered. One day he was on his way to San Diego with his wife on vacation and stopped by our shop in Dana Point just to visit. I was sooo impressed :-) My most famous customer at the shop was Bruce Brown of On Any Sunday fame who lived across the street. It seemed he had a Triumph Cub that needed an engine rebuild. |
| 13 | '71 Honda SL100 | 1971 |  While living in Putnam Valley (upstate New York) and working as the service manager at the House of Power in Nyack I got into dirt riding via this SL100. It didn't have much power but was a blast. A bunch of guys and myself decided to go racing around a local horse track. I guess the owner didn't like it since she called the cops and we all got arrested and taken to the local constabulary. Since I was the only one with any money I ended up bailing us all out. I doubt if I ever got repaid. This bike along with the Honda Four made it to SoCal where I used to ride it on the sand dunes across from the bike shop I was working at. One day the US Army showed up to start building a marina. That eventually became the Dana Point Marina. Saturdays I would take the SL100 to Saddleback Park and race around, well actually just ride around. They had a hill there called the Matterhorn. At the top was a post with a list of the guys that had made it. Included was one Steve McQueen on a Husky. Legends... |
| 14 | '72 Honda XL250 | 1972 |  Purchased from the Honda dealer in Santa Cruz, CA. I always told myself that if Honda ever made a "big-bore" 4 stroke dirt bike I'd buy one so I did. Working for Mazda at the time as a Factory Service Rep, I was living in Aptos, CA which had some really neat forests nearby. I spent quite a few weekends exploring the Forest of Nisene Marks on this bike. I eventually added a big-bore piston to it which made a great wheelie bike out of it :-) This bike did teach me a life long lesson, though. At one point I decided to give it to my girlfriend Irene and teach her to ride. That was one of the more traumatic mistakes of my life and one I never duplicated. One day she went to her job at the local A&W drive-in and while she was gone I up and sold it on her. Probably saved her life. And mine! |
| 15 | '73 Harley Sportster XLH | 1973 |  Purchased from the HD in Salinas, CA. This is the closest picture I could find to a stock '73 Sportster. Doesn't anyone leave them alone? I guess not. Mine was originally blue which I had repainted black. I have no idea why I bought this bike other than my friend RJ and I were recovering from a "hard" night and bought it on a whim. I put a Honda 750 seat on it in order to make it rideable. The front disc brake was an automotive piece and didn't work at all. It ended up seizing up on me one day out on the freeway in the middle of nowhere. This was the first year for parent company AMF and the resultant bikes were crap. This bike didn't last long. Later that year I heard about the... |
| 16 | '73 Kawasaki Z1 | 1973 |  Awesome is all I can say. I traded the Sportster in on it to a dealer in the Bay area. As I remember it he ended up giving me $400. Good riddance to the Hog. I always wanted a bike that would be hard to hold on to when you gassed it and this was it. I really loved this bike and did nothing to it except replace the stiff rear shocks with a set from S&W and ride the hell out of it. I took a bunch of multi-day rides by myself and enjoyed every minute of it. In 1974 I started an engine rebuilding business with the $500 severance I received from Mazda when I quit. I would have that business for the next 33 years so bikes kind of took a back seat while I was obsessed with getting the business to work. During the first couple of years I didn't have much money to buy equipment with so we did most things including heavy lifting by hand. I blew my back out twice during that time which pretty much determined the kind of bikes I'd be attracted to for the rest of my life. For one thing they had to be sit-up. The last back accident happened lifting Janie's mother's 350 Buick block onto the boring bar. The mother-in-law. Wouldn't you know it? I didn't get another bike until Honda came out with their... |
| 17 | '75 Honda Goldwing | 1975 |  This was one of those impulse purchases when Janie and I had nothing to do on a Saturday. We took a drive in my '71 XKE over to Long Beach Honda and this is what I ended up riding home. I eventually put a Vetter fairing on it which probably was a mistake. I never much liked it after that. Now there's a gap of a few years or maybe its a mental gap, I'm not sure, but I can't remember another bike until I bought the following bike used from my neighbor Jerry in 1981. |
| 18 | '78 Suzuki GS1000G | 1981 |  I'm not sure of the actually model year but I do remember that it was black. I rode it for awhile but I can't remember what became of it. Honda came out with another all new design that I had to have, the... |
| 19 | '83 Honda 750 Interceptor | 1983 |  Purchased from San Clemente Honda. This was a great bike. Good handling, V4 engine and cafe racer looks right from the factory. I took a couple of trips up through Yosemite to Tahoe on this bike with my friend Jerry and had a blast. The only thing that could possibly be better was the... |
| 20 | '84 Honda 1000 Interceptor | 1984 |  Purchased from San Clemente Honda. Turned out not to be the case unfortunately. It was definitely faster but rode like a rock. Besides, the 16" wheels were really bad in the wind to the extent that if it was windy I really didn't feel like riding. I ended up selling it to some kid. It was the only time I ever felt bad about selling a bike to someone since I was sure he was going to get killed on it. This was reinforced as he wheelied down the street after taking delivery. I stuck the money in my pocket and shook my head. |
| 21 | '85 Honda V65 Sabre | 1985 |  Purchased from Champion Motors in Costa Mesa, CA. This was another impulse purchase. I put a Hondaline full fairing on it and lower bars. It was really fast but a clunky shifter. |
| 22 | '73 Kawasaki Z1 | 1985 | I came across a used Z1 so I decided to buy it and do a little restoration work. This included replacing the tank, all the plastic and exhaust which was still available surprisingly. I also tore the engine down and repainted the cases black. I decided to cook them in our kitchen oven while Janie was out shopping. Lets just say it was a bad idea. Stinky! Whoever said, "you can't go home again" probably didn't know it applied to old bikes as well. This Z1 just wasn't like I remembered it. I eventually sold it to an employee of mine who turned around and sold it to a Japanese collector for a big profit. He did bring me some pictures, though. Thank you very much. |
| 23 | '85 BMW K100RT | 1985 |  Purchased from Mission Viejo Honda/BMW. This was my first modern Beemer. Actually, I hated this bike. It vibrated and radiated too much heat. I didn't keep it long eventually selling it and getting a.. |
| 24 | '86 Kawasaki Concours | 1986 |  From Champion Motors. This was a nice bike. I took lots of long rides on it. I had it painted red which simply reinforced my conviction that aftermarket paint jobs don't hold up. This one sure as hell didn't. I sold it and got a... |
| 25 | '88 Suzuki Katana 1100 | 1988 |  This was a very pretty bike with an electrically operated screen and gobs of horsepower. I never really liked riding it eventually selling it to my friend Roozbeh who reinforced my dislike of it by crashing on a wet freeway on-ramp. Together we decided that it was just downright dangerous in the handling department. He still holds a grudge against me for selling it to him. I decided I needed to slow down at this point so I bought another new Honda design, the... |
| 26 | '88 Honda Goldwing | 1988 |  From Huntington Beach Honda. Mine was grey instead of the blue pictured here. My wife and I took many trips on it and really enjoyed it. I sold this one to Roozbeh as well (he didn't learn) and bought a... |
| 27 | '90 Honda Goldwing SE | 1990 |  Also from Huntington Beach Honda. With our friends Roozbeh and Tom Harper, also on Wings, Janie and I took lots of trips including one through Canada and Yellowstone. After a while I started getting bored with the touring bike thing and began thinking about sportier bikes again. I was still trying to ride slow so I opted for a... |
| 28 | '91 BMW R100GS | 1991 |  From Irv Seaver BMW in Santa Ana, CA. Man did this thing vibrate! After a while it smoothed out and I really got hooked on it. I even took it off-road and blew the shock out. What a fun bike! My friend Roozbeh bought the Bumble Bee variety (yellow/black) after I told him it fit his personality which it did and still does. Some of the best fast rides I every had were on this bike chasing Roozbeh over Lucas Valley Road in NorCal. "Fast" and "GS" may not seem to go together but you'd be surprised. I ran into this bike again in June 2006. I was up at Mother's on the top of Palamar when three Beemer's rolled in. It was my old riding buddy Dr. Bob Landes with son Larry and daughter Kim. Kim had bought this GS from me in '94 and had over 100K on it. It was a lot of fun seeing it again. I was kind of hooked on Beemers now and went for their all new model, the... |
| 29 | '94 BMW R1100RS | 1994 |  From Irv Seaver. I really loved this bike! I put over 30K miles on it in one year. It worked perfectly for me. I really got into honing my skills on this bike. Smooth versus fast. It was a first year model and considered a "beta bike" as BMW is know to supply. It had a really noisy trans which was eventually replaced with a new one that actually didn't shift as good as the noisy one. It was the long version as pictured here with a full fairing. For some reason that escapes me now I traded it for a... |
| 30 | '95 BMW R1100RS | 1995 | From Irv Seaver. Same picture because it was exactly the same bike. These were my favorite bikes of all time I think. Roozbeh had been riding a red '95 R1100GS and was going to buy a new one so I decided to follow him for a change and get a... |
| 31 | '96 BMW R1100GS | 1996 |  From Irv Seaver. Funny thing was that the bikes we ended up with were both black and were sequentially numbered. What a coincidence. The GS was the best handling bike I had ever ridden. I kind of switched over to dirt bikes at this point with a... |
| 32 | '95 Honda XR600R | 1995 |  From Huntington Beach Honda. This was my first venture back into dirt riding. I did Jerry Epperson's Colorado 1000 on it in 1995. I realized that it was just too big for me. I couldn't reach the ground and never felt safe on it. Jerry suggested I opt for a new bike Honda was releasing and sell him this one. At a good price, of course. So I did and got a... |
| 33 | '96 Honda XR400R | 1996 |  Also from Huntington Beach Honda. This was more like it. Lighter and lower with great handling and power I could handle. The carburetion stunk as well as the clutch life but I had a lot of fun on it. I did the Colorado 1000 the following year on the 400 and loved it. I pretty much wore it out and bought a... |
| 34 | '98 Honda XR400R | 1998 | From Chaparral in Riverside, CA. Same picture, same bike. I wore this one out as well and traded up to the hottest new water cooled dirt bike on the market, the... |
| 35 | '00 Suzuki DR400 | 2000 |  From Malcolm Smith in Riverside. More power, smoother running. This was it. I had a blast on this one until my back finally wore out and I decided to hang up my dirt bike boots. It took a while but I eventually realized that I just couldn't do it any more. Bummer, but that's life. While on a ride in New Zealand I had the opportunity to ride the newest BMW GS so when I arrived home I bought a... |
| 36 | '00 BMW R1150GS | 2000 |  From Irv Seaver. I was still into dirt bikes at the time so this one didn't get used all that much. My friend Roozbeh was looking for a new bike and in the process test rode a Monster. After telling me about it I figured this might be something to get me back into street bikes so I bought a... |
| 37 | '00 Ducati Monster | 2000 |  From European Motorsport, now defunct, in Santa Ana, CA. I put a lot into this one including an Ohlins shock and Ohlins Road & Track Forks and a custom seat. As much as I liked it I never felt secure on it and eventually traded it for a... |
| 38 | '01 Ducati Monster S4 | 2001 |  Also bought from European Motorsport. Mine was yellow. I transferred the Ohlins suspension to this bike and added a fairing and new seat. It was incredibly fast and more stable than the previous one. One day I was in Irv Seaver's BMW dealership and noticed a R1150RS that had recently been re-introduced as a new model. I kept remembering how much I liked my previous RS bikes so I went for it and bought a silver... |
| 39 | '02 BMW R1150RS | 2002 |  You can see from the picture that the GS is still on board as well. The Monster was sold by now. No more Ducs for me. This was a great bike and one of my all time favorites. I put over 36,000 miles on it and sold it to a friend in NorCal. There was a new bike that was all the talk so I had to have one. The... |
| 40 | '04 Yamaha FJR | 2004 |  Purchased from San Luis Obispo Motorsport on a whim. You'll notice that the DR is still "in the picture". The wire going to it is the battery charger and you know what that means.. It wasn't to be for long. The FJR was a great bike. Powerful, good handling and did I say powerful? :-) I added the requisite Russell seat and rode the hell out of it. I sold it to my friend Jim who had also bought my '96 R1100GS and opted for an ABS model. Here is the... |
| 41 | '05 Yamaha FJR ABS | 2005 |  Purchased from Huntington Beach Yamaha 5 days old AFTER the deer hit on the way to the FJR rally in Idaho. Here is the victim courtesy of Roozbeh  .
Due to the excessive heat the FJR throws at the rider I decided to get a... |
| 42 | '05 R1200GS | 2005 |  From Irv Seaver. Since getting this one the FJR went on the battery charger and eventually out the door. This GS is smoother and faster than the previous ones. I've added a full Remus exhaust system, free flow air filter, Wunderlich Power Controller, Ohlins suspension, Russell seat, 17" RT wheels and tires. I'm really enjoying it so far. I originally bought it as a summer bike since the FJR is miserable in hot weather but it quickly became my main ride. Fantastic handling and with the updates it pulls like a freight train. |
| 43 | '07 R1200GS | 2006 |  From Irv Seaver. I put 25,000 miles on the '05 and thought I'd go for a new one with the updated ABS system and other upgrades. My friend Gary Holland took the '05, which as of Aug '11 has over 120,000 miles on it, with most of the accessories intact so I'm doing it again. I've added powder coated gloss black 17" RT wheels with Avon Azaros, Adventure windscreen with winglets, Remus can only (the '05 was a bit too loud with the full system), my Russell seat (tried a Sargeant but didn't find it any better than the Russell) and a bunch of electrical junk including GPS, detector and heated vest control. Ohlins are coming as soon as they're off backorder. |
| 44 | '08 R1200GS | 2008 |  From Irv Seaver. I really didn't need a new one but, oh well :-) This one has all the same add-ons the '07 did including a new design Remus full system, Ohlins in place of the ESA which was so-so, R1200S 17" wheels, Adventure screen and winglets, the seat from the '07 and the prerequisite electrical goodies. The '08 has a few more ponies, revised geometry and a new trans. My friend Jim took the '07 intact with 26K on it. I sold this GS in May 2012 to a guy from Colorado. I have a Triumph 1200 Explorer on order. It just seems like its time for a change. |
| 45 | '09 Harley Street Glide | 2008 |   Ok, don't ask why because I have no idea. I've had my eye on one for a couple of years now so I figured I might as well go ahead and get one and see what it's all about. I have a bunch of Beemer friends who also have Harleys and they all seem to really like them which was part of the motivation. So far I've replaced the seat with a more comfortable one for Jane along with a backrest, replaced the rear shocks with Works Performance in order to raise the rear to the height of a regular Electra Glide, added hard lowers and upped the engine to 103 cubic inch with cams and a Power Commander. The exhaust is stock and will stay that way! One big issue is wind buffeting so I'm working on a solution. And NO, I'm not getting any tats to go with the bike :-) Update Never being one to leave things alone, I have converted the Street Glide into a Road Glide. It was pretty involved but gives a much better handling and riding bike. The new fairing is frame mounted while the original was fork mounted. After 22,000 miles and many mods to the suspension and after various different windshields I gave up. I couldn't get it to ride reasonably and the buffeting was still bugging me. I put it on eBay and it sold to a really nice guy from Clovis. He flew down to pick it up and really likes it. One of the Victory dealers locally had 3 days of demo rides so I went each and every day and ended up with a.. |
| 46 | '10 Victory Vision | 2010 |       2010 Victory Vision Premium. I really had trouble with the original looks which is the first picture. Too spacey looking with the top case attached and the amount of chrome, etc is not my taste. The dealer offered to swap out many of the parts for those from a Vision 8 Ball. I can live with the result which are the other pictures. As a matter of fact its kind of growing on me. The suspension and wind management are perfect. It rides and handles like a much smaller bike. I added a backrest and rack for Jane so we can leave the top case off. Gary took it up to the Bay area while I was in Europe and had high performance cams installed. It runs great. So great that Bob decided he wanted it so I sold it to him and bought a .. |
| 47 | '11 Victory Vision | 2010 |  2011 Victory Vision. Bob wanted the black '10 so I bought a new one :) This one has an improved transmission. I'll add all the extras the '10 had. |
| 48 | '13 Triumph Explorer | 2012 |  After so many years of BMWs I decided it was time to try something else for a change. The Explorer is Triumph's take on the GS. They are very similar in that they are both Adventure bikes made for the occasional dirt road excursion. The big difference is in the engine. The Explorer is a 1200cc 3 cylinder torque monster. It is the smoothest engine I've experienced and makes serious power beginning barely off idle. It does have a couple of problems that will be addressed. The first is the seat which is murder after a hundred miles. The GS seat wasn't any better actually. The other problem is the suspension which is just plain too stiff for a street bike. I'm going to give the bike to Racetech for a couple of weeks and let them do their magic. I'll put up a picture as soon as I get a chance. I ended up installing a Wilbers WESA shock which is absolutely the best shock I've ever had. Super plush, well controlled and electronically adjustable for damping. Great! |
| 49 | '13 Victory Vision | 2012 |  2013 Victory Vision. The '11 had 30K miles on it and with our upcoming cross country trip it would have accumulated another 10K. They further refined the transmission so this one shifts better than the '11 did so I went for it. John, the Victory/Triumph salesman decided to buy the '11 for he and his wife. I've already made all the same upgrades that the '10 and '11 had so its good to go :-) |
| 50 | '14 BMW R1200GS-LC | 2014 |  2014 BMW R1200GS Liquid Cooled. Well, back in the BMW fold again. I spent two enjoyable years with the Triumph Explorer but I was missing some of the attributes only a GS can offer such as great brakes and the Telelever front end. This bike seems fine so far but it does have some oddities compared to past Beemers as well as the Explorer. For one the trans shifts like shit. It occasionally grinds between 2nd and 3rd which hopefully I'll figure out a technique around and clunks/lurches into first much worse than even the Vision does. The dynamic suspension is cool but still doesn't ride as plush as the Explorer did with Wilbers so I'm contemplating an upgrade in that area (Ohlins). The seat will get upgraded to a Russell but I think that's about it. And YES, THIS IS INDEED NUMBER 50 in 55 years and I'm still not done yet :-) |
| 51 | '14 BMW R1200RT-LC | 2014 |  2014 BMW R1200RT Liquid Cooled. I just decided that at this age the height of the GS was getting to be a bit much. I could have just traded it for a low model but the new RT had been so highly touted in the magazines I figured I give one a try. It turned out that it actually works as a touring bike and as a weekday play bike so both the GS and Vision got sold. The GS went to my friend Richard Phillips and the Vision went to a fellow in Texas. Both seem to really like their new bikes. I added a couple of trunks, the one in the picture for day rides and a great big one for trips with Jane. The only mod it will need is a seat. This one stinks as usual for BMW. I took a run with Jane up to Russell and had them make us a set of their Day-Long seats. Problem solved! |
| 52 | '15 Yamaha R3 | 2015 |  2015 Yamaha R3. I spent a day with Dave and Jeff from Motorcycle Consumer News testing some small sport bikes. This was one of them. It was by far the best and an absolute blast to ride. I kind of forgot about it till the article came out and then I got excited all over again and went and bought one. Its actually pretty comfortable, has great suspension and a 12,500 rpm engine. Just a fun little bike. Not something I'd actually go anywhere on but great for a day's ride in the twisties. I ended up upgrading the suspension, converting to more upright handlebars, a Saddlemen's seat and lowered the pegs. |
| 53 | '16 BMW R1200RT-LC | 2015 |  2016 BMW R1200RT Liquid Cooled. Basically the same as the 2014 except with keyless access and in a very nice gold color similar to the last Vision. Seems the same as the 2014 except this one shifts better particularly when using the shift assist. I guess they just keep improving things as time goes on. The 2014 had about 40K on it. My friend John ended up adding it to his collection. |
| 54 | '16 Triumph Speed Triple R 675 | 2016 |  2016 Triumph Street Triple R. The R3 was great but it just doesn't have enough power particularly when passing. You end up spending too much time in the wrong lane exposed. This is a really nice little bike. Pretty quick and reasonably comfortable. I've added upgraded suspension, a custom seat, Dart windshield, 200 mm bar risers, heated jacket connection, heated grips, lowered pegs, quick shifter and some dress up items. Its a good one! |
| 55 | '16 BMW S1000XR Premium | 2016 |  2016 BMW S1000XR. As much as I enjoyed the Street Triple and in lieu of all the money I spent on it I just couldn't get this old body to fit. I ended up selling it at 9660 miles to a really nice guy with 3 kids from Pasadena. In the meantime I bought this 160 hp beast of an XR. Its riding position is similar to a GS which fits me fine. I've already made a few mods including crash bars, rearsets, tailbag, MRA Vario screen, Synto levers, BMW Comfort seat, Tractive suspension and removed all the luggage mounts and passenger pegs. The engine is a lot like the Triple in that it is super smooth and high rpm. This is a fun one! |
| 56 | '15 BMW R1200GS Low | 2017 | 2015 BMW R1200GS. For our long trips the R1200RT was just getting to be too big and heavy so I've gone back to a GS with Adventure boxes on it. I bought this bike used from my friend Richard with 4000 miles on it. Jane and I rode it 12,000 miles around the USA during September and October '17 and it worked perfectly. |
| 57 | '18 BMW S1000XR Premium | 2018 |  2018 BMW S1000XR. The '16 XR amassed 34,000 miles in 12 months so I decided to trade it in on a new '18 in this beautiful tricolor design. Really gorgeous The bikes are basically the same even though this one buzzes less and doesn't fuel quite as well as the '16 did. I have a fuel controller coming to richen it up a bit. Other than that, I swapped all the accessories over during a two day marathon. |
| 58 | '18 BMW Honda Goldwing Tour | 2018 |  2018 Honda Goldwing. This one is fully equipped including their DCT transmission. Jane and I did a 12K mile ride around the country during the summer of 2018 and the bike was great! I've added some accessories including a Traxxion rear shock. The OE shock had way too little damping which caused it to wallow in the twisties. As of today April 8, 2019 it has 29,450 miles on it so its getting used :-) I also had the wheels powder coated matte black which looks really good. |
| 59 | '17 Honda VFR1200X DCT | 2019 |  2017 Honda VFR1200X DCT. I've enjoyed the Goldwing's trans so much that I went looking for one of these all over the country. I found this leftover in Missouri so I bought it. The S1000XR has left and this took its place. I have a Wilbers electronic shock on order. I'll decide what to do with the forks which are really terrible once the rear is fixed. I also have a date for a Russell seat. I added McCruise cruise control from Australia which works as well as any OE setup I've had. Other than a tailbag, that's it. The combination of this engine and the DCT actually works better than the Wing. Super smooth engine and trans. |
| 60 | '20 BMW R1250GS | 2020 |  2020 R1250GS Exclusive Low. Well back in the GS world for the umpteenth time! I always seem to gravitate back to these things. I could not get the VFR's suspension worked out so I gave up. This bike is a real improvement from the older ones, smoother and more powerful. I put a Russell seat on it and swapped out the lousy spoke wheels from a set of black cast. Much smoother now :-) This is the 6oth bike! I have no idea how many more are in the offing but I've learned to never say never :-) |
| 61 | '21 Ducati Multistrada V4S | 2021 |  2021 Multistrada V4S. I couldn't resist! Lots of power, smooth with tons of tech including blind spot and adaptive cruise control. Let's see what the hypes about. My friend Jim took the R1250GS. |
| 62 | '23 Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally | 2023 |  2023 Multistrada V4 Rally. I put 85,000 miles on the V4S and sold it to my friend Mike Bergman. This one is everything the old one was and more! A bigger tank to take care of the fuel range anxiety as well as 40+ mpg compared to the 35 mpg the old one got. I've moved all the accessories from the old one to this one and installed the lowering kit which is special for this model. It is slightly taller than the old one so I've lowered the seat which took care of it. I also added engine protection bars. I'm really enjoying this one. |
| | | | Bad news :-( I sold the FJR to one of my riding buddies, Rich Daniels. He was riding it alone in May '06, wandered over the double-yellow on Naciemento Lake Road near Paso Robles, CA and hit a truck head on. I got the news during dinner on the last night of our Beach's Italy tour. I attended his funeral with my friends Gary Holland and Alan Redman. The church was overflowing with friends, family, colleagues and students of his. Many wonderful thoughts about Rich were shared that day. Things about him I never knew. He had touched many people in his lifetime and had left his mark. What we do is very dangerous and we all know it. Rich loved motorcycles. At the time of his death he owned at least 35 special motorcycles and was in the process of building a shop and museum on vineyard property he owned in Paso Robles. It was a lifelong dream of his and about to become a reality. He'll never get to enjoy it now and that is really a shame. Our thoughts are with his wife and two children who will miss him most. |
| Well, that's about it for now. I'll keep updating the list as things change. As they always do :-)) Marc |
