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RE: [ST] RE: Previous Bikes



OK.  Here goes: 

First bike in 1963 while living in Plymouth, UK:
19?? BSA Bantam 175 [D7?] with the red & cream painted tank.  Lots of
adventures and the inevitable first crash when I attempted to swerve
behind an Armstrong Sidley* which pulled out in front of me, looking
like the HMS Queen Mary.  I almost cleared the handlebars on the way
over :o|.  I rode the bike home, bent forks, dented tank and all.  The
car had to be towed ;O).  Their insurance company bought me new forks
and a spiffy later-model red & chrome tank.  

Returned to US in '64 and bought:
1961 Vespa VBB1T 150, 4-speed, which I kept until 1968.  Unless you
count numerous clutch cable failures, - I'd just ride it without using
the clutch - it never let me down.  I remember coming home on leave
from the service to find my MGA with broken suspension, thanks to my
roommates who'd been "taking care of it" for me.  I dragged the Vespa
out from under the woodpile in my parents garage, chased away the
spiders, shook it from side to side a few times to mix the gas & oil
and it started on the third kick!  

1970 - bought a slightly [ab]used 1969 Kawasaki H1 "Mach III" 500
triple in white when the original owner decided he "had to have" an H2
750.  They were everything dunc says and then some, with an absolutely
sweet engine but marginal brakes and a frame which felt like it had a
hinge in the middle.  Can you say high-speed wobble?  I recall hearing
stories of racing these bikes at Daytona where the riders would come
into the pits so scared they were unable to remain standing after
getting off the bike.  The best thing I can say is that I survived it!
I traded it towards an Alfa Romeo Giulia Spyder Veloce race car - much
safer.

1972 - bought a new Honda XL250 dual sport in silver - the sort of
bike I wish I still owned. It was heavy and somewhat low-powered
compared to the two-strokes of the day but reliable as a rock and able
to run all day in the dirt on one tank of gas.  I recall climbing
hills out in the Tillamook Burn running right along side my buddies
who were turning a bunch of revs and spinning the rear wheel on their
two-strokes while the XL was going chugga-chugga and not even breaking
traction.  On the street, even with knobbies it was a kick in the
butt.  I used to run away from my roommate on his CB750K race bike in
the twisties. 

Next was a 1980 Honda CB750F in silver.  It had a willing motor and
adequate brakes but wasn't what you'd call nimble.  I sold it after
the first season and bought a 

1981 Suzuki GS650G, the shaft-drive 'touring' model in black with red
& gold trim.  I loved that bike even though it didn't have the 6th
gear of the "E" model and toured all over the Pacific NW.  It was
nimble and once I'd added an extra 10% of fork oil it handled very
well indeed.  Crash number 2 occurred in '84 when I low sided on some
sand in a shady corner at the coast.  I kept it until the late 80's
when teenagers began to inhabit our home and I wasn't riding as much.
After selling it to a neighbor who had it serviced and then decided he
wanted a Gold Wing, I bought it back for the same price.  I kept this
bike until the summer of '01 when we traded it in on a GS500 for our
youngest daughter.  Our grandson is growing into the Malcolm Smith
riding gear and I still use the Bagman soft luggage I bought for that
bike in '81.

Fast forward to 1999 when I began to have the itch for a newer bike
with more weather protection.  In April, I bought a

'99 Trophy 1200/4 in BRG.  Had a 900/3 been available, I would have
bought it instead.  Here again, I defer to Mr. Duncan's description.
An excellent road bike with gobs of torque and more than acceptable
handling, except the '99 was geared way too tall [40/19! - I fitted
the 42/18 sprockets of the earlier models].  It was also too top heavy
for my feeble frame.  I had trouble keeping it vertical during low
speed maneuvers and while pushing it around.   In the spring of '01,
a reforming HD rider came into the dealership and made me an offer I
couldn't refuse - $9000 for a 15k mile bike.  I ordered my...

'01 Sprint ST in Sapphire Blue which now has 36k miles.

Whew!  I think that all of them.  If I'd known there was going to be a
test, I would have studied...

--
Rick in Oregon
'01 Sprint ST

* http://tinyurl.com/b7wm8  - scroll to the bottom

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