[ST] Cycle History

[thfwsf@xxxxxxx]

This is a great topic.  I'm more of a lurker on this list, but wanted to contribute to this string.  
 
Compared to some of you cycle geeks I don't have the cycle history, or smiley bag incident to report on....
 
Let me see if I can do this any justice.
 
1984 - 1985;  '84 Honda Ascot VT500;  I owned this puppy for about a year.  It was the first motorcycle I ever owned and I bought when I rotated back from Okinawa to the states.  I rode thing all over the east coast.  Even though I owned a car, I rode this bike everywhere.  I put about 14k miles on it before I wrecked it and put myself in the naval hospital for a short period of time.  I ended up selling it shortly thereafter, as I rotated out of the states on a med float.  It was great bike,  did everything I needed and did it well.
 
1985 to 1992; mostly a dry time, but I did borrow a few friends bikes for occasionally.  Wife 1.0 wasn't big on motocycles so this contributed to my blues.
 
1992 - 1999; 1981 Suzuki GS650L;  Wife 2.0, at the time she was my girlfriend knew I wanted a bike and saw this in the paper for $500.  We eventually got ahold of the guy selling it and I ended up with my first bike since I wrecked my Honda in 1985.  I'm still very thankful to my current wife (wife 2.0) for letting me get this bike.  About all I did to this bike, till near it's end was add gas, change oil and change tires.  One summer, when my car was in the shop, we used this as our primary form of transportation.  We rode this everywhere!  It did the job, and did it very reliably.  Every so often I try to look in the paper for one of these to fix up and keep, due to the great memories on it.
 
1999-2000; 1997 Suzuki VS800 Intruder; When my Suzuki went down and since I was working so many hours I didn't want to mess with trying to fix up the '81, I ended up seeing this at a dealership, got a good deal and ended up buying this cruiser.  It was a good bike with a decent engine.  Looked nice, if you like the intruder cruiser style.  It didn't really ring a bell with me.  I didn't like the way it handled in the curves.  It did ok, and was an improvement over the '81, but it just didn't click with me.
 
2000 to 2004; 1996 and 1989 Honda PC800's Pacific Coasts:  I wanted a bike that would commute better than the intruder.  I also always found these bikes interesting.  It's the only bike that I ever owned, or have heard of that has a trunk.  It was a great commuter and touring bike.  I had a lot of fun on these bikes and I rode them all over the place.  It was this bike that really got me into the internet motorcycling community.  It handled better than any bike I had owned up that that point and it was very good on a long ride and it was an excellent commuter.  It didn't really excell in any one thing, but it was a very good competent package.  However, I wanted more sport, handling and performance so....
 
2004 to current; 2001 Sprint ST;  I looked at the Aprilia Futura, Honda ST1100, Yamaha FJR1300, Kawasaki Concurs, Ducati ST's, Truimph Trophy's and eventually wound up looking at the Sprint.  I backed into the bike.  I read the review and did a little reading and it was rated well.  I liked the styling and then Wife 2.0 (bless her) said "why don't you look at the internet for one, btw, I saw one on eBay".  What a wonderful wife.  I found a NOS '01 and decided since I was dramatically increasing the power from the PC800 that a few ponies from the '02 and on models would make a big difference to me....  I found one on eBay, well actually wife 2.0 pointed it out, and bid on it and won the auction.  I was fortunate as my brother had bought a BMW from the same dealership, so he checked it out too.  Everything fell together, plus it came with hard bags!!!  A deal, even when I paid shipping to get it to my house.  It was probably one of the best Christmas presents I ever received!! 
  Since then, December 2004, I know have 19k miles on it and love it.  Even though I just got my first speeding ticket last week on it...  :(
 
2005 to current; 1971 Triumph Tiger TR6R; a project bike I recently acquired.  I tore it down and had it painted and am doing my imitation of a "restoration" on it.  Still need a few parts, but it sure coming together nicely.  I always wanted a classic bike, and this is it.  
 
I rambled enough....
 
Tom
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