I'v posted this bike before but has to be my first Z1. Its was the bike that kept me from going crazy while stationed in San Diego in the early 70's. If I wasn't sleeping I was on that thing
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The bike you wish you still had
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
One or more of three group members. You decide which one(s) 
. Not for their looks but because of their knowledge.
. Not for their looks but because of their knowledge.
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That's a great picture by the bridge Vic! You know, the do sell used '13 Suzuki Vstrom DL650s...
Quite the paint job and pipes!
Yes but the garage is full. Lol. Plus insurance costs are a wake up call! I was thinking about trading the Shadow on a VStrom though. Trouble is I don’t want to dump a ton of $$ on it so I’d probably end up with a fixer upper. Maybe next winters project?That's a great picture by the bridge Vic! You know, the do sell used '13 Suzuki Vstrom DL650s...
All for the price of $99. The paint job, after the bike was stolen from the base and dumped.
That would be a great thread to watch indeed! Such great engines, those Suzuki V-twins! At least with the 650 size the insurance isn't as high as a larger displacement but I understand Ontario insurance costs are getting crazy expensive.
JRP01
XS650 Enthusiast
I resemble that remark ,hahaI got the best of both world's LOL. JRP1 bought my Norton collection from me about 40 years ago. He kept, restored, maintains, the best one (that was my daily rider) When I visit him, I sometimes get to ride it.
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It's in better shape now than when I owned it.
The 63 Goldie GP. nuff said
These are currently in the showroom at a local shop. (for sale too)
Goldie prices have um "appreciated significantly" in 40 years.
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JRP01
XS650 Enthusiast
Not familiar with that model , however I was just starting junior high.
Reworked a 71 Triumph Tiger in97ish with my son.Was restoring our 71Buick GS convertible at the time. I’d painted it the gold of the GS.Rode a couple years.Loved it.High school started for him,the GS was a money pit project so some m/c’s went by by.I’ve always missed it and time shared.
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It would have to be my 73 Z1.
My first 4 stroke bike.
My first 4 stroke bike.
Yes that would have been the one to keep for several reasons. I think my 73 z1 will be around for quite sometime
My fav had to be a 1970 CB750. I bought it while stationed on the West coast and it was rough. Someone had added a lowering kit in the back, 6” over tubes and a wonky seat that made my ass hurt like hell after about an hour. I was riding it from Houston to L.A. and grenaded a piston in Arizona. Luckily it was a combo garage/bus station. I cut a deal to store the bike there and took a greyhound to L.A. where a friend picked me up and after a few rounds at home we decided to take his truck and go pick it up. Once the rebuild started I decided to go all in. I bought a set of metric wrenches, a set of sockets and a hand impact. That was my tool kit at the time and I used the shop on the base and a friends garage to start putting it back together with all custom parts. Took me about 6 months if I remember right. I rode the crap out of that chopper. Sold it about ‘95 as I was raising a family by then. I always wish I still had that bike.
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Looks like a Santee frame? Here is another one I wish I still had?
Wait! Did I just say that. maybe as a conversation piece.
Wait! Did I just say that. maybe as a conversation piece.
It was actually a Jammer frame. Most stuff was manufactured in L.A. at the time and the shop I bought the parts off of would run down to LA every Thursday and pick up orders. I think the electronics box was Sante as well as the oil tank. It worked out great for me because I was young, inexperienced and most everything would bolt right up. Of course there was the workarounds for my F’ups. Maybe that’s why I’m good at those lol.
Ya the oil tank is what I was looking at
I was young also when I started working on that bike (like 16)but it sure taught me a lot
I still have tons of chopper magazines stashed away and it fun looking at them once in a while.
It helped that I got a job in one of our local custom shops to help with purchases.
Minneapolis was home to Drag Specialties and we had a pretty major custom scene back then.
I was young also when I started working on that bike (like 16)but it sure taught me a lot
I still have tons of chopper magazines stashed away and it fun looking at them once in a while.
It helped that I got a job in one of our local custom shops to help with purchases.
Minneapolis was home to Drag Specialties and we had a pretty major custom scene back then.
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The most impractical motorcycle I've ever owned. A rock for a seat, heat that would boil your backside and legs and the clip-ons would make your forearms and wrist ache. Light as a dirt bike, stupid fast going and stopping and incredible handling. Damn that thing was beyond fun but after I hurt my back I just couldn't ride it anymore.
SolidGhost
XS650 Member
My only other bike besides the XS I got the other day was a 66 Triumph Trophy. It had a 68 motor and a 69 front end. All the best years cobbled together quite by accident by a guy who didn’t really know those bikes…but then neither did I. My buddy went with me to pick it up, rode it about a hundred miles, taught me to ride in a high school parking lot, then I rode it the other 50 miles. I sold my ‘40 Plymouth project to get it. Bought it on my first wife’s birthday but she didn’t mind because I gave her a bike the day before. I put miles on that bike. I rode the twisty back roads, smelled the grapes on the vines around Seneca Lake from that bike, did some joyously chaotic riding through NYC to Coney. It was my therapy.
I lost my bike to a combination of the financial dynamic of that first marriage and Covid. My place of work shut down for three months, unemployment was spotty and insufficient, and rent was $1200. Sadly, it was as good as gone long before that no matter how much I had poured into it. It was just sitting, right outside but out of reach for lack of time and remaining resources to do even the little things. I sold it to a collector who instantly ripped it apart and sent me pictures. He made a very proper, soulless bike out of her.
Fast forward a few years and I’m happily remarried. All those setbacks are behind me but we do have a toddler and a baby. I just figured bikes were a thing of the past and maybe if I’m lucky, the distant future. This isn’t the season for it, right? Last week my wife was acutely aware of how much I missed my bike. She said even back when we were merely acquaintances, she thought it was sad I had to sell my it. The loss didn’t sit well with her and she started looking at listings and talking as if it was just obvious we were going to get me a bike. And that’s how I ended up here with a 78 XS650. I bought it Monday morning, went to lunch with my family, and rode home, her in her sensible car with the kids, and me behind, getting to feel the joy of riding for the first time in years.
I lost my bike to a combination of the financial dynamic of that first marriage and Covid. My place of work shut down for three months, unemployment was spotty and insufficient, and rent was $1200. Sadly, it was as good as gone long before that no matter how much I had poured into it. It was just sitting, right outside but out of reach for lack of time and remaining resources to do even the little things. I sold it to a collector who instantly ripped it apart and sent me pictures. He made a very proper, soulless bike out of her.
Fast forward a few years and I’m happily remarried. All those setbacks are behind me but we do have a toddler and a baby. I just figured bikes were a thing of the past and maybe if I’m lucky, the distant future. This isn’t the season for it, right? Last week my wife was acutely aware of how much I missed my bike. She said even back when we were merely acquaintances, she thought it was sad I had to sell my it. The loss didn’t sit well with her and she started looking at listings and talking as if it was just obvious we were going to get me a bike. And that’s how I ended up here with a 78 XS650. I bought it Monday morning, went to lunch with my family, and rode home, her in her sensible car with the kids, and me behind, getting to feel the joy of riding for the first time in years.
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