The bike you wish you still had

[Mailman]

When I was working as a mailman, one of my customers was this guy and his wife from Iowa. They came to Arizona every winter. He was a really interesting guy, he owned a motorcycle dealership back in Iowa, that he had owned for decades. He actually raced in the Daytona 200 back in the seventies. This guy lived and breathed motorcycles his whole life, he was in his 70’s when I met him and he still drug a trailer full of motorcycles out here to Arizona every winter. He had a Gold Wing, multiple Triumphs, big cruisers, you name it. This was a guy that has accumulated motorcycles his whole life. He surprised me one day when he told me that he had never sold a bike that he had owned. He had all the old British marquees and a lot of early Japanese bikes. He stored them all in this great big old barn on the farm he lived on back in Iowa.
One day while he was out here in Arizona for the winter, he received word from home that his old barn had collapsed during a major snow storm, his collection crushed under tons of timber.

I was reading this article the other day about a bike this guy wished he’d never sold, we’ve all said it,
“Man I should’ve kept that one.”

In spirit, I’m like my friend from Iowa, I wish I still had every bike I’ve ever owned, I loved them all for different reasons. But it’s just not feasible for me. I am limited for practical reasons to two bikes at any one time.

I have ran through my mental Rolodex a hundred times, I’ve only owned eleven motorcycles ever and compared to some of you guys, I’m a small time player. When I think of the one that got away, it really comes down to two bikes, either my 1976 Triumph Bonneville 750 T-140V or my 1977 BMW R100/7.

That Bonneville was just a cool iconic bike, it was in beautiful shape and ran strong.

The BMW was rough when I got it, but the engine which had over 40,000 miles on it ran great and was very strong. I restored it to a very nice looking and running bike. Parts are expensive for BMW’s and there’s not a lot of aftermarket support for it, BMW still make the parts for those old airheads and you pay up for parts.

In the end , if I had to choose only one bike to have back? For me it would be the Beemer. They are just such a mechanically interesting bike, I love the looks of them, and they are just built like German tanks. They built them to last.

I used to go to this annual antique and vintage bike show here in Arizona and it’s funny,
The show was filled with perfect British bikes that guys didn’t ride, the parking lot however had a bunch of well used and worn old BMW’s that guys were using for their daily riders.

So here’s the question, if you could reach back into the past, is there ONE that you wished you still had today?

 

[Jim]

Whew... that's a tough one.... If I spend a few days figurin'... prolly north of a hundred bikes. Water buffalo... GS11... XS11... Z1. Bridgestone 100.... Hodaka's... 250 Bulltaco .... Benelli (sp?) 125. Norton Interstate.... 750 with an 810 Dunstall kit.... a handful of Bonnevilles... 441 Victor.... Superhawk (s). HD Sportster... Honda 400-4... a gazillion 350 Yamahas... Kawasiki 500 triple... My first XS... a handful of DT's. first bike I ever owned, a mid 60's Honda 50? Dunno Bob. One of my Bonnies was a mid 60's with a factory nickle plated frame. Man, you could lay that thing down 'till you could turn your head and kiss the pavement. But still.... I got nuttin'. It's like askin' me who my favorite child is.... I loved 'em all.

 

[Mailman]

Whew... that's a tough one.... If I spend a few days figurin'... prolly north of a hundred bikes. Water buffalo... GS11... XS11... Z1. Bridgestone 100.... Hodaka's... 250 Bulltaco .... Benelli (sp?) 125. Norton Interstate.... 750 with an 810 Dunstall kit.... a handful of Bonnevilles... 441 Victor.... Superhawk (s). HD Sportster... Honda 400-4... a gazillion 350 Yamahas... Kawasiki 500 triple... My first XS... a handful of DT's. first bike I ever owned, a mid 60's Honda 50? Dunno Bob. One of my Bonnies was a mid 60's with a factory nickle plated frame. Man, you could lay that thing down 'till you could turn your head and kiss the pavement. But still.... I got nuttin'. It's like askin' me who my favorite child is.... I loved 'em all.

I know , haha. Tough question, especially if you’ve had a lot of em like you!

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

No question about it.

From 1972...

 

[Rasputin]

It’s easy looking back and being sure that a bike you once had was the bike you should not have sold, but, what if that bike had later become a nightmare?
I look back with fond memories of my first XS, and would give a Kings ransomed to know what happened to it after I sold it. Not necessarily have it back, just to know. After I sold it maybe a month or two, I tracked it down, I went to see if the guy would sell it back to me. He had it in an outbuilding and said “ I’m going to make a chopper out of it”. This was 1976 and choppers were all the rage after the film Easy Rider.
I never saw it again, brings a tear to my eye.
Sad old gits aren’t we.

 

[Scripto VU]

Not a great pic, put this together when I was 16. I still remember the sound from the Jardine header.

 

[gggGary]

I 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.

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.

 

[MaxPete]

I wish I still had my....1975 Yamaha XS650B....

and my 1979 Suzuki GS850G....

...but then, it was a different time....

 

[gggGary]

Hey Pete what exactly are those tassles clipped to?


That GS is a cool looking ride, bet you put a few miles on r.

 

[JRP01]

I 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.
View attachment 142164
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.
View attachment 142160 View attachment 142161

I remember you on the Goldstar, me on my Ducati 250. Running the crap out of em in the woods cause they were just cheap dirt bikes. Sheesh.

 

[willis]

Pete, I think you need to change your avatar to that last pic !!!!

 

[GLJ]

I guess I'm lucky, I never sold it.

 

[Downeaster]

Well, I relived my '74 TX650A, so it'd be either my '72 Yamaha RT360 or my '73 RD350.

Preferably both...

 

[MrBultaco]

My Champion framed street tracker with Morris Mags that I built in 1980...my '76 R90S was the prettiest and fast, but uncomfortable to ride (for me anyway)

 

[kshansen]

Dang this one got out of hand, maybe it's the drugs they had me on for that MRI I had this afternoon!


Well I've had a few but none probably as classic as so of the rest of you. See If I can remember them all:
First one was a Bridgestone 60 Sport, next moved up to a Honda CL 175 Scrambler, then I bought my first new bike a Kawasaki S1 two stroke triple( probably the one I wish I had kept, used as trade in on a Toyota pick-up. Wife had bought an RD200 Yamaha so I more or less took that one over. Guy she worked with had a RD400, believe it was a 1978 or what ever year they came in that ugly green and yellow paint scheme!

Then in fall of 1987 after we had stopped at the Harley museum in York PA and found that for $3,995 you could get a brand new 883 Sportster, wife told me I had two choices. Number one was buy one myself. Second choice be happy with what ever one she bought for me! So November 2, 1987 I road a basic black 883 Sportster home. Can't say that is one I wish I still had as it is sitting out in the garage right now with right around 120,000 miles on it, most pulling a sidecar!

Somewhere along the way I saw a Honda 750 Super Sport at a local car dealer and decided I had to have it. It was a little rough around the edges but seemed to run good. However it only held the attraction for a short time and I got the urge to hang a spare sidecar I had on another bike to use to ride to work and the design of the 750 frame did not look to be an easy one to adapt to the sidecar. I happened to be talking with local independent cycle shop owner and mentioned the idea of mounting a sidecar on a midsize bike and asked his if he had any thoughts.

Thomas said he felt an XS650 would be a good candidate and he just happened to have one for sale, a 1981 and said he would trade even up for the 750 Honda. Said come back the next day and he will get it out of his barn at home and I could look it over. Well first impression was it was about as rough as the Honda and it had I believe a Windjammer fairing like MaxPete's above that I was not fond of and he said he could remove it and set it up as stock. For no charge. A couple days latter I was the proud owner of a 1981 XS650. As it turned out a few years latter after checking S/N on engine the the engine was actually out of something like a 1976 XS 650. But it seemed to run good so I was not upset. From 2000 til I retired in 2015 I used that bike for my ride to work outfit and only swapped out the engine after it got to be jumping out of first gear all the time.

By that time I had acquired a couple more barn find XS650s so just swapped one of those engines in and kept the oufit on the road till April of 2015 and wouldn't you know that replacement engine started jumping out of first gear the last year I rode it! But knowing it only had to last a few more months I just shifted into second when it jumped out of first!

That 1976 or what ever it was engine that came with the 1981 became a test of my ability to rebuild a 650 engine. bought some gears and on gear set off FlyBay and managed to find enough good parts to have what I thought was a workable transmission, a set of rings and a quick touch up of the valves and a gasket/seal kit and after I retired I built up that old engine and stuck it in the frame for the 1982 XS650 Heritage Special I had acquired several years before and was just gathering dust in barn as I knew it had some transmission trouble of it's self!

Still need to address the oil leak on left side of engine, sprocket shaft or maybe clutch rod seals? Both were new but it does drip a little after being driven, oh yea thought the starter spring I installed new was a good one but need to get a fish scale to check drag on that one.

Also have the 1978 Special that is 95% ready to be back on the road and a 1992 Sportster with a sidecar.

Wife has her 2013 GTV 300 Vespa, and don't think a 300 scooter can get up and move. Stop light to stop light in the city the 1200 Sportster hauling the sidecar has to work to keep up if you are not paying attention!

 

[Moabite]

Dang this one got out of hand, maybe it's the drugs they had me on for that MRI I had this afternoon!


Well I've had a few but none probably as classic as so of the rest of you. See If I can remember them all:
First one was a Bridgestone 60 Sport, next moved up to a Honda CL 175 Scrambler, then I bought my first new bike a Kawasaki S1 two stroke triple( probably the one I wish I had kept, used as trade in on a Toyota pick-up. Wife had bought an RD200 Yamaha so I more or less took that one over. Guy she worked with had a RD400, believe it was a 1978 or what ever year they came in that ugly green and yellow paint scheme!

Then in fall of 1987 after we had stopped at the Harley museum in York PA and found that for $3,995 you could get a brand new 883 Sportster, wife told me I had two choices. Number one was buy one myself. Second choice be happy with what ever one she bought for me! So November 2, 1987 I road a basic black 883 Sportster home. Can't say that is one I wish I still had as it is sitting out in the garage right now with right around 120,000 miles on it, most pulling a sidecar!

Somewhere along the way I saw a Honda 750 Super Sport at a local car dealer and decided I had to have it. It was a little rough around the edges but seemed to run good. However it only held the attraction for a short time and I got the urge to hang a spare sidecar I had on another bike to use to ride to work and the design of the 750 frame did not look to be an easy one to adapt to the sidecar. I happened to be talking with local independent cycle shop owner and mentioned the idea of mounting a sidecar on a midsize bike and asked his if he had any thoughts.

Thomas said he felt an XS650 would be a good candidate and he just happened to have one for sale, a 1981 and said he would trade even up for the 750 Honda. Said come back the next day and he will get it out of his barn at home and I could look it over. Well first impression was it was about as rough as the Honda and it had I believe a Windjammer fairing like MaxPete's above that I was not fond of and he said he could remove it and set it up as stock. For no charge. A couple days latter I was the proud owner of a 1981 XS650. As it turned out a few years latter after checking S/N on engine the the engine was actually out of something like a 1976 XS 650. But it seemed to run good so I was not upset. From 2000 til I retired in 2015 I used that bike for my ride to work outfit and only swapped out the engine after it got to be jumping out of first gear all the time.

By that time I had acquired a couple more barn find XS650s so just swapped one of those engines in and kept the oufit on the road till April of 2015 and wouldn't you know that replacement engine started jumping out of first gear the last year I rode it! But knowing it only had to last a few more months I just shifted into second when it jumped out of first!

That 1976 or what ever it was engine that came with the 1981 became a test of my ability to rebuild a 650 engine. bought some gears and on gear set off FlyBay and managed to find enough good parts to have what I thought was a workable transmission, a set of rings and a quick touch up of the valves and a gasket/seal kit and after I retired I built up that old engine and stuck it in the frame for the 1982 XS650 Heritage Special I had acquired several years before and was just gathering dust in barn as I knew it had some transmission trouble of it's self!

Still need to address the oil leak on left side of engine, sprocket shaft or maybe clutch rod seals? Both were new but it does drip a little after being driven, oh yea thought the starter spring I installed new was a good one but need to get a fish scale to check drag on that one.

Also have the 1978 Special that is 95% ready to be back on the road and a 1992 Sportster with a sidecar.

Wife has her 2013 GTV 300 Vespa, and don't think a 300 scooter can get up and move. Stop light to stop light in the city the 1200 Sportster hauling the sidecar has to work to keep up if you are not paying attention!

...need pics too, or maybe not happen, gotta have some pics from good story!!!!

 

[MaxPete]

Hey Pete what exactly are those tassles clipped to?


That GS is a cool looking ride, bet you put a few miles on r.

Oh yes - I bought it new as a leftover in the winter of 1981 and rode the wheels off it for years. The GS850G was <foolishly> sold in 1990 with over 155,000 km on it (around 100,000 miles) and it still ran like a top. I always said that you could throw that thing off a cliff and it would still go.

On the Queen's University Band uniform (founded in 1905 - the largest and oldest university marching band in Canada - and MUCH better than anything at the University of Toronto, Dalhousie, UBC or McGill)...I was one of two sousaphone (marching tuba) players and the band wore Royal Stewart tartan.

The tassels are clipped to a leather pouch called a sporran (sp??) and under my kilt I wore....

.....boots, spats and hose of course.

Pete

 

[kiwi]

Wish I had kept them all. Except for an 84 Honda shadow,(what was I thinking) and an 82 R100 airhead, just couldn't come to terms with it's weirdness.

 

[650Skull]

Haven't had many bikes but the 71 DT250 and the 500/4..........

500/4
Had an Accident, (well crash really went into the side of a bank and all my fault), in my fathers car and wrote it off.......Bought him a new, (new as in new to him), car and was paying it off, working at a Bar after normal farm hours and after 7 months i had enough money for a deposit, ($700) on the 500/4. Need transport to be able to get to and take out a girl i was after who lived 30 min away. Bought the bike, and 2 weeks later, (11 Days to be precise), a car did a U turn in front of me and sad to say bent frame and forks, and surprisingly enough not a lot of other damage although a friend, (not the girl), on the back flew over the car and broke his toe.

Paying off 2 vehicles and nothing but a rubber heel.

12 months later i finally had enough money the get the frame/forks straightened and fixed, and whatever else was needed and put it back together. Had moved twice and the bike, (in parts and boxes) moved with me. Spent a couple of weeks in the evenings after work trying to remember how it went back together, Using the manual pics, and bottles of rum and a few Joints and lots of staring it was finally was done and the bike spluttered and started on the second try. Just in time to go across to the east cost, (Tauronga), from the west cost, (Taranaki). Yes another girl was involved and one of the main inspirations to get some wheels going.

Decided to get the tank and side covers painted, a whopping $130, (this was back in 79 and i was earning $40 per week working on a farm), the painter was given an idea of what i wanted but he took a bit of creative license, and creative time as well, 3 months or so i got the tins back and it turned out well and it was a good paint job

Couldn't afford new mufflers.....Used rolled up chicken wire about 12" long as a baffle, drilled holes for the 3" nail to hold the wire in to keep from attracting attention from the Black and whites while puttering around town but man would that bike make a beautiful tune when winding it out, especially from about 6,000 to 9,000 revs

 

[kshansen]

...need pics too, or maybe not happen, gotta have some pics from good story!!!!

Well don't have many pictures of my bikes and those I do have are probably on 35mm slides and I don't have a scanner right now that works. But if some screen captures off the innerweb will do for now here they are:

My ride while in high school! Just remembered a little story about the Bridgestone. I had decided that I wanted to do some "customizing" on it and decided to change it from Red to "GTO Judge Orange" anyone recall them? Well after I had it back together decided to ride down to visit a girl I was hanging around with at the time from school to show it off. She liked it and asked if she could try riding it in her yard. All went good till she ran into the end of a picnic table and smashed the head light! That was fifty years ago and she's still feeling sorry the last time I saw her last month! And no that is not the reason we stopped hanging around with each other!

Next one, seemed like getting on a rocket ship after the little 60cc two stroke.

This one was a fun bike but hated to run slow in the city, would start to foul the plugs but loved the high RPM's. Really came alive above 5,000 RPM! First wife rode it to her job at High School once in a while and got a kick out of blowing the doors off the kids who tried to out run her!

This one was actually bought as the wife's bike but I rode it quite a bit. Had a funny noise in the engine one time and I took it for a ride to see if I could figure it out. Well about a mile and a half from home it decided enough was enough and seized up. Tore it apart and found that the little gear that ran the oil injector system had fallen off. Surprisingly the only real damage was seized rod bearings. Checked with dealer about new rod kits. She said $25 each and another $25 each to have crank pressed apart and reassembled. Then said new factory crank assembly was $125 with all new bearings and seals. That was a no brainer! Made sure the little gear was installed with Loc-tite and it ran fine after that.

The good old RD400! Can't recall any big stories about this one other than it having is funny squeaky kind of a chirp when started cold. Think I sold it after I bought the first Sportster in Nov. of 1987.
I know we sold it to a guy my wife worked with back then and he decided to figure out what the squeaky/chirp was. He found out that one or both the heads were just slightly warped and the noise was the compression gasses blowing past the steel head gasket like a reed instrument. As soon as bike warmed up the noise would go away because the heat expansion would put enough pressure on the head studs to stop the leak. Believe he popped the heads of and lapped them and stuck in new gaskets. An easy job on a two stroke, four nuts each head and they lifted right off in a couple minutes!

Won't go in to the other bikes because they are still here, well except the two XS400's and a 1966 Triumph 500, only one of those ever say even limited road use by me and the 400's were freebies despite being in fair to good condition and they were both sold to a guy near Binghampton NY who is into 400's