You probably sold it because you were riding it every chance you got. It leaked oil out of the frame! The vibration was numbing to your hands and made parts fall off. Whenever you really needed it, it would break. More hours wrenching than riding. All valid reasons for unloading such a gem. Your 650 bikes require love as well, but they have character and a much better ride to wrench ratio.
The chain of events went like this. At the time I owned a ‘77 BMW airhead and a ‘76 Bonneville.
I ran into Randy Baxter ( owner of Baxter Cycles in Marne Iowa ) at a vintage bike show in Phoenix, he just happened to be the guy that sold me the Bonneville in the first place. He offered to buy back the Bonney for all the money I had into it, if I would use it as a down on a new Triumph, so I bought a 2007 Triumph Bonneville America.
At that time , I also sold my Beemer.
I loved that Bonneville America, I rode it until 2012. Then I decided I wanted to try a fully modern motorcycle, fuel injected triple disc ABS brakes, water cooled, the whole shebang. So I traded my Triumph in for a new 2011 Suzuki 650 V-Strom.
That bike was a revelation, fast , smooth, powerful, tremendous power to weight ratio. It always ran flawlessly, but after 5 years of ownership, I was missing going out in my garage and working on my bike. I was getting bored, I started looking really hard at a new Triumph Street Twin.
Beautiful bike, I went and test rode one and was even talking to the dealership about trading in my Suzuki. Then my wife ( smart woman ) realizing that I needed something to do. Suggested buying another old bike to fix up, and so that lead to my 60th birthday present, my ‘77D.
Which in turn lead to my XS2,
So now , I’ve come full circle , back to vintage iron.
I’m trying to learn to just be happy with what I’ve got and quit looking to the
next thing. But man you know....the pull is always strong.
