The $200 Bike

Letting it sit. . . 

My mother used to manage an apartment complex in the San Francisco area, and on one of my visits she introduced me to one of the tenants who was an enthusiast. He had an XJ650 Yamaha turbo and a 1976 Triumph Bonneville but had not ridden for years. He said the Triumph was seized up, so I bought it for $200.00 and hauled it back to Seattle.

First I put oil in the cylinders and let it set for a couple of weeks.  Then with it on the center stand, I turned the rear wheel backwards and sure enough it turned over. I discovered the spark plug had been cross threaded and rain water had rusted the rings to the cylinder. I took it apart, honed it, and put new rings in - as it did not need a bore job. I cleaned it up real good and rode it for 5 years.

When it was time to sell the bike, I put an ad in the paper and a photo flyer with my phone number on it in several local motorcycle shops.  One Saturday a nice young man shows up in his 3 series BMW all decked out with his Gucci shoes, Armani pants and whatnot. I don’t really know all that much about fashion, but my teenage daughters gave me all the details on what Mr. Fashion was wearing. He takes the bike for a spin around the block and comes back into the shop. He is a little upset because he lost his Oakley sunglasses but still says he wants to buy it.  Then the great money conversation starts.  Got Cash? Not at the moment, but Tuesday for sure.  I tell him that’s fine, but I’ll need a deposit to hold it or I’ll just sell it to the next guy.  He gives me his watch, which he says is quite valuable, as a deposit. He then calls my office on Tuesday and said he did not have the cash but would get it soon. I told him I was going out of town and would call him when I got back. After I returned from my travelling I called his number and to which his roommate said he moved out.  I left a message for him to come and get his watch. As this was Spring, I got busy and didn’t put the bike back up for sale.  Then one day a gentleman who had seen the bike photo in one of the shops calls and asked if I still had the bike.  He got a bike and I got $2,600 out of the deal.  We were both happy!

The 1976 Bonneville

But I still had the watch.  So I hung it on a hook where we kept the extra keys and told everyone if Mr. Fashion came by, give him back his watch.  A couple of years go by, and one day I’m throwing out all those keys that nobody can remember what they go to , and there was the watch.  At this point it was no longer running as the battery was dead.  . I take it down to Fred Meyer to have the battery replaced and the guy says it is an expensive watch.  So I’m wondering what it’s really worth.  So the next time we go to the mall I take the watch to Ben Bridge Jewelers, who happen to be a Raymond Weil dealer.  Upon inspection, they tell me that the model I have is worth $2,200.00!! I’ve been wearing it ever since. 

So what do you do with good motorcycle money?  Instead of a mini-van like the last time, we bought Microsoft stock, which then split.  A year ago I bought a very nice 1968 Bonneville. 

That old ’76 was probably the best $200 I’ve ever spent!

Don't forget, our office is closed for Winter Holiday from Dec 24th to Jan. 2nd. 

Selling bikes

The motorcycle industry has gone through several ups and downs since I got started in the early 70’s. Like many I got started behind the parts counter, but one’s enthusiasm always boils over onto the show room. The first motorcycle I sold was a Honda CL350 because the owner wanted what he considered “a bike he could ride on and off road”. Unless he lived on a gravel road, I don’t think that thing ever got off the pavement. My how things have changed!

Just a couple of years ago I was in a shop with one of my sales reps for Parts Unlimited and this young parts counter kid said he had just bought a ‘really neat vintage bike’ and asked if l would like to see it. As an enthusiast with a shop full of “proper British motorbikes”, I said “Sure. I would love to see what you have bought”.  We go in the back and he shows me a 1976 green KZ900. I didn’t really want to rain on this young man’s parade, but 1976? This might classify as a classic, but not a vintage in my book. Just because it was made before he was born I think classified it as vintage in his mind. I sold these things when they were new!

Kawasaki had a program for dealers on 25 units so my boss bought 50 and I don’t think we sold 30 the previous year. On top of that when I got down to the last 10, he bought 25 more! We had a special for $2495.00. Those were the days when if you wanted a touring bike you added a Windjammer fairing and Bates saddlebags.

The fun back then was creating your own specialty bike.  For example we were buying lots of Vetter Windjammer fairings and adding them to mostly KZ900 and KZ1000s. For the most part they were white and never really matched anything. We decided it would be cool to build one all matching -  so we got a painter to do it all in yellow…body work, fairing, bags, top box and cargo trailer. Then we took the gas cap down to the local trophy shop and had it engraved ‘Custom built for………. By Kawasaki County’ (the name or our shop). When people would express an interest in the thing we would point to the cap and say that the owners name was to be engraved as soon as the deal was done. We let the boss sell this one as he was the principal behind the entire program and a touring rider himself. 

Sorry I don’t remember the gentleman’s name that purchased it but I do remember he had a 1974 T150 Triumph Trident with probably a 6” extended front fork. I took the bike for a test ride and could not for the life of me understand why someone would take a really well handling bike and to that to it. He and his wife racked up many miles on that yellow monster.

So I had this customer come in looking to buy a good used bike for a trip. I had previously sold him a bike at the Honda shop, but now at the Kawasaki shop he was looking for something to ride from Yakima, Washington to Tennessee. The problem was he had hardly any money. We had a really clean Honda CB450 that he was looking at, and asked if it would make it there and back. I said the bike would make it but I would be a long ride for him and his wife. He came in about a month later after he got back and said the bike was fine, but both he and his wife still had numb butts. That’s when he purchased the now ‘Vintage’ GREEN KZ900 with fairing and bags.

I need to be real careful about passing judgment on fools riding long distances on ‘little bikes’. I once rode a 1968 Yamaha YCS1C (180cc) from Fairbanks, Alaska to Anchorage on the 430 mile old road. Very long trip but I was young and adventuresome.

But that’s just selling bikes. . . 

The Parts Bike

One day I was standing in my garage and thinking “I have enough parts to make a bike”.

I had the slim line Norton featherbed frame with the forks and the Triumph 650cc motor from my dirt tracker and several sets of wheels. So I ordered a gas and oil tank as well as seat and engine mounting plates from Unity in England. This was going to be a nice Triton, not a show quality piece, but nice all the same.

When I received the tank, I was a little disappointed in the quality; as the silver in the gel coat had sagged and it needed to be repainted. I asked my friend Terry to “Just put some paint on it. Nothing fantastic. Just put some color on it to cover up the sags”. He said he just got some new paint he wanted to try and was black OK? It was fine with me.  So a couple of weeks later he says it looks too plain, can we get some decals? So I got some gold stripes and a couple of Triton decals.

When he brings me the bodywork, it’s gorgeous! Now the rest of the bike looks like a junk-yard special. This presented a new dilemma because it just didn’t look right, therefore I had to tear it all apart, powder coat the frame, unlace the wheels, do the hubs, and new shouldered aluminum rims. This was turning into a real project and this thing was going to be a beauty.

Now here comes the bad news. My wife (of 40 years this year) brings a cup of coffee out to the garage one day and asked what I was going to do with this bike – sell it or keep it.  Besides, she knows the garage is full. I told her I was going to sell it and then the discussion about what I was going to do with the money comes up. In a moment of weakness I said “And I suppose you want the money?” Big Mistake, as she informs me she wants a minivan.  So there went good motorcycle money, for a not so cool set of wheels.

The story gets even worse because when I got it all done and took it for a ride, the thing was a fantastic café racer! It was very strong with the race motor and the Norton frame handled great. Not a modern sport bike, but a great ‘60s era ride. At least the new owner was smiling.

The Parts Bike, before it was shipped to it's new owner!

Years later my wife brought out another cup of coffee to the garage, so that will be another story.

It's Turkey Time!

Tom Turkey, not very ridable!

This is not story about family and friends sitting down to eat a big bird.

This is about one of the ‘turkeys’ I have owned.

Over the years I have bought and sold numerous bikes, usually British and vintage. Most often I buy junk, fix it up, and then help it find a new owner who will give it the love that I no longer have for it. Sometimes the love affair is short lived. I am always looking for that diamond in the rough, but have yet to find the Norton Manx in the old barn.

One summer day several years ago, I was with my wife and we were walking though some antique stores on Whidbey Island, Washington.  As I walked out onto a second story landing I noticed a bike about a block away.  It looked almost like a Manx, but I knew it could not be, as they are impractical on the street. As I got closer I realized it was an Atlas in ‘clubman’ trim. I put my business card on the bike with a little note on the back that said if you ever want to sell it, call me.

The Atlas Turkey - Before

One day, about eight months later, I get a call.  At first I have a hard time trying to figure out who the guy is that wants to sell me a bike. Finally, it all comes together and I go out to his place and to buy the bike for a really fair price.  He then asked me if I want to buy the ‘parts bike’ for $150, so I take it too. This was my first Norton that I owned. I have ridden numerous models but never owned one. I fix this one up with allot of polishing and detail work and start riding it. Now the ‘turkey’ part of the story.

I have always been keen on ‘café racers’ and it looks like they are the next ‘in thing’ (seen TV show Café Racer anyone?). Sometimes one is willing to put up with many poor bike qualities for the sake of being cool. This bike handled really well with good brakes but it vibrated soooooo bad that I had to get off after about 50 miles as my hands were numb (not to mention other body parts!).

The Atlas Turkey - After restoration

Cool or not, Manx clone or not the love affair was over and this turkey needed to find a new roost. 

Just so happened a gentleman stopped in our office and a new love affair had begun. 

Next time, the parts bike comes into its own.

How bad can it get??

Almost anytime you go riding it is a good day. Granted some days are better than others but riding is always better than working. It can be iffy sometimes. I remember trail riding with my brother in law in Washington’s Cascade Mountains in this area call Goat’s Peak, a heavily forested area with what seemed like straight up and straight down single track. There were numerous smooth rocks and tree roots on the trail. It was slick because it was misting, but then it started to freeze, and then snow. We almost had to carry our bikes out of there. I kept saying to him as we helped each other up the mountain “Tell me we are having fun. Because it doesn’t seem like it.”

That, however, was nothing compared to my good riding buddy Terry’s experience. Terry is an outstanding rider and if I can keep him in sight I am very happy. A bunch of the guys were going to go riding in Eastern Oregon and even though I got the invite, I had to decline as I had to make a trip to California on business. The core of this group is a bunch of professionals in their 50’s. David Edwards (former editor of Cycle World Magazine) called Peter Wiley the ‘world’s fastest dentist’. David was in attendance as well as Wendell Phillips (Lockhart Phillips) and several others. Everyone met up in The Dalles, Oregon after flying or trailering in that day (to save the tires). 

Terry gets up the next morning, puts on his leathers and walks out to his bike; but it is not there. Someone has stolen the bike and trailer. This is not your average Honda RC51 either. It had Olhins forks and shock. It also had a Yoshimura full titanium exhaust and made 128 hp at the rear wheel. Everyone is sick about the situation but decides to go on anyway. Peter offers him his RC51 back in Seattle if he wants to go get it. So Terry drives the 4+ hours back to Seattle to get the bike and agrees to meet everyone in John Day, Oregon (which is almost 7 hours from Seattle).

By now I am sure you’ve determined that Terry is a little hard core. It is about 9 in the evening and he is on a narrow two lane country road ‘cruising along’ as he says, not going too fast (we figure he is going about 80 mph) when out of the woods steps a deer. He hit the deer hard enough to split it into two separate pieces. The majority of the impact was with his chest….9 broken ribs, bruised heart and collapsed lung. Suddenly he is laying, in pain, in the middle of the road, damaged, borrowed RC51 on its side and deer guts everywhere. After a little while a lady and her daughter come along and scoop him up and take him to the local fire station and eventually the hospital. As he says “I laid in that hospital bed for a week thinking about a RC51 I had to fix and wondering if I would ever see mine or my trailer again.”

Honda RC51, similar to the one that was Stolen!

By some luck, the trailer was fished out of the Columbia River some months later, but the bike was never recovered. We all recognize this is a dangerous sport and talent cannot overcome circumstances sometimes; but like Terry, we all do it because we love it. Fully recovered years later, Terry is still just as fast as ever.

The Fire Truck Story

As I previously mentioned the rules of the road at the Isle of Man are not the same as in the USA. There are no speed limits when you are outside of the city limits and where it’s not posted as a speed zone. Plus if there is room to pass, then you just go for it – no matter what the lines on the road say. Not sure how legal it was, but everyone did it as long as it was safe.

So on our last day on the Island, Lord Denbigh (Rollo) has offered to take us to lunch. He made reservations at some little “French restaurant” on the other side of the island. He said it wasn’t anything fancy. I think he only said that because he had never been there. The place was very nice and I think it cost him a small fortune for all of us to eat there.  Interesting thing about this little village was that it was the only place on the island I saw a Manx cat and the 4 horned Sheep that are unique to the island.

4-Horned Loughtan Sheep

Manx Cat

Anyway, getting back to my story. So the race was over and we were all suited up, on our bikes, and ready to pull out in traffic from the church just past Quarter Bridge.  We wait as we hear sirens and then a fire truck goes by.  Shortly after that more sirens and a police car goes by. It just so happens that we are going the same directions as the two emergency vehicles.

As we get out in the countryside we start to gain on the fire truck and are soon right behind, lights and sirens blazing. He is doing about 45-50 mph and Allen (remember Allen and the police story from earlier?) passes him, after all no speed limit right? So we all pass the slow fire truck and get a nod from one of the fireman. At this point I’m saying to myself this is crazy, who passes a fire truck with lights and sirens going?  It’s obvious the police car had passed the fire truck, so what’s the harm in us passing him?  

The Rover SD1

Then we started to close on the police car. I’m running third in line and we are closing fast on the cops who have lights and sirens going as well. This is NUTS. Are they going to try to pass the police car as well? 

Passing a fire truck is one thing, but passing the police is a whole different story. I did not sign up for a night in jail. The good news was the police car turned off the main road just as we caught up to them.  Luckily, they weren’t going to the same restaurant we were!

Until next time. . . 

Riding the Isle of Mann TT

No Speed Limit Sign

One of the truly unique features about going to the Isle of Man is the fact that outside of the city limits, or where it is posted, there are no speed limits! This is the only place in Europe, to my knowledge, where you can ride the country roads like a complete fool and be perfectly legal. The good news is you can ride very fast and pretend you are Joey Dunlop. The bad news is if you do this with complete abandonment you will end up like Joey Dunlop. It is important to watch the signs for the posted speed limits and know the sign for when you have reached the end of the speed zone.

So here we are riding along with several other bikes and all of a sudden everyone drops a gear or two and when we pass the sign (which I was not familiar with), and the race is on. Now the police do give tickets out frequently. They stand some where in the speed zone with their radar gun and ‘shoot you’ as you approach. If you are going too fast they just wave you over. No car, no lights, no chase. So do you think you want to run? Yes, you can get away……. but remember you are on an island so where are you going to go? The police stand at the ferry terminal and check each bike as you get on. If they have your license number because you did not stop, then you are in BIG trouble.

Everyone rides the TT course and there is a constant string of bikes on the road. After all, what other racetrack in the world can you ride the track, before or after the race?

IOM TT Course Map

One needs to watch for the Germans in particular. They are excellent riders and very fast, but once in a while they forget to stay to the LEFT side of the road. There are signs all over the place in German that remind them to stay on the left. The year we were there, a German got off the ferry and was riding the course very fast, he crossed onto the right side and hit a BMW car head on. He never even checked into his room. It is not just the Germans that like to ride fast. On one ‘tour’ of the course I noticed a skinny old bike coming up behind me so I slowed down to see what it was. Now I have several vintage British bikes and it was a guy on a Triton, ‘hallin ass’ on this old thing. Then there was the time this GSXR  comes up behind us slow ‘Yanks’ and this guy passes us, just pass the goose neck, on the outside of a blind left hand corner and he on the wrong side of the road. If that was not scary enough he had his girlfriend on the back.

 

Now if this does not get your attention, all one needs to do is ride counter course. When everyone rides the ‘track’ they go the same direction as the direction they race it. If you go the other way, remember these are public roads, it is REALLY scary. Picture yourself going down the mountain at 80-100mph and you have bikes going up the mountain at 100+ mph and sometimes they do not stay on their side of the road.

Then there are the surprises along the course. It was maybe my second or third time around the course and I got separated from my buddies by a couple of cars.  When I started to catch up I was on it pretty good; I saw them standing beside the road. They were on the other side of Ballaugh Bridge and to my great surprise I went airborne.

I do not want to scare anyone from going because this is one of the things that should be on any street riders ‘bucket list’; so if you ever get the chance to go to the Isle of Man, it is a trip of a lifetime, but make sure to make arrangements to do it on a motorcycle.

Several years later we went to the TT again and it was the first time for four of the guys I ride with in the States. We had done a quick lap before breakfast and as I pulled into the car park,one of the crew was jumping up and down like a crazy man. I thought maybe a bee got in his leathers or something but after he got his helmet off he was shouting ‘That was better than SEX!’

My Gift to the 11th Earl of Denbigh

William Rudolph Michael Feilding, 11th Earl of Denbigh.

That was his name, but we called him ‘Rollo’, as he was always introduced as Rollo Denbigh or Lord Denbigh. He was a regular guy who loved cars and motorcycles. I got to know him on my first trip to the Isle of Man in 1990 and he was an enthusiast in the true sense of the word. 

He was riding the bike Geoff Johnson had won the Production 1000cc TT in 1987 for the Loctite Yamaha team (Now shown as Production Class B). Geoff died in 1990 of a brain embolism. This was a guy that rode a 520 pound bike (a real handful in those days) around the IOM, inches from walls and poles, only to die during a party at home in his kitchen. Goes to show you never know what will happen.

Geoff Johnson on the 1987 Loctite Yamaha Bike

Now Rollo is riding this bike – with Geoff’s signature on it - with all the paperwork from Yamaha and the Loctite team.  This was one of my first trips to England and the Isle of Mann as well, and I was learning that ‘English’ is not always the same English; word usage can differ, sometimes greatly.  For example in the US we ride on the pavement in the street. If you say you were riding on the ‘pavement’ in the UK, they think you were riding on the sidewalk.  A transmission is a gear box in the UK, and a Fanny Pack is known as a bum bag.  Back in the day, you may have gotten your fanny or backside swatted when you got into trouble.  Yet in the UK, it’s more of a slang term about female genitalia.

So here I am with Rollo and friends and he states he has a Harley Davidson FLHTC as I think to myself, “Cool I have a present for you”.  You see, on my last trip to Sturgis I had bought some ‘Sturgis HD’ suspenders.  I had been using them on this trip to hold up my rain pants; but thought they would be a nice gift. I tell him I have some ‘Sturgis HD’ suspenders for him and he looks at me like there is something majorly wrong with me. After I hand them over I found out that our USA suspenders are called braces.  

Turns out suspenders in the UK are what are known as a garter belt in the USA! 

Riding In England. . . Who's the Hooligan now??

Ever ridden in England? It is a ball!! First thing, they are very motorcycle friendly. Back in the 90’s, three of us were on our way to the Isle of Mann; Alan Blake, then national sales manager for Avon Motorcycle Tyres, my friend Terry, and myself. 

As we are going up this hill (remember on the left side of the road), the cars are all pulling over so we can ‘lane split’, which is a little scary on a narrow two-lane road with Lorries (big trucks) coming the other way.

The speed limit on the dual carriage way or Motorway, is 70mph - but you can ride 80 all day long with no problem; just be sure to move out of the right lane (fast lane) if you see someone coming up fast behind you, and I mean 100mph fast.

Here in England the police drive white Rovers and use radar. But they have these places they park on the left side of the road that is elevated about 3 feet with a ramp up and a ramp down. The other place they sit is in the middle of an overpass. So if you see a white Rover (how could you miss them?) slow down. The other thing they used to do was post a sign that said “Photo speed check ahead”.  You can guess what was going to happen in about a half mile as you went under the overpass!

As most are aware it rains in England.  Thus we are riding down the M6 in the rain at an indicated 100mph, but it is actually better because the water does not stay on you visor, and as we start coming into more traffic we slow down to 80.  After about 15 miles I see a white Rover coming up behind me so I slow to 70 and move into the middle lane, he follows for a while then passes and follows my friend Terry from the States. When he moves around Terry to follow Allan, Terry and I slow way down.  The officer follows Allan for 10-12 miles and then pulls him over, and then waves for us to pull over as well.

When we all take off our helmets the officers see that I am the youngest - I have gray hair and am in my 40’s. Now it is ‘good cop, bad cop’. They determined we are from the States and ‘bad cop’ asked Terry “What the speed limit is in the States?” and Terry says 80-90 (as I’m thinking, “Where is that?”).  They tell us they’ve been following us for 10 miles and we have been exceeding 100+ mph, followed by big lecture. We are riding 600cc sport bikes that the factories have loaned Avon and as a result there is a bunch of questions about that too.

Then they say that we have two options:  1. Let us go or 2. Throw us in jail. Personally my vote was for option 1. In the end it was option 1. Most likely they were expecting some young ‘hooligans’, so we were a little bit of a disappointment. After a couple of minutes we were all the best of friends and I think they would have let us buy them a pint or two! They really wanted to give Allan a ticket but could not because they would have had to put us in jail and I am sure that was way too much paperwork for them.

Moral of the story is: “You can be a hooligan and get away with it if you have gray hair”

Alan on the Side of the Road with the two Police Officers!

Next chapter is about my gift to William Rudolph Michael Feilding, 11th Earl of Denbigh

Valentino and the Corkscrew

Are you a Valentino Rossi fan? Fan or not you have to respect the talent he has, especially after this last week end at the Malaysia race - he scored his 46^th victory, a magical number for him. To top all that off he is a great guy, so it is no wonder he has such a huge following.

Valentino Rossi, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Turn 5, 2006.  Photo by Kenny Jones

When I was a Regional Sales manager for Parts Unlimited I was privileged to be able to have dinner with Val several times as a result of a contest sponsored by AGV helmets, Michelin and then Bridgestone tires. At these dinners he answered questions from those in attendance and even those that were quite personal (which we won’t discuss here). He is a very colorful individual and always has time for his fans.

He also took the time to sign autographs on just about anything you wanted and everyone who was invited got a new signed AGV helmet so if you are looking to buy a signed AGV Rossi helmet let me know.

Valentino signing my helmet, 2006.

One year I was staying in the same hotel, on the same floor as Val in Monterey, while we rode the elevator another guy got on and wanted his autograph, but did not have anything so Val suggested he sign his pass. The guy was over the moon when we got off the elevator.

Back to the colorful part at the dinner and the questions that were being asked. One of the questions that was asked was what did he think of the ‘corkscrew’ at Laguna the first time he saw it. (If you have been around the track you can understand why he answered this way). He starts by saying in English with his Italian accent that he was riding around the track on his scooter and when he got to the top of the ‘corkscrew’ he stopped then he looked down and said “ Oh f—k I have to go down this thing fast!!” 

Valentino Rossi in the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca

The Bostrom Story

Do you enjoy motorcycle stories? Several of my friends have been after me to do this blog, so let’s see if I can entertain you with some of the things that have happened to me over the 35 years I have been in the motorcycle industry. Not all of the stories you will read will have happened to me, but they are accurate to the best of my memory.

I got into motorcycles because of my ex-brother in law, who was a mid-pack racer in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He gave me my first lesson on a BSA Lightning. Much like the one pictured here.

BSA Lightning

My next series of lessons was given to me by my older sister - good thing my mom does not have a computer. Larry (the ex) crashed a lot, but he was friends with the likes of Dick Mann, the Bostrom brothers and many more.  Ben and Eric Bostrom’s dad is Dave Bostrom and their uncle is Paul. Both of these guys were very talented racers.

Legends Flat Track Race, Dave Bostrom (81)

So let’s start with the Bostroms.  I was at Sturgis in the mid 90s and attending the vintage ½ mile race.  As they lined up the 650 class, they announced the riders’ names and Dave is in the second row. I tell the guy next to me that this is going to be no contest. I think it was an 8 lap race and at the end Dave won by about ½ a lap.  Again, a very talented racer. 

Parts Unlimited, for whom I was a regional sales manager for the past 9 years, always hosted a hospitality suite for their dealers at the Hangtown Motocross near Sacramento.  One year Dave shows up and he begins to tell me stories about “back in the day” with my sister and her husband (now ex).  He tells me (and I later called my sister to confirm) about the time my sister dressed him up as a girl for a Halloween Party.

A few months later at the Parts Unlimited National Sales Meeting, Ben and Eric Bostrom are displaying their product lines, one of which is T-Shirts with vintage pictures of their dad.  I took Ben aside and told him that he should keep his dad away from the involvement of the clothing design because I knew for a fact that he’s is a “Known Cross-Dresser”.   In good fun I told him of the story that was passed to me and he said he’d give his dad a bad time about it. 

Stay tuned for Rossi’s impression of the Cork Screw at Laguna.

The Adventures of Motorcycle Max

Coming Soon!