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I bought an 83 GS 1100E on ebay a few months ago. I live in Mexico so my friend in SF went down to LA, picked it up, and rode it back to SF. Then he stored it a couple of months while I ordered some bags, a windshield, and other parts for a trip I had planned.
I intended to ride to the International Norton Owners rally in July as I do every year. Since I live in Mexico and all my bikes are down here I have to cross Texas and all that hot, flat country in the mid-west when rallies are in the eastern part of the country. My wife CJ, who is a wise and understanding woman, said, "You need to buy a bike to store somewhere in the US and just fly there and ride up through the mountains instead of across Texas in July."
As I said, my wife is a wise woman, and when she says I need to buy another bike, I listen and obey. At Mid-Ohio last year I saw a really nice 83 GS 1100E for sale and really liked it. I thought it would make a great touring bike with some bags and a windshield. The only problem was the guy wanted $4000 which I thought was a little salty for a 28 year old bike so I looked on ebay and found one just like it (or it looked like it in the pictures) in LA for considerably less. I had my riding buddy Charlie go down and he liked it so it was back in SF that night.
I ordered a set of Samsonite bags and a small windscreen on ebay and had them delivered to SF where Charlie mounted them for me. Right before the trip I decided to order a new stator and R/R to take on the trip. I have 2 Yamaha Visions and I think most all bikes from that era suffer from, shall we say, inadequate electrical systems. Turns out I was right for once in my life.
My plan was the leave SF with CJ on June 19, ride up to Vancouver and spend a few days, then CJ would fly home and I would continue on, visiting friends along the way until I got to Kingston where CJ would meet me and we would spend a week, then I would continue on to the rally in Brandon VT. The rally was July 17th - 20th, then I would ride to Indy and leave the bike at a friends house and fly home.
And that's pretty much what I did. But, as with most things, there's more to the story than that, and if anyone is interested, I'll continue later.
Art
I intended to ride to the International Norton Owners rally in July as I do every year. Since I live in Mexico and all my bikes are down here I have to cross Texas and all that hot, flat country in the mid-west when rallies are in the eastern part of the country. My wife CJ, who is a wise and understanding woman, said, "You need to buy a bike to store somewhere in the US and just fly there and ride up through the mountains instead of across Texas in July."
As I said, my wife is a wise woman, and when she says I need to buy another bike, I listen and obey. At Mid-Ohio last year I saw a really nice 83 GS 1100E for sale and really liked it. I thought it would make a great touring bike with some bags and a windshield. The only problem was the guy wanted $4000 which I thought was a little salty for a 28 year old bike so I looked on ebay and found one just like it (or it looked like it in the pictures) in LA for considerably less. I had my riding buddy Charlie go down and he liked it so it was back in SF that night.
I ordered a set of Samsonite bags and a small windscreen on ebay and had them delivered to SF where Charlie mounted them for me. Right before the trip I decided to order a new stator and R/R to take on the trip. I have 2 Yamaha Visions and I think most all bikes from that era suffer from, shall we say, inadequate electrical systems. Turns out I was right for once in my life.
My plan was the leave SF with CJ on June 19, ride up to Vancouver and spend a few days, then CJ would fly home and I would continue on, visiting friends along the way until I got to Kingston where CJ would meet me and we would spend a week, then I would continue on to the rally in Brandon VT. The rally was July 17th - 20th, then I would ride to Indy and leave the bike at a friends house and fly home.
And that's pretty much what I did. But, as with most things, there's more to the story than that, and if anyone is interested, I'll continue later.
Art
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