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Thanks guys...
Thanks for the compliments and sharing in the appreciation of the same two great machines. There's just something about these bikes for me. I don't know if it was because I first saw them at an impressionable stage in my life or what but damn I just can't help but appreciate their style, ther presence and their beauty as a machine.
One day I hope to be wealthy enough to tear these bikes down and rebuild them from the ground up with the best performance upgrades possible while remaining true to their heritage. I'd like two to ride and two to polish and dust off I guess. These bikes deserve to be ridden; however, one day when I am too old to ride I want them there to at least be able to admire them and relive fond memories; a personal museum of sorts. I guess that my best memories are of the 80's, the music, not the hair styles or the stupid clothes, the bikes and the girls. Riding a bike like you were immortal and tempting fate at nearly every corner. It's a much different world now with a mortgage, a divorce, three kids (one out and on her own) and a new chance at life with my fiance'. I still blast away on the GS1100E whenever I get the chance but I don't pull the crap I see these idiots on the tupperware bikes doing.
I've got my nice gear for protection and I feel good on the bikes. It's a throwback to yesteryear I guess. I used to ride without a helmet and my first bike was a Suzuki 50 Enduro. I didn't know what I was doing and I blew it up throwing it into first gear at high speed. I got to ride it for maybe 10 minutes before that happened. The guy that taught me how to ride didn't have a lot of patience and most likely thought it should just come naturally to you. He died on a motorcycle when someone made a U-turn in front of him from the side of the road. He told me once to always respect a motorcycle because it was always mad enough to kill you. My next bike was a jump up into a 1982 Yamaha XT550 Enduro. A single cylinder four stroke that took every beating that I ever gave it including a couple of nice wrecks on the street.
Once I hyper extended my knee wrecking in the mountains, damn girlfriend lived up there, and the other found me sliding down Market Street in San Franicisco at about 30 miles per hour on my side. My leg was stuck under the bike and I was praying that I didn't slide under anybody's car ahead of me and looking backward worrying someone would run over me. It had rained that day and I slid rather than tumble after my knobbies got caught and slid out from under me due to the wet steel grooved cable car tracks in the street. It was kind of funny watching the people on the sidewalk watching me going by on my side. The looks on their faces were great as they took in what they were seeing. Funny how time just slowed to a crawl as this was all occuring.
By the way, I wouldn't recommend acting up in San Francisco now much less back then as at the time cops rode Honda Enduros with nothing but a sticker on the tank that said SFPD. They could chase you ANYWHERE. Back then they were just starting to use unmarked cars too and I had an interesting run in with one of them when I jumped across a flat intersection against a light that had just turned high pink while blasting up a steep San Francisco street. If anyone here knows San Franciso; Market Street is the main street in town with one way streets on either side. The hill streets flatten out at intersections and when you're going up, at a decent clip, you can catch major air. It's also rather alarming to turn onto a street and shoot up and over a hill only to find out that you are on a one-way street and traffic is coming right at you. Just a few of the fun times and a reminder to be thankful for my blessings and the fact that I still alive despite some truly dumbass stunts. ~Gene
Thanks for the compliments and sharing in the appreciation of the same two great machines. There's just something about these bikes for me. I don't know if it was because I first saw them at an impressionable stage in my life or what but damn I just can't help but appreciate their style, ther presence and their beauty as a machine.
One day I hope to be wealthy enough to tear these bikes down and rebuild them from the ground up with the best performance upgrades possible while remaining true to their heritage. I'd like two to ride and two to polish and dust off I guess. These bikes deserve to be ridden; however, one day when I am too old to ride I want them there to at least be able to admire them and relive fond memories; a personal museum of sorts. I guess that my best memories are of the 80's, the music, not the hair styles or the stupid clothes, the bikes and the girls. Riding a bike like you were immortal and tempting fate at nearly every corner. It's a much different world now with a mortgage, a divorce, three kids (one out and on her own) and a new chance at life with my fiance'. I still blast away on the GS1100E whenever I get the chance but I don't pull the crap I see these idiots on the tupperware bikes doing.
I've got my nice gear for protection and I feel good on the bikes. It's a throwback to yesteryear I guess. I used to ride without a helmet and my first bike was a Suzuki 50 Enduro. I didn't know what I was doing and I blew it up throwing it into first gear at high speed. I got to ride it for maybe 10 minutes before that happened. The guy that taught me how to ride didn't have a lot of patience and most likely thought it should just come naturally to you. He died on a motorcycle when someone made a U-turn in front of him from the side of the road. He told me once to always respect a motorcycle because it was always mad enough to kill you. My next bike was a jump up into a 1982 Yamaha XT550 Enduro. A single cylinder four stroke that took every beating that I ever gave it including a couple of nice wrecks on the street.
Once I hyper extended my knee wrecking in the mountains, damn girlfriend lived up there, and the other found me sliding down Market Street in San Franicisco at about 30 miles per hour on my side. My leg was stuck under the bike and I was praying that I didn't slide under anybody's car ahead of me and looking backward worrying someone would run over me. It had rained that day and I slid rather than tumble after my knobbies got caught and slid out from under me due to the wet steel grooved cable car tracks in the street. It was kind of funny watching the people on the sidewalk watching me going by on my side. The looks on their faces were great as they took in what they were seeing. Funny how time just slowed to a crawl as this was all occuring.
By the way, I wouldn't recommend acting up in San Francisco now much less back then as at the time cops rode Honda Enduros with nothing but a sticker on the tank that said SFPD. They could chase you ANYWHERE. Back then they were just starting to use unmarked cars too and I had an interesting run in with one of them when I jumped across a flat intersection against a light that had just turned high pink while blasting up a steep San Francisco street. If anyone here knows San Franciso; Market Street is the main street in town with one way streets on either side. The hill streets flatten out at intersections and when you're going up, at a decent clip, you can catch major air. It's also rather alarming to turn onto a street and shoot up and over a hill only to find out that you are on a one-way street and traffic is coming right at you. Just a few of the fun times and a reminder to be thankful for my blessings and the fact that I still alive despite some truly dumbass stunts. ~Gene
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