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That is a beautiful Motorcycle right there!

My first was a CB350 nearly identical to this one:


My current favorite is an 82 Aspencade that I fell in love with my senior year. I couldn't afford it then, but found one a few years ago with 33k on it.

With that paint and front drum brake I'm guessing 1971 or 1972?

This is mine (internet pic) with the red and white paint scheme.

Thanks - the noise of that engine took me back about 44 years.

A long time ago my sister's boyfriend and I bought a frame and a big cardboard box of engine parts for 50 bucks, and over the next few weeks turned it into one of those. Not sure if it was a 1968 model but it was a BSA 250 Thumper just like that. Painted it metal flake purple - hey, metal flake was big back then. Got it running just fine but never could get a "lost or stolen" title for it so couldn't get it licensed and had to get rid of it.

I still have some purple metal flake paint from that project on a pair of vise grips out in the garage.

The Ducati I never owned, but wanted.

Silver Kawasaki ZRX1200R, I should have never let go but I'll have another!

I should have bought the new on floor '79 RD400 Daytona, what was I thinking...

'72 Yamaha Enduro, '72 Kawasaki H2, '78 XS500, '81 CB900F, '84 Interceptor 500, Yamaha XJ920 RJ, '80BMW R100RS, '04 Harley XL1200R. Loved them all, and miss them!

71 if I remember correctly. After market exhaust. It was loud.

I love flying and bikes are about the closest you can get to flying�

Had a Honda Z50 as a kid.

Had a Suzuki GS550E in my late teens. Fun bike and pretty much top of the heap in its day until Honda brought out the Interceptor. Mine was looked just like this one.


Next was a Yamaha XT350. Got one of these when I was in flight school. Pretty good short range commuter and loads of weekend fun.



Next was Yamaha XT650. Had one of these while I was stationed at Ft. Carson. Great commuter and awesome weekend fun. Used to ride it up Gold Camp Road outside Colorado Springs and just had a blast.



Went for many years without a bike after that... Until I retired from the Army and my son and I started doing a little recreational motocross. Got a 2004 Yamaha YZ250F. Absolutely insane bike. Got rid of it when injuries started interfering with my work. I wasn't very good but I sure had fun!



My son was riding a YZ85. The level of performance those bikes are capable of is nothing short of amazing. He could keep up with me without even sweating.



A little air time:

Josh



Me

[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/Hondo64d/familypics057_zps12a7b3de.jpg[/img]

All I currently have is a 2007 Yamaha FZ6. Good compromise between comfort and performance. I put a set of forks from an R6S on it. Handles and rides much better than with the stock forks. I ride this to and from work nearly every day the weather will allow. 45 mpg and 0 - 60 in <4 seconds is pretty nice�

[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/Hondo64d/FZ6/DSC01044.jpg[/img]

I seem to be attracted to high maintenance Italians.

My first bike was a 1988 Ducati 750 Paso limited. Pearl White.

Second bike, 1999 Ducati 748 in yellow. A screaming beast of a twin whose redline is 11,500 RPMs!

Third bike 2001 Ducati M900 Cromo.

Fourth bike 1999 Ducati M900 Cromo ( I put less than one mile on this bike.)

My neighbor just gave me a Yamaha RD400. Its in rough shape and needs a restore.

I still have the 01 Cromo. I hope to never sell it.

I put water once in the crankcase because the oil was low. I was also an abusive teen on my first bike. A 69 honda 90 in Canary yellow.

Liked 'em all, but two that stand out was my '87 Kawasaki Voyager with the 1300cc in-line six. Quiet, powerful, rather comfy and truly set up for coast-to-coast touring. 117 horse, red-line up around 9K; even with two-up I could pass anything in mere seconds. Kept that bike 18 years..

Second, and newest, is the '14 HD Ultra Classic. What a machine this is - HO 103 engine, excellent entertainment system with full navigation.....:

I had a few wore out bikes in the 70's. then graduated to a Seca 550 when I was in the Air Force. Had it a year then got a V45 Sabre. Rode the wheels off that bike. A lot of fond memories of trips I took on it.

I had the 72 TS125 when I was 15. I found another for a little more than what my parents paid in 1972. The head light and tail light and hi/lo switch are worth more alone than I paid for the whole bike.

I'm seeing a definite European trend...and Italian bikes. Italians can make anything sexy. I don't know how they do it, but if they were to design a spoon, it would be sexy. Nice Guzzi's.

Redneck,

Beautiful machine there. They put that HO 103 c/i motor in a basic, lightweight, no bags or fairings etc SuperGlide or stripped down Dyna also! If (when) I get tired of riding a stiff suspsnsion, very lightweight racebike all over and want something to cruise around on longer distances I would love to try a 103 c/i Super Glide!

Do you know how much HP those 103 Twinkies (nickname for the new twin cam EVO's) are making these days?

Back in the day, we had to build our own crotch-rocket. Mine began life as a Yamaha RD 250. Guy I bought it from had trashed the top end, so it was replaced with the 350 top end (with DG high-compression heads). Everything about the bottom of the motor was the same for both, except for the cylinder size stamped into the case cover. Over the course of a winter, the neighbor and I stripped every unnecessary part off the frame, added tuned pipes, K&N intake, Boysen 2-stage reeds, clip-on bars, rear-set pegs with linked speed shift, aluminum rims and swingarm, electronic ignition, and probably a few things I forget right now.

That bike was too much fun. Light and quick. It was meant to be a canyon racer (which it excelled at), but did a lot of street-drag as well. Guys in muscle cars and bigger bikes just couldn't get their minds around why they lost to a little 250cc ring-ding. Yes - that bike was parked in my living room for a time. What the heck - it was small and light enough to run it right up the front steps.

Second favorite bike was my '82 XT550. I put the Michelin DP tires that were developed for the R65 GS on that bike and chewed up a lot of canyon roads on it. Spent most of '82 in NorCal with only that bike for transportation, and learned what riding fast on paved corners is really about there.

I eventually replaced that bike with the XT350 when it came out. That was (and still is, IMO) the single most versatile and practical bike made. It actually handled better in the dirt (although heavy) than any of the motocrossers I raced on in the late '70s, but still did very well on the street. That is the bike I miss the most.

Kevin - I had a Seca 550 too - just like that red one you posted. It was a fun bike, but I never really warmed up to the transverse four. My love has always been for singles and twins. Always had the wants for a BMW Boxer after riding a friends, but never laid out the cash.

I'm pretty much done with motorbikes now, having turned to boats for my leisure time. Can't enjoy riding for transportation....to much like work, dodging the idiots in cars trying to kill me. But I do have a soft spot for the old Honda CX500 (I can't explain why), and a co-worker has hinted that he might sell his that is in excellent shape......

Harley 883 Sportster punched out to 1000 @ 12/1 compression. Sifton cam, titanium pushrods and the heads modified and flow tested by Jerry Branch. Road race ratio (tall) gears that had been lapped in a vat of jewelers rouge. Once off the line, never used the clutch, just hit the kill button to shift. She could get on down the road real quick like and was sorta hard to hold on to under full throttle. 11.85 sec. in the 1/4 mile. Sold it and have regretted it ever since. She was jet black w/orange letters on the tank.

Italian bikes are like wheeled porn (Well - except for those horrible Harley dirt bikes manufactured by Aermacchi). When I lust after a bike....it's Italian.