Post by bigshingle on Nov 17, 2007 22:05:46 GMT -5
I've had a motorbike — well okay, a Vespa to start with — since I was 14. My uncles and cousins and neighbors had lots of bikes, from mopeds to Indians to Triumphs, and I grew up around them. I've always done my own work because there was always someone around I could ask for help. Those days seem about gone. Try to fix a hi-tech bike with some wire and a beer can.
I had a TR-6 racing bike that was still fast as hell even though it was worn out, and then a Bonneville that I made into a real show bike. I had a Yamaha 185 and more fun on it than any bike so far. I later had a Yamaha 400 (a Maxim, not an SR) and rode it around the western U.S. with a sleeping bag and a tent for a summer.
I was working in Japan in the 80s and needed a bike to get to the train station. Yamaha still had a few left-over '81 SR 500s with U.S. specs they were trying to unload (in 1984) and I bought one for $600 in the crate. The way it was set up for the U.S. market no wonder it was a flop: it was ugly as hell. I bought it anyway, bobbed the rear fender, threw away the turn signals and seat, bought clip ons, and realized, well, it was like nothing else in this world and what Brit bikes should have been all along.
I got into sailing and lost interest in bikes. I took the SR apart and stored the pieces behind the stairs, filled the engine with 5 quarts of oil, put a cap on the crankcase breather and all the other orfices, and every so often moved the kick starter and turned the engine upside down or put it one side and then the other for a few weeks. When I left Japan I sent it back to the States.
Twenty years later I finally got around to putting it back together. I've forgotten where some of the pieces were supposed to go, and so far the bike doesn't seem to need them. I keep them in a coffee can just in case.
I've been reading this forum when I should have been working and have learned a lot.
I finally got around to registering in hopes I can contribute and pay back some of what I owe for all the fun and good advice.
I had a TR-6 racing bike that was still fast as hell even though it was worn out, and then a Bonneville that I made into a real show bike. I had a Yamaha 185 and more fun on it than any bike so far. I later had a Yamaha 400 (a Maxim, not an SR) and rode it around the western U.S. with a sleeping bag and a tent for a summer.
I was working in Japan in the 80s and needed a bike to get to the train station. Yamaha still had a few left-over '81 SR 500s with U.S. specs they were trying to unload (in 1984) and I bought one for $600 in the crate. The way it was set up for the U.S. market no wonder it was a flop: it was ugly as hell. I bought it anyway, bobbed the rear fender, threw away the turn signals and seat, bought clip ons, and realized, well, it was like nothing else in this world and what Brit bikes should have been all along.
I got into sailing and lost interest in bikes. I took the SR apart and stored the pieces behind the stairs, filled the engine with 5 quarts of oil, put a cap on the crankcase breather and all the other orfices, and every so often moved the kick starter and turned the engine upside down or put it one side and then the other for a few weeks. When I left Japan I sent it back to the States.
Twenty years later I finally got around to putting it back together. I've forgotten where some of the pieces were supposed to go, and so far the bike doesn't seem to need them. I keep them in a coffee can just in case.
I've been reading this forum when I should have been working and have learned a lot.
I finally got around to registering in hopes I can contribute and pay back some of what I owe for all the fun and good advice.
Sounds like you have a great bike history and a new exciting one to look forward to as you re-start the SR.
