I turn 65... so I'm reminiscing the milestones...

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I'm turning 65... so I'm reminiscing the milestones during 50 years of riding and racing

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1963... It all started with a set of mini bike plans from the back of
Popular Mechanics...

1964... You never forget your real first motorcycle ride and neither
do I... mine began on friends step through Honda 50... I got on the
saddle... I opened the twist the grip and took off and immediacy
stopped thinking... I was frozen on the controls heading straight for
a wire fence... the fence didn't end it... thanks to back wheel
digging in the front tire began a steady climb up the fence... I was
so impressed with the amount of driving force that I did the one thing
I knew would stop it... I lifted the rear wheel off ground... as the
engine raced and with the back tire spinning madly did I remember what
the throttle was for... OK this is not as easy as it looks... sorry no
pic...

1965... First bike I purchased was a Honda C 200 a iron barrel push
rod 90... it lasted two weeks before I traded it in on a Honda S90 at
Bar-B Marina...
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1965... First new bike was a Honda S-90... I'd wake up in the morning
and just ride... anywhere was good... across the Bay Bridge it didn't
matter... just racing at 60 mph was enough of a challenge out of
8HP... it helped to have a tail wind...

I'm being honest... when I'm on a bike and it don't feel right to
me... I stop thinking about riding and start thinking about a
solution... and thats been true since 1967 when I inadvertently spun a
donut in the dirt on my Honda S90... I thought there was something
wrong because it had never done that before... I stopped riding and
disassemble the whole bike looking for clues... only after the engine
was on the ground that it finally struck my mind that maybe sliding
was something to be played with... I assembled the whole mess back
together and so began my love affair for donuts and dirt...
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1966... Honda CL160... wow real power for two up riding and romance...
in fact Mary and I first kiss happened on a ride...
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1967... After we got married and moved to San Bernardino... Mary felt
daring enough to take pics of my CL160 as it jumped over her...
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First competition was a USAF sponsored gymnkana or skills test... I
was surprised to take 4 of the 5 trophies... I'm never 100% happy with
my riding skills...
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I thought the Honda CL160 was a dirt bike... it was good on jumps but
poor on landings... taking 3 bounces to settled down...
HondaGettingAir.jpg


1969... Busy Little Shop #1 was the living room in our first
cottage... our Land Lady wasn't happy with bike parts inside her spot
less rental... so I used the lamp shade over the frame trick to hide
the fact I was building a motorcycle... never the less she swore I
was a member of the Hells Angel...
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1970... Kawasaki 350 BigHorn... I was asked to perform movie stunt
work for a Air Force Now film but after my wheelie crash the USAF
enlistment board denied my request for enlistment based on their
initial perception that I had "no personal concern for my safety"...
My film director had to set the record straight...
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WheelieCrash.JPG


1972... CR 250 Husqvarna that I raced in the CRC SoCal Motocross and
enjoyed the sandy beaches of Ensenada Mexico...
1972MXracing06.jpg

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1972MXracing0
...

Busy Little Shop #2 was in the spare bedroom of our Land Lady's second
rental... she never gave up the notion that I would move the bike
outside and make room for kids inside... little did she understand
that some of us like motorcycles better...
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1976... WR250 Husqvarna... my version of a street legal dirt bike...
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HuskyWheelie.jpg

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1978... My first time over 100mph was on Waldo's hand built Z1
complete with Ocelot fairings... I though you must be nuts to ride at
those speeds...
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1979... While stationed in Japan I bought a CR250R Honda direct from a
Honda factory worker who must have pilfered some extra parts... I
recall that the Japanese government turned me down 5 times for a
street legal license plate... So I raced the CR in the black sands of
Fuji MX park...
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1980... Busy Little Shop #3 was inside our home in Japan... P5
Ushihama Heights Tokyo To...
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1981... I'll never forget meeting Hirotoshi Honda #1 son of Soichiro
Honda
HirotoshiHonda.jpg


1980... Z400FX Kawasaki... Japanese 4 unique to the home market... I
painted the wheels School Bus yellow and installed a Honda fairing and
tail cowl... It was deemed the Circus Wheeled Kawasaki by the Honda
factory workers at the Saitama Honda Plant they christened the frame
with a sticker "Made by Honda Motors LTD"...
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1981... While stationed in Wichita Kansas I ordered a new GPz550 from
East Side Honda... 3 days later I was off for a 1500 mile round trip
to New York and back... next summer I rode home to California and
back... I got the 3 spoke magnesium Dymags direct from Harris
Performance while on a TDY to England courtesy of the USAF...
265314032_ed2c82b432_o.jpg


1986... XC400 Husqvarna... another Husky I made into a street legal
dirt bike... I mainly rode Little Sahara State Park... the Park
Rangers would check for your steel whip antenna and orange flag at
the entrance... I didn't mind the flag but steel whip antenna would
give my helmet a nasty whack every time I stopped... it got so that
I'd jettisoned the antenna and then ride out of sight from the
rangers patrolling in their dune buggies...

1984... 84 VF500F Interceptor... my first love affair with the V4
begins...
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1988... 86 VF500F Interceptor from Golden Gate Cycles... I engineered
this into famous Belt-0-Ceptor... I racked up 98,000 trouble free
miles...
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BeltCloseUp.jpg


1998... 94 RC45 found in Tijuana Mexico for 8K...
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That is really cool, thanks for taking the time to put it all together!

Keep enjoying life!!
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Thanks for sharing that, its great to see the progression in bikes over the last 50 years. I like those late 70's dirt bikes too. I'd love to have that Honda CR250 to rip up my trails and fields... My buddy had an 81 CR125 and its "peaky" motor was a blast to keep in the power band.
 
Wow, what fun!!!!!

I'm a motorcycle nut. I love 'em all. I've owned 47 bikes and started riding when I was 7, now I'm 50.

You've inspired me to put together similar pictures on my website.

Note: for some reason, some of the pics you posted don't show. I had to cut-n-paste the belt pics and some others. By the way, that belt installation looks really good. I've love to have a belt on my Suzuki SV1000s, which has been converted into a sport tour bike.
 
Last edited:
Great story! Happy Birthday!

Originally Posted By: Cujet

Note: for some reason, some of the pics you posted don't show. I had to cut-n-paste the belt pics and some others.

The forum has a limit on the number of images it can automatically display in a single post. The way to get around it is to split them into multiple posts.


Here is the part of the opening post that did not automatically display for me...


* * * * * * *

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1981... While stationed in Wichita Kansas I ordered a new GPz550 from
East Side Honda... 3 days later I was off for a 1500 mile round trip
to New York and back... next summer I rode home to California and
back... I got the 3 spoke magnesium Dymags direct from Harris
Performance while on a TDY to England courtesy of the USAF...
265314032_ed2c82b432_o.jpg


1986... XC400 Husqvarna... another Husky I made into a street legal
dirt bike... I mainly rode Little Sahara State Park... the Park
Rangers would check for your steel whip antenna and orange flag at
the entrance... I didn't mind the flag but steel whip antenna would
give my helmet a nasty whack every time I stopped... it got so that
I'd jettisoned the antenna and then ride out of sight from the
rangers patrolling in their dune buggies...

1984... 84 VF500F Interceptor... my first love affair with the V4
begins...
265309913_0840ff67e5_o.jpg


1988... 86 VF500F Interceptor from Golden Gate Cycles... I engineered
this into famous Belt-0-Ceptor... I racked up 98,000 trouble free
miles...
265309914_1ba92a19cd_o.jpg

BeltCloseUp.jpg


1998... 94 RC45 found in Tijuana Mexico for 8K...
2WheelOrdealMCN1.jpg

2WheelOrdealMCN2.jpg
 
Bob+Racing+10.JPG

Ducati+450+Desmo+fairing.jpg

racer1.jpg


Laverda+NC.JPG


Ducati+%252310+passing.jpg


Bob+Racing+878+BW.JPG

Yep..Old Guys Rule..great pictorial and story.

My old AAMRR/ERA/WERA racing days..some Ducati singles..my daily driver Ducati 450 Desmo from Vic Camp in England (I did not own a car..rode the Desmo)

My Ducati 750 Sport..raced street production on weekends..rode to work during the week..no car.

Hooked up with Laverda and campaigned a 1000..had two Laverda 1000s...and bought a Van too.

Still ride one of the Laverda 1000s..sweet bike.

I'm slightly younger than you..I bet you hear that all the time. Happy Birthday!
 
Originally Posted By: Mike242GT
Great post and pics, loved the RC45 story - do you still have it?


Yes I do and Mr.RC45 will end my riding career one way or the other... not to mention owners
crate and ship their RC45s to my Busy Little Shop for trouble shooting and mods...

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