Ride

I have been piloting motorcycles for more than twenty years. My current ride is a 1990 Honda GB500 Tourist Trophy. I’ve had two of these.  The first I bought brand new in 1991 for $2,600 and later sold to a collector.  Now I’m the collector, and I got another one this year for only $4,900.  Guess I should have kept the first one, huh?

I have also owned the following over the course of my motorcyling career:

1978 Honda Hawk. This was my very first motorcycle, purchased in 1985. It had a rusted out gas tank and stranded me in the California foothills fifty miles from home. It had been ridden only a few times and then garaged for six years. It was like new and completely original.  I should have kept this one, it’s probably worth money now.

 

Honda V500 Interceptor.  This was my first new motorcycle. I ran the legs off it till I test drove a Yamaha FZ600 and had to have one of those. In those days I couldn’t justify owning more than one bike at a time so I sold this one to a pal and headed straight for the Yamaha dealer. This was a sweet bike, very trouble free and fun to ride.

Yamaha FZ 600 nicknamed the “Exxon Valdez” for its constant oil leak out the left cylinder. Probably caused by modifying the side stand to a less vertical position. I was constantly tipping that thing over. It was just a temperamental bitch that I loved in spite of its faults. I sold it to a boyfriend who promptly wrecked it. I felt guilty for a long time after.

I’ve had two 1989 Honda Pacific Coast motorcycles. Great, great bike. First was totalled in a hit and run on the LA Freeways. I rode the replacement bike for 13 years before finally selling it in 2005. The second bike was used as a pace bike at Laguna Seca. It rode so smooth and so fast… it’s looks are very deceptive.

 

Nowadays I keep my GB500 over in Sacramento at my brother’s house so we can go riding in the foothills. I go over every 3 weeks or so to see family and ride my bike. My dad is 92 years old.  He worries about me and my brother riding motorcycles even though we’ve been doing it forever.  Then again, I worry about my 29 year old son riding too. When we ride together, I follow him so I can keep my eye on him. I guess you never stop being a Mom. Even a Mom who rides.