"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
12/28/2013 at 20:20 • Filed to: two wheels good
3
8|
"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
12/28/2013 at 20:20 • Filed to: two wheels good | 3
| 8 |
When I met my 1982 Yamaha XV750 4 years ago in New York, I had never ridden a motorcycle before. It only had one mirror and the starter button had been relocated to one of the side fairings via a momentary switch. I quickly dropped it as I found my first gravel patch, and it taught me that a 560lb motorcycle is quite a lot for a 150lb distance runner to pick up alone. The engine was running very lean and backfiring constantly on deceleration, which I eventually traced back to some form of primitive emissions control device. I couldn't figure out how it worked, so I removed it, capped off the lines, and found that the bike still ran without it (actually a lot better). The whole assembly then went into the garbage.
I realized that in order to register it, I needed to get the bike back to Pennsylvania. Being a novice rider I was not confident in my ability to tackle a 200 mile (nearly all highway) trip with only a few hours riding experience. I enlisted the help of my father who, being an experienced rider agreed to ride it back for me. With the exception of popping off a vacuum line at about the 150 mile mark everything went quite smoothly. The next day I went in to register it...
Well it would appear that the previous owner forgot to mask off the VIN sticker when he painted the frame, so there I was with a bike and a title but no VIN to prove that the two went together. Eventually after a few months of riding around illegally, I finally had all the forms I needed to obtain a replacement VIN plate from the state and get it registered. Unfortunately it was just in time to store the bike for winter.
The next summer I moved to Oregon, and since I had some extra space in my shipping container, I decided that the bike was coming with me. During this summer it taught me how to adjust and balance carburetors, and that the interlock that stops one from staring the bike in gear was bypassed by the previous owner. Oh yeah, the neutral indicator light also doesn't work... so it makes starting kind of like a game. Near the end of the summer, after smelling gasoline around it for some time, I realized that the fuel tank had a pretty sizable leak. That pretty much ended my riding season.
After fixing the tank, the bike ran fine for the following two years. I logged many miles exploring the Oregon scenery, and using it as my summer commuter. Of course there was a lot of wrenching involved, but nothing too unusual for a 30+ year old machine.
Anyway, at the end of this past year, I found a really good deal on a newer sport bike. I do not really have the space to store 2 motorcycles, so I had to get rid of the Yamaha. Well, after a few weeks on craigslist !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I've just sold it to someone who is probably about the same age I was when I first bought it.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
I've always found the bike to be very similar to how people describe Alfa Romeo ownership.Things broke quite often and there is a lot of troubleshooting involved, but for those times where it was actually functioning properly, there was no other bike I'd have rather been riding. I am a much better gear head for having owned it, and I hope it brings its new owner the same mixture of enjoyment, and frustration I experienced which made owning it so rewarding.
Aaron James
> Decay buys too many beaters
12/28/2013 at 21:15 |
|
Reading your Craigslist Scam story really makes me want to put up an ad and state "Paypal Only" So I can have some fun with the scammers. Love the email address he gave saying it was paypals e-mail. I wonder how many people actually fall for this. I remember reading somewhere that a guy lost 50k trying to buy a BMW from a scammer. First Bike I ever owned was a 1970 Yamaha CT1B 175 it was a fun little bike that worked well on the street and light trails. My dad rode it a few times also. the last time either of us tried to ride it the kick start lever kicked back and cut into his Achilles tendon so we sold it.
Next up was a 1989 Suzuki GS500E which was a lovely bike, low on power but really taught me how to ride.
Then the last motorcycle I ever owned was just a sweet little ride. I sold both my cars and the 1994 Honda CBR 600 F2 before I left for the Army. Shortly after I got back I got married and had kids and have never owned another motorcycle. I sure do miss riding.
|
Decay buys too many beaters
> Aaron James
12/28/2013 at 21:43 |
|
I think that would be great. You could also have an interesting interaction with real people where they offer cash and you respond with something like "sorry I only accept paypal"
And nice collection! I actually almost ended up with a 70's Yamaha trail bike (do not remember the exact model) as my first, but it sold out from underneath me. The bike I picked up recently is also a CBR.
Why did you stop riding? Just too dangerous considering the family?
|
Aaron James
> Decay buys too many beaters
12/28/2013 at 21:58 |
|
Well, I sold all my vehicles when I left for the Army back in the mid 90's and got a wife and kids instead of another motorcycle when I got back home. The main reason for not getting one was my then wife's parents had a bad accident on their tourer when a car pulled out in front of them and she really didn't want me to get one after seeing the 3 month recovery period her parents went through afterwards. She never said No but I didn't want her worrying about it. Plus I was always nervous about somebody else not paying attention and hurting me and seeing the aftermath of the inlaws accident had an effect on me as well. I've been divorced for 5 years now but I'm still leary with so many distracted drivers banging away on their smart phones.
|
Decay buys too many beaters
> Aaron James
12/28/2013 at 22:06 |
|
Yeah, I guess you've got a point there. Hopefully all the automagic braking and other automated crash avoidance systems funneling their way into the consumer market will actually work on motorcycles. For my own safety, I try to avoid freeways at all costs and usually stick to single lane highways and back roads.
|
Aaron James
> Decay buys too many beaters
12/28/2013 at 22:27 |
|
Yeah that's a much safer way to go. I'm almost 40 now and stuff hurts more and takes longer to heal. If I was still in my 20's I'd be on a bike in a new york minute.
|
Aaron James
> Decay buys too many beaters
12/28/2013 at 22:30 |
|
If I were to get a bike now I think I'd go for something like the new Honda NC700X comfy for commuting but still has a sporty side.
|
Decay buys too many beaters
> Aaron James
12/28/2013 at 22:37 |
|
I was really tempted by the new vstrom 1000, but then an '06 Fireblade came up for right around the $3K mark.
|
Aaron James
> Decay buys too many beaters
12/28/2013 at 23:08 |
|
That's a great price, I don't blame you for jumping on it. That will be lots of fun.