So we don't encroach on other threads anyone can BS about bikes here.

I have a 1998 XL1200 that has an 07 dual disk front end, Mikuni HSR carb, home-made exhaust, modified rubbermount air-cleaner setup, re-geared, Corbin "gunfighter & lady" seat with removable backrest, Koni shocks, Progressive fork springs, hand ported intake manifold, Alto Carbonite clutch. I change the bars and tanks around on a regular basis, gonna go back to apes.

2007 XL883R, I put 54,xxx miles on this in 2.5 years and the tranny mainshaft bearing wore out and sheared the shaft off due to flexing back and forth, it's waiting for me to fall into a pile of money.

1987 Honda Reflex TLR200, this is a street legal trials bike, very scary at 50+mph. I got it for free and used it to teach my wife how to ride. Someday I will get the title figured out.

2002 Buell Blast I built for my wife from a bare frame.

 

Sounds like you have a fleet of bikes to choose from.
I too have couple bikes. I just finished another hardtail bobber build


along with this 75 ironhead (XLCH converted to XLH) from some scrap parts



I also have a few Japanese small bikes like this Rebel



This Virago



and this 86 Shadow with less than 10000 on the odometer.



I've owned and operated a bike shop for decades and collect a decent deal or three when I can. The small bikes are great around the islands and cost pennies to maintain. We have owners here on San Juan that have pretty extensive collections of classic and vintage bikes that come into my business pretty regularly. Without the cost I get to occasionally ride them...pet them....and give them names. LOL!!

Capt'n

 

To choose from, not really.
The 07 needs a whole new drivetrain and is in boxes
The Reflex I need to file for a title and make an exhaust for.
The Blast I was short on money and time and took the gamble of not shaving the head when I put the motor together, my wife got 1,700 out of it before the head gasket popped.

My 98 runs, like fast cat with it's tail on fire but with my back injury I can't stand to ride it.

I love bikes, started when I was 3 on a PW50 with training wheels. But the reality is that I can't ride them anymore, maybe I will be able to try a bagger someday but it's a big investment just to gamble if my jacked up spine will let me ride it. The hardest thing for me to do with a bike is to see it sit and that's all any of them do now.

Still happy to talk about them, still have guys in 3 clubs call me for anything Sportster related, still holding on to hope.

 

Ouch....I'm familiar with your back issues. At the age of 12 I was in a car accident. My buddy and I were sitting on the dropped tailgate of his eldest sisters 67 Ford Country Squire station wagon while his other siblings and her kids filled the rest of the car. She stopped at a stop sign that the small road we were on crossed a main local one lane artery road with restricted vision cause by some hedges to her left. I jumped off the tailgate, ran around to the passenger side and asked her if she'd like me to take a look down the road to insure it was clear. She said no...she could see a block or two and it was a 35 speed limit zone anyway. So, I jumped back on the tailgate on the drivers side while my buddy was seated on the passenger side of the tailgate. She proceeded to cross the road to about her rear wheels crossing the yellow divide line when "WHAM"!! We were T-Boned on the drivers side just behind the rear wheel (...yeah...right about where I was sitting ) by a 57 Studebaker Golden Hawk who was drag racing a 68 Camaro at an estimated speed of 90mph. Since I "lucky" enough to be seated at the point of impact I was lifted and launched like a human missile across the intersection, thru a string of palm trees and landed on the front porch of a house. My buddy didn't fare so well. His body, being on the low side of impact, was slammed onto the asphalt of the street and skidded and tumbled to the sidewalk in front of the house where I had landed. I watch as he took his last breath. After that, I couldn't do situps or normal school PE activities due to injuries to my lower spine. I still wear the scares, along with many others from other mishaps in life, as a reminder of how precious life is no matter how limited we may become to enjoy it. I was lucky, eventually I recovered and I don't let it limit my riding.
My eldest daughter luvs her Blast. She's ridden it all over FL and WA. with her husband who is on his second Triumph Rocket III while my 7yr. grandson rides with him attached with a special harness. We recently acquired a 92 KZ1000 Police Special with a sidecar. What a kick that thing is and my grandson can now see the road from the sidecar. He's blossomed into becoming a real motohead.
Never give up anything....even hope. I tell my grown kids " if the front door's closed...go around the rest of the building check the side door...back door or get a hammer (persistence) and keep beating on the front door. Sooner or later something gotta give". Let me know if you need anything for your bikes, as a dealer, I've got a lot of resources for parts and info. Be glad to help a fellow motor head.

 

Quite the traumatic accident.

I just have my ups and downs with cabin fever and feeling helpless. Last year a buddy and me rode Wa-Id-Mt-Wy-Co-Az-Ca-Wa, was 4,300 miles in 10 days and I did the entire thing with my left hip dislocated. It was a great ride and gave much needed feeling like I was still able to live life, however I was a hurting unit.

My 98 I go back and forth about selling or keeping all the time, I would have to swap quite a few things if I sold it for the same reason I have it de-tuned right now, an unsuspecting rider doesn't need to loop it over.

I was really surprised with the Blast, with a stock carb it would barely do 60, with a rejetted carb and custom exhaust I made it would go to 95 fairly easily. It handles great in most conditions, it's light, cheap on gas ect, ect. I need to tear the motor down have the head shaved and since it has a bent shift fork I will be doing the Baker shift drum and a lot of cleaning fit/finish stuff in the tranny as shift forks seem to be a common issue.

 

All that with a dislocated hip? You are truly an Iron Butt rider.
With the bike shop there are a couple of things I don't get to do much. First is...riding. The other, a ride longer than a day trip. If you wanna stay off a bike....start a bike business. You never get time to join your customers on any rides or see new destinations because your "married" to the shop. So, out of self defense, I started a local riding group last year. Since Sun. is my only day away from the shop we meet up in the morning and just go for ride. At least if all my honey do's are caught up at home. I have to answer to a redhead at my house.....that can be an unpleasant experience if she's not happy.
I find if I'm in question about whether to sell or not sell....I don't sell. I figure...I'd kick myself later for letting it go cause it's not always about the buck....I'm sure you would agree...it's about the connection we have with our machines. A kindred bond if you will.
Meanwhile Baker is a good outfit. We've been a dealer with them for many years. Quality products that they stand behind.
Recently, nothin to do with Baker, I've been goin through -N- switches like candy at a kids party. Some stamped Made In the USA, some from China and the other are from god know where. The last one was from CCI. I tested it first on my Fluke 88 before I installed it. At first...hit and miss and then, depress the ball on the switch ...tah dah...continuity. Yeah! Installed it.....damn....pull it back out.....no continuity. My search for a butt simple product continues til I find one that actually works. Good damn thing its for my bike and not a customers.
Capt'n

 

The hip pops out pretty easy since I injured my back, after about 45 minutes in my wifes newer Honda Accord and it's out, walk half a mile or more and it's out, ride for 30 minutes or more and it's out. If it was a matter of choice I wouldn't push it but the fact is that no matter what I do, it's going out, so I just try to live my life. If I spend over an hour on the bike my back really starts giving me problems with feeling my legs and bladder control and the ability to walk, I pissed myself twice on the trip and had no idea until the next gas stop.
My 98 has been my rider for a couple years now, it hasn't had any gauges or indicators on it for a long time, got a factory tach and speedo setup but haven't bothered with the wiring. If I get rid of it I will have to do a few things like the gauges, build a different exhaust, put the 98 single disk front end with 21 back on, change the bars and do a better paint job. Besides it's not like it would leave me bike-less and I need to get something more family friendly as I'm now married and gonna start a family. There are other things to go first like my 91 Thunderbird SC as I don't need to have a kid in the back seat of a car that likes to posi up and go sideways on the freeway.

 

Hmmm....maybe a sidecar might be in your future or maybe even a trike.

Here's one of our customers in Sweden on his new Beast Customs Trike and, yes...that is a Ford 427 side oiler.



Capt'n

 

Happy Friday pic!

Capt'n

 

2003 VTX1800. I live in PA, but I have a daughter and grandson in Seattle. Hoping to do a cross-country ride someday...

 

Capt'n, Sport bikes are starting to all look alike to me but those look like Ducati's, the Desmond valve train design is art in motion! I tried buying a HyperMotard but no go on financing, no surprise.

thomabb, looks like your bike is setup for distance, would be a nice ride but getting into the wrong time of year for it as pass closures will start to become an issue.

 

Hey Thom,
That Honda will do the trick. I've done it a couple times along I-90 to Ticonderoga, NY from Puget Sound (San Juan Island). I'd suggest taking a couple weeks so you can stop and take in some of the sites and wonders along the route. Once here, you'll have to go whale watching up here in the islands.

Capt'n

 

If you're doing it anytime soon you may have to go south then west as South Dakota got an amazing amount of snow.

 

Are these things allowed in here?

 

Don't see why not, it's got 2 wheels and a motor. Is that an SX model?