Then and now (kind of) more motorcycle stuff

Geoff4rfc

Posing by my first bike in 1980....



Who knew it would lead to this in 1992......




Breaking in a new crew chief....."No dude, the start button is over here"

motorhead43026

^^^^XJ650 Maxim?

Geoff4rfc

motorhead43026 wrote: »

^^^^XJ650 Maxim?

Thanks for the reply!! Yes sir, good call, Yamaha 650 Maxim. That bike was pretty fast. Four cylinder Shaft drive, which did a cool thing, the shaft climbs on the swing arm and raises the rear end on acceleration, in turn, raises the back of the bike (common effect of shaft drives), so when I did wheelies (only now and then ), the front end comes up, the rear end lifts, and sometimes it felt like the bike was taking off....

I destroyed that beautiful bike on a top speed run, launched it in a corner (street) doing around 140 mph. Woke up, 285 feet down the road. A football field is 300 feet (I had chugged 4 pitchers of beer. I shouldn't have been allowed in public much less riding a motorcycle). I swore I'd never ride another motorcycle.....by the time I got my insurance money, I bought a Honda 900F super sport....I guess I was destined to stay with the idea of motorcycles, only sober, that was key......one month later, I was riding this.....



But as you can see, at age 21, I still was a stupid. At age 26, I entered the racing world and was determined to do it right. By age 27, I became pro-eligible, and the rest is history.



Now racing for money, bike #39 had been on my azz all race long, I passed the two red bikes on the brakes to put distance between us. Entry speed to that corner is 120mph.....if you're doing it right

Going fast on motorcycles has always been my passion, I'm very grateful to have accomplished the things I've done and be here to share it.

billbillw

My best buddy around age 19-20 had one of those shaft drive Maxims. I was riding a restored '73 Kawi H1 at the time. I remember how his lifted the rear on acceleration which I thought was odd. My H1 was usually leaving him in a smoke cloud (it was 2-stroke).

billbillw

...and not long after, my buddy bought a CBR600F2 and then he left me in the dust!

Jetmaker737

At age 25 me and a buddy put down a bunch of tequila slammers. We left the bar and raced down I-90 from Eastgate to Issaquah. Me on my Yamaha Radian 600 and he in his 5.0 Mustang both of us doing north of 100 mph. We took an exit ramp that was a sweeper to the right, still going too fast. I drifted into some gravel on the left which sent me into a curb lining the roadway. I can still remember being upside down watching my bike tumbling behind me. Bike and I sailed across two lanes of traffic into an asphalt median. Being drunk as I was I must've just rolled with the impact as I was unharmed and stood up immediately after I stopped rolling. I had a helmet and cowboy boots on, jeans and a denim jacket. Helmet was dinged hard. One boot ground through at the ankle bone but stopped at my sock. My buddy helped me push the bike across the overpass to the other side of the freeway and hid it before the cops could get there.
I eventually repaired that bike and continued to ride it. Now I'm on a Ducati Monster 1200, but TBH I rarely ride anymore so may sell it soon.

msg

Holy carp!

Geoff4rfc

billbillw wrote: »

My best buddy around age 19-20 had one of those shaft drive Maxims. I was riding a restored '73 Kawi H1 at the time. I remember how his lifted the rear on acceleration which I thought was odd. My H1 was usually leaving him in a smoke cloud (it was 2-stroke).

Loved the H1's and H2's, killer bikes in their day.

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

At age 25 me and a buddy put down a bunch of tequila slammers. We left the bar and raced down I-90 from Eastgate to Issaquah. Me on my Yamaha Radian 600 and he in his 5.0 Mustang both of us doing north of 100 mph. .

Dude!!!! Glad you're still with us.....I know I-90, I think that's the way we went to race in Spokane.....WA has the best streets to ride on.....I streeted my 87 GSXR750 and rode with a buddy breaking in his 89 GSXR750 to race, slicing and dicing at Browns point....he almost went over a guard rail into the valley of death, that was the only time I was scared on a bike.

motorstereo

For me it's the first time I've been without a bike since 92. My long time ride (2000cc Kaw Vulcan) that shared my listening room with my rig left here on new years eve. I have no plans on getting another bike as my reflexes, vision, leg strength and the riding environment all have changed for the worse. Licensed rider since 73 and I've had a few mishaps. Hit a horse, gone over the bars a few times, tipped over backwards doing wheelies, caught in snowstorms and I'd been known to occasionally outrun the police with a belly full of beer in the 70's. My days of standing up straight on the seat with no hands are over and thankfully I'm here with no lasting injuries. Keep the stories coming though as that's as close as I'll ever get.
The very last pic of my Vulcan taken a few minutes before the new owner arrived.

BlueBirdMusic

An

story, and thanks for all of the great pics by all!

@Geoff4rfc, those who are not shy are well rewarded!

skipshot12

My Kawi Z back then bike…


I have no now 😔

Geoff4rfc

@motorstereo so many of us here with incredible "death defying" pasts and no doubt there are so many more members here with their own stories involved in different arenas.

When people ask me how I got into A/V, I tell them once I quit racing, I needed something else to obsess over, bought my first flat panel, a 47" LCD and didn't like the way it sounded. That was in 2008, bought my first AVR and Polk speakers, Monitor 70's in 2010 and have learned a TON from this forum....took a beating from @F1nut Jessey in the early days because I was a total novice but you either have thick or thin skin.....

Every forum has it's bumps and pot holes but if you look for the smooth pavement, you get through it pretty easily. Not only have a learned a lot from the members here, but I've spit more coffee from laughing at the minds as deranged as mine.

It's nice to be noticed!

skipshot12

Death defying, I have one.

That z900 above I rode WFO from Titusville (cape Kennedy) fl to Daytona and back. Throttle pinned the whole way I know the top speed of that bike.

Only problem was, once I was caught I spent some time in jail, lost my license for a year… was the perfect time to enlist.

ken brydson

stangman67

I’ve gotten into motorcycles a bit lately. Just picked up this 25 Triumph Trident. Was dead set of a Speed Twin 1200 but this Trident spoke to me

Jetmaker737

Congrats! Sweet machine. Looks like it would be pretty nimble. What's the displacement?

stangman67

660cc triple. Not a world burner but plenty of get up and go for daily fun. 81Hp/47 ft lb torque

billbillw

Those Triumphs triples have a great exhaust note! That is the first I've seen a rear fender/turn signal/tag holder like that. Is that a factory configuration or aftermarket?

stangman67

The tire hugger is certainly a bit different. It is factory on these Tridents

pitdogg2

I've seen those tire huggers on other sport bikes. It may be that a lot of riders raised enough grief that the manufacturer had to do something other than the license attachment under the seat was getting riders tickets for improper license attachment. In my city that will get you a ticket. The other location for a plate on most seems to be sideways on the swingarm, both seem to be problematic in some cities.

Geoff4rfc

Cool looking bike! Pretty nice that it comes with the inverted sliders. And doggonnit....got me looking at the GSX-R1000, candy apple red/black and finding CMRA....central motorcycle racing assco....two tracks near FT Worth, one in OK and one LA.....COTA (Austin) only does world superbike and motogp from what I can tell.....the tracks were so much closer up in the NW....or I could just come ride with you.......You let me know if you start rubbing through those curb feelers on the end of your pegs.....

Geoff4rfc

What the heck....I need to step away from the computer.....been on an exhaustive search and destroy mission for bikes and parts.....

HATE the electronics these days...wheelie control, slide control (traction ctrl), launch control....what ever happened to rider control???

AND...most of my sponsors have folded: exhaust, brakes, bodywork....SBS direct (Scandinavian Brake Systems, AKA Stop B*tch Stop) isn't even in the US anymore...even my leather sponsor in Japan want's me to use a stateside distributor.......FINE...back to privateer status.....I can't even locate Lockhart Phillips that would feature me in their annual catalogue each year....


And now, the sponsors listed on the plastic, provided either product or budget, seem to have disappeared in a cave.......so very sad.....

F1nut

I saw the aftermath of a rice rocket/medium size SUV accident today. The bike hit the SUV's front end from the passenger side with such force that the engine/transmission were laying 10 feet away. One can only guess how fast the bike was going, but it sure as hell wasn't anything close to the speed limit.

msg

was that a head-on, or cross-path collision? might not have been able to tell. crazy.

F1nut

I'd have to say cross path.

motorstereo

Just last night a truck hit 3 dirt bikes right up the road from me. 2 of them left in lifestar helicopters the 3rd one didn't make it.

Geoff4rfc

It's a catch 22 selling sport bikes...a guy should have the right to go buy one, but is it right to sell to the inexperienced?

The liter bikes will easily go 185+, right off the showroom floor. @F1nut Jessy's story is of no Suprise, it happens often, the bike becomes a deadly projectile at triple digit speeds.

A close friend of mines son was the same age as mine. I coached them in basketball and baseball from the 3rd grade up until they were in middle school. When the friend's boy came to me at age 18, he was very excited and told me about a new bike purchase he was about to make. I congratulated him and told him, "Look, you be sure to come see me right before you get it and we'll go over a few things". He said, absolutely coach!!

Well, he never did come see me, got the bike, went straight to the waterfront in Tacoma, opened it up, T boned another vehicle and didn't survive.

Since then, I've made it a point to approach every sportbike rider I see on the street, as opportunity allows, befriend them with pictures of my racing which instantly wins them over, then we discuss safety practices on the street. All I can do is plant seeds. Recommending organized track days is always a vehicle (no pun intended).

I would love to see dealerships offer mandatory clinics with every sportbike purchase.

stangman67

I’m glad I waited until I was in my mid thirties and had more sense than what I had when I was younger. Having a healthy fear of death seems like a good thing when on a bike

msg

I agree, Zach. That's about when I got my first motorcycle, too. I always knew I wanted one, just something inside said I couldn't trust myself lol

When I was in the AF, I wanted a ZX-7 in that Kawi green, blue, white race scheme, like BAD, but even if I could have afforded it at the time, it woulda been all kindsa bad, and I'm not even as wild as these guys here ^^^
I like spirited rides and drives and jumping bikes a little, but I couldn't hang with this group.

@Geoff4rfc - what was that thing your competitors used to say? They understood why you put your sponsor stickers on the bottom of your bike? Because you'd wait so late to brake in the turns that you'd go up on the front wheel?

msg

Also, sweet mod for when you want to drive your motorcycle...

msg

motorstereo wrote: »

Just last night a truck hit 3 dirt bikes right up the road from me. 2 of them left in lifestar helicopters the 3rd one didn't make it.

Damn.