Hehe... where do I start... first ride was on Whidby Island back in 1965, I was 9 years old and rode a Honda 90 with the step through frame up and down the beach at Useless Bay... I remember the speed wobble in the sand and how the front wheel suddenly cranked to the left, throwing me over the handlebars onto my back lol. That was the first wreck.
I didn't get to ride a bike I actually owned until 1979 when I bought a 1967 Norton Atlas 750, and I was hooked. That bike was FAST, and handled really well. But... the metal fatigue from vibration was, and is, Legendary... I remember losing the oil plug out of the sump, and as long as the bike was kept on throttle, the scavenge pump would suck up most of the oil. But, when slowing down to turn left, awaiting traffic, and then rolling on the throttle, gave the oil a chance to leak out copiously.. onto the rear tire, which was still the Avon Speedster MKII... promptly, I found myself and my girlfriend in a 360 degree donut, and laying it down gently on its left side.... I walked back down that straight road I had just rode (lol) and never found the sump plug. But, I did find where it fell out, as the oil trail started there, and every time I shifted, it gave a little Vee spray on the asphalt.
That bike would vibrate so much, that parts would fall off the bike from metal fatigue! Mirrors, carbs studs, etc...
The Original Avon Speedster MKII front, was a ribbed tire, and one day I was riding up to Monroe, Mi. to the coal burner there, and of course, I am late, so I was probably doing about 90MPH up I75N between LaPlaisance rd. and Front street, a nice 2 mile stretch, when all of a sudden, something started flapping, and was whisked away behind me... I figured I ran over a strip of wire or something, and since the bike did't do anything weird, I went into work and parked the bike next to the guard shack on the center stand. When I got off work, I am heading out to the parking lot, and I see what looks like, a white spot in the middle of my front tire. I thought, perhaps it was mud, or maybe had been rubbing on the front fender, where the highway bar had dented it on hard braking. NO... it was the cord showing, and what I thought I had ran over at 90MPH was actually the TREAD coming off the Avon, 1" wide. I contemplated the consequences of what Might Have Happened at high speed, and suddenly deflating the front tire... and then took the back roads home. I was careful to inspect those tires after that, and had to replace the front one. That bike met its end one summer morning, when it vibrated the oil feed from the timing cover up to the rockers in two, and let all my oil out. I had just rode 30 miles down to Toledo, and was on I475W turning onto 23S, when the chain case skittered into the weeds... the footrest through bolt had sheared off, dropping my footrest, and the nut holding the chain case on. Well, what the He** I thought, i will come back later and get it. Now, the ride down to Airport Hwy is only 3 miles, and then 5 miles to the old Southwyck Mall, where i lived, so I am cruising 23 at 60mph when I hear a BOOM! The left piston and rod went through the block.. but, It kept running on one cylinder, so I rode it back to my apartment, until I got to my street and they had gravel and construction there... now, I only have the front brake, as the rear also had fell off, so I am now clutching, front braking, and throttling one cylinder, trying to keep it running, when a little old lady, going 4MPH in front of me, steps on her brakes... and I stalled it. Well, being two blocks from the house, I parked it against the center median, and walked home, intending to come back and get it later.
When I walked back to the bike a nice policeman was there, and asked me whether it was mine, and I said yes. He stated, well your registration is expired, and you have NO ENDORSEMENT on your license. I suggest you PUSH it home, and don't ride it until you are legal. I thanked him, and as I'm trotting it down the sidewalk, i see a lady walking her dog, and I candidly state that, "well it doesn't eat much" and she says... "and it looks like it doesn't run much, either." Hmmm....
It sat in my spare bedroom for the winter, and I gave it to a friend who had a P9 Ranger, and bought my 2nd bike.. a 1968 BSA Thunderbolt 650, which I put 15k miles on in the next year. After I wore that out, I bought a new 1982 Yamaha Vision XZ550 on the recommendations of two fellows I met that year in Yosemite National Park. One was riding a Norton Commando, the other a SOHC CB750 Honda... I asked him how the Vision handled, and the guy on the Norton said, "he has no problems keeping up with me in the corners"...and the Honda CB750 fellow said," he can keep up with me flat out too"... so, I went home and bought one that fall of 1982, and The rest, as they say.. is history. Went Japanese and Never Looked Back.
Charlie
