Topic: Terry's "Big Red" Honda XR500RE, back from the darkness.

[ken65]

No mate , just the 750.  I know the early bandits were 1200cc and did read somewhere they are first cousins to the 1100.

[ekpent]

  Just turned 60 this February Terry so will welcome you to the 'club' soon. High on my priority list this year is finding a little red sports car in convertible form and finding a young blonde gal behind my wife's back so I can prepare for my upcoming "midlife crisis" which should be right around the corner. A man has to get all those ducks lined up

[Tintop]

".....finding a little red sports car in convertible form and finding a young blonde gal.."

ekpent there is only one car that fits, Jaguar E type.  It is for good reason they are known as 'cumpet catchers'.   Why settle for just 'a' blonde, when you could have your daily choice of blonde / brunette / red head.  I will say that one of these made the phrase ' in praise of older women' come to life as a teen.

[Terry in Australia]

Well happy belated birthday Eric! I'm still a pup, I turn 59 next week, so a little time left before I join the "Last Quarter Club". I think I'll stick with bikes though, I can't afford to lose half of everything, so I'll stay clear of little red sports cars.

It's interesting that Brian mentions Jaguars, in Britain the Jaguar is considered the car most driven by con men and other shysters, so maybe a can man's opposite number is the gold digger? That might explain why I haven't been mobbed by hot babes whilst riding around on my old K2.........

[MoMo]

Y'all young'uns,  turning 72 tomorrow.  Who'd thunk I'd ever make it.  Think I'm the only male in my family to live that long ...Larry

[ken65]

Happy b'day for tomorrow.
Have a good one.

[ekpent]

Y'all young'uns,  turning 72 tomorrow.  Who'd thunk I'd ever make it.  Think I'm the only male in my family to live that long ...Larry

Yep - Happy Birthday Larry !

[Terry in Australia]

Y'all young'uns,  turning 72 tomorrow.  Who'd thunk I'd ever make it.  Think I'm the only male in my family to live that long ...Larry

Wow, well done Larry, see, all that bad living, the booze, the drugs, the bad women, all proved to be your fountain of youth!

[Terry in Australia]

Well it was another stinking hot day again today, I'd planned to take a look at the big red bike's front end to determine if the humming noise that I noticed on my ride last weekend was anything to worry about (that I need to fix before I hand it over to the winning Ebay bidder) or just the sound of the tyre rolling on the road, but I allowed myself to get roped into picking up my youngest son from the airport, he's been working interstate on a TV show and his mother volunteered to collect him, when it would have been easier for everyone if he just caught a cab.

Anyway, when we finally got home, I had to get on a bike and go. I threw on some jeans and boots, and escaped to the garage. Of course there was no fuel in the K2's tank (I stole it for Big Red) so I returned the favor and siphoned 5 litres out of big red's tank, and tipped it into the K2. It fired up instantly (gotta love hot weather) but ran like sh1t. I looked down, and there was fuel pouring out of one of the overflow tubes. Bugger. I grabbed a pair of multi grips and tapped each float bowl until it stopped, and the bike started running properly on all 4. Good enough. Jacket on, helmet on, gloves on, go!

Sunday Redneck Ride 3 March 2019 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyhoo, first stop was my local Caltex to fill the tank, then up the freeway. I was trying to remember how to get onto the backroads where I road tested the Royal Enfields a few weeks ago. I eventually found them, and took the bends at a much more relaxed pace than last time. I eventually worked my way back onto the Calder highway, and took this pic outside Bob Jane's "Thunderdome", Australia's first (and only) Nascar track. I'm not sure what happened to Nascar here, we had an "Auscar" series as well, but it all seemed to fizzle out after only a couple of years, which is disappointing. The complex also has a drag strip and drifting track, so must still be operating, as the gate was open when I got there.

Sunday Redneck Ride 3 March 2019 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyway, by the time I took that pic it was over 100 degrees again, so I turned for home. I'm almost (only almost) looking forward to some cooler weather!  

[Terry in Australia]

Well I put Big Red on Ebay with a start price of $1500, and hoped to get $2500 out of it to cover what it cost me ($1500 for the bike, plus new tyres and tubes, K&N air filter, oil, filter, plug, new gaiters, seat cover, tool bag, re-pro plastics, roadworthy inspection, club plate etc)

I was pleasantly surprised when heated bidding at the end resulted in a final high bid of $3450! ($2437.00 USD) Woohoo! The hiigh bidder left me on tenterhooks when he didn't contact me for 24 hours, but he did, and he wants to pick it up on Saturday. He's got a 100% rating with 388 positives, so I'm reasonably sure that he'll come thru with the "dough ray me", so at this stage at least, I'm pretty happy!

[MoMo]

that's a big thumbs up  ...Larry

[Terry in Australia]

that's a big thumbs up  ...Larry

Thanks Larry, Darren, the buyer, rang me today, he's a human which is good, I was worried some hipster with a bushy beard and a "Man Bun" wearing tight jeans and gym boots was gonna turn up and tell me how he was gonna turn big red into a sweet Cafe Racer/bobber/brat etc, but no, Darren assures me that he's none of those things, he's 52 and has a love of jap dirt bikes from the 80's, and he's been looking for an XR500RE for some time, hence the premium price he bid for it.

He's sending the money electronically tomorrow, and will pick it up in the next week or so. Suits me, while I want a new Royal Enfield 650 there's some VA money heading my way later this year, so I might look for something else of interest for the time being, I can ride my son Tim's RE Continental GT while I'm waiting...........