My first bike was a 78 Yammy XS650 Special II. My neighbor was a salesman at the Yamaha shop and would bring home different bikes and let me ride them. He brought the XS1100 home and when I rode it I couldn't get used to the shaftjacking--just didn't feel right. The XS1100 seemed like a monster of a bike at the time!I had the big XS1100 special version - a really good 'ride in a straight line really fast' bike!
What, you've never seen a dirt jump before? Yee haw.
I see the OMR diversion is closed too. I thought they'd fixed this road, I guess no one told the weather?
Upt'North.
Yep, it would jackshaft on you in a New York minute (which is shorter than a Tennessee minute) and things could get a little 'interesting'.
Well it means that the road from there onwards to Inveraray is nice and quiet, which some mates & I took advantage of today
I see the OMR diversion is closed too. I thought they'd fixed this road, I guess no one told the weather?
Upt'North.
As of yesterday, waiting times at Hunters quay were about 1 hour, coming the other way it was 1.5 hours.
How about going and giving that F850 a spin and give us a report.
Riding is one of several reasons I've been strength training for most of my adult life. The older I get the more I focus on leg strength and balance. I want to keep doing the things I enjoy as long as I can!
I've been focusing on balance more since breaking my foot last year and i'm back at a point where I can get out for a ride on the old Schwinn for leg strength though I do need to do something about arm strenth
Couldn't agree with you more, my XS650 was my second bike and it was the classic look of a motorcycle.Yup - great story, thanks for sharing! You certainly live in a beautiful place Don - I am envious.
I started riding a 2007 ST1300 in 2015 after 25 years away from bikes and while I love the power, brakes and handling of the big Honda, soon I also hankered for a smaller and lighter bike (knee replacement after 40 years following a bad injury when I was a kid). I find the ST1300 perfect for longer touring rides but it is just too big and heavy for city riding so I got into the vintage scene and have a small fleet (3) of Yamaha XS650s (think 1960-70s Triumph/BSA/ Norton - but with a 5-speed gearbox, an electric starter and actual working lights) - and I love them.
They are deadnuts simple to work on, all of the parts are readily available at low cost, there is an amazingly effective and helpful on-line community (XS650.com) who will pitch-in and help any time with anything. These bikes only weigh about 450 lbs, have around 50 HP, and handle steadily with decent (NOT ST-class, but quite OK) brakes. Mine are all "Standard" models with relatively low, flat handlebars and long, flat "banana" style seats rather than the pseudo-Harley king/queen cushy variants of the "Specials" and so they are really very comfortable. I have one of the three running (it was an absolute mess when I got it from a barn) and have put well over 13,000 miles (!!) on it in about four years - and it has never let me down. That includes a number of 500 mile days after which I could still walk. The other two will emerge from the Disaster Central Workshop this fall/winter in time for the great re-opening in 2021.
The sound from those long chrome mufflers is one of the things I like the most. On one of my first rides after resurrecting the 1976 XS650C, I stopped for breakfast at a little country diner and a lady walked over and said: "I like your motorcycle, it doesn't look like a plastic praying mantis and it doesn't sound like a kitchen blender". If I were in the market for new bike now - a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 would be at the very top of my list. They are the closest modern equivalent to my XS650s which lack only the digital fuel injection and ABS brakes of the modern bike. Nonetheless, I find the carburettors work fine once you clean them thoroughly and dial them in and I never had ABS when I was a boy and seldom ride in rain now - so I am OK without it on the smaller bikes.
Sorry for the rambling!
Cheers,
Pete
You live in a beautiful part of the world for motorcycles.Over the last year I have been contemplating changing to a lighter bike.
Concerns over my health and stamina, and the weight of the Pan were the main factors.
Even while riding it, servicing it and adding various farkles the thought was still there.
I was up in Glasgow last week and had look around the BMW showroom, looking at a 1250GS and a F850.
A friend has just recently got a Triumph Rocket and was selling his Triumph Bonneville T100, so I arranged to borrow the keys and take it for a run at the weekend.
Spent some time checking out the reviews on the internet & YouTube, pretty much all positive.
On Saturday the keys hadn't been dropped off and I spent some time on the Pan repairing the indicator toggle switch (the pivot screw had come loose) and putting a little air in the tyres.
The bike was sitting in the middle of the garage and I was looking at it and thinking....."if that was sitting in a showroom, all polished and shiny I would be wanting to buy it".
(I don't tend to polish the bike, the screen gets cleaned frequently and the bodywork gets hosed off occasionally, everything behind the body panels gets sprayed with FS365 protectorant whenever they are off for maintenance).
On Sunday the keys still hadn't been dropped off and I was sitting out on the deck with my wife talking about the Pan / Bonneville, and she commented "it doesn't matter what bike you have in the garage if you don't take it out for a run".
So 15 minutes later I was at the ferry terminal at the North end of the island.
Had a great run around Argyll and the Cowal peninsula.
This picture was taken at the top the "Rest and be thankful" on the start of the road to Lochgoilhead
I eventually arrived home late afternoon, the Bonneville keys had been dropped off, so I headed to the garage where it was stored and took it for a test run.
Stopped off at my house to let the wife see it.
Its a pretty little bike, however not for me......I just didn't enjoy the ride.
The ride on the Bonneville also clarified my thoughts on a smaller / lighter bike, just too different from what I am used to
So......decision made...the Pan stays.
