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My 50th anniversary this year

Started by TexasDave, December 19, 2018, 10:05:09 AM

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TexasDave

This is my 50th year of being on two wheels. The years of riding have gone by fast but I still enjoy riding and sometimes still feel the need for speed which the FJ does very well.

When I was 15 years old I purchased a Yamaha 180cc Candy apple red Yamaha Bonanza. It was a twin cylinder street bike and would do 90mph downhill with the wind. It was the biggest bike I could afford at the time and both insurance and gas were very cheap.  Since I was too young for a license I bought a dark face shield so the police could not see how young I was and rode it all summer long. Luckily I was not stopped. Been addicted to motorcycles ever since.

Starting out with Yamaha I always favored the brand and have owned several different models. However I have also owned Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis and unfortunately one Hardley. In my old age I have now settled on the FJ as my favorite. I have other bikes but the FJ is the most fun. So much fun I have more than one.

My only regret is selling any of my previous rides. I wish I still had them all!

Ride safe
Dave  
A pistol is like a parachute, if you need one and don't have one you will never need one again.

ryanschoebel

Kudos to you still riding, and doing what you love! i hope i can still be riding in 50 years!  :hi:
1985 FJ1100-- Atlas (SOLD)
1984 FJ1100-- Storm

Firehawk068

Awesome milestone!
One could only hope to reach 50-years on 2-wheels!
Alan H.
Denver, CO
'90 FJ1200

T Legg

I started riding in 1969 when my dad brought home a mini bike with a three horse briggs and stratton motor at the age of eight.My first race was shortly after against my friend's 16 year old brother on a ten speed. He beat me.ive had many dirt bikes after until I got my first street bike a 69 cb 350 at seventeen.riding the old underpowered motorcycles of the past got you in the habit of riding full throttle everywhere and i havent been able to shake the habit.The need for speed is ageless.next summer will be my fiftieth year of riding.I still have six cb 750 sohc,two 84 fj1100s' one cb900f,one bultaco frontera 370,one 71 yamaha ct175 and one 78 xl250 not all running currently.my favorite now are definitely  the fj1100.Its the first bike I ever had that I cant drive full throttle all the time(maybe the bultaco requires a little throttle restraint also).   
T Legg

TexasDave

T Legg we have similar histories with bikes. I guess I have more than 50yrs on motorized two wheels if I count the Fox minibike I had. Bought it from a neighbor for $50 with paper route money. It had a 3.5 Tecumseh engine, was street legal and would do 40mph. Handed down to my younger brother. My Dad gave it to his brother for his two sons. My Uncle had a jack shaft installed to slow it down. I think this family got their moneys worth out of that bike. Bought that 180 Yamaha and then like you a Honda CB 350 with the high pipes thinking I would have better performance. It didn't and handled worse than the Yamaha. Very quickly sold that for a 1970 Yamaha 350R5. That was a bike with both speed and handling. I have also owned a 1978 Honda CB750F. The last year of the SOHC. That four into one with a megaphone had a very sweet sound. Always wanted a CB900 as I think they are one of the best looking old bikes. My brother also had a Yamaha CT175 as he was into dirt riding. I have never owned a dirt bike but back in my day the Bultaco was the one to have for competition.

Ride Safe
Dave
A pistol is like a parachute, if you need one and don't have one you will never need one again.

giantkiller

I guess I'm coming up on my 50th too. If you count the time my older brother put me on his buddies z50. Told me twist this and it'll go. Didn't bother to tell me about the brakes. Or even to twist it back to slow down. Proceeded to go straight down the driveway. Across the highway, in front of a semi, into the ditch on the other side and crashed. My brother and his buddy both laughing their ass off. I think I was 6 or 7... Then my older brothers built a chopper minibike out of a big Wisconsin engine my dad had. Was a direct drive. No clutch. Put the back up on blocks. Start It. Kick it forward off the blocks. Ride it down to the other end of our 3/4 Mile drive and reach down and kill the engine with the metal tab on the spark plug.(an electrifying experience). Turn it around put it back up on blocks and start it and head back. We rode that for several years. Then we moved to southern Indiana 4th grade. I got a real minibike 3 1/2 hp Briggs and Stratton (with a clutch). Could ride all day in the stip mines and hardly ever have to cross a road.  Kept riding ever since.
86 fj1350r
86 fj1380t turbo drag toy (soon)
87 fj1200 865 miles crashed for parts
89 fj1200 touring 2up
87 fzr1000 crashed
87 fzr750r Human Race teams world endurance champion
93 fzr600 Vance n hines ltd for sale
Custom chopper I built
Mini chopper I built for my daughter just like the big 1

T Legg

Ahh  the old over the spark plug metal tab kill switch,how many of us got our first experience with an ignition coil by a big brother or nasty friend that said here hold this while I pull the starter cord.
T Legg

FJmonkey

Or the contest to see who could pee the longest hitting the fence wire....
The glass is not half full, it was engineered with a 2X safety factor.

'86 Ambulance - Bent frame, cracked case, due for an overhaul
'89 Stormy Blue - Suits my Dark Side

Pat Conlon

...or learning that a piece of 3/4" pipe with NPT threads makes a perfect substitute for a muffler on a Briggs & Stratton engine.
1) Free Owners Manual download: https://tinyurl.com/fmsz7hk9
2) Don't store your FJ with E10 fuel https://tinyurl.com/3cjrfct5
3) Replace your old stock rubber brake lines.
4) Important items for the '84-87 FJ's:
Safety wire: https://tinyurl.com/99zp8ufh
Fuel line: https://tinyurl.com/bdff9bf3

giantkiller

Or that you can change/ eliminate the Rev limiter on a Briggs. And it will go way faster for a short period of time.
86 fj1350r
86 fj1380t turbo drag toy (soon)
87 fj1200 865 miles crashed for parts
89 fj1200 touring 2up
87 fzr1000 crashed
87 fzr750r Human Race teams world endurance champion
93 fzr600 Vance n hines ltd for sale
Custom chopper I built
Mini chopper I built for my daughter just like the big 1

Pat Conlon

...or by taping sandpaper to a glass table you can sand the gasket surface on head of the Briggs ~1/4" to raise the compression.

Wax on, wax off...

....or a Taco 22 mini bike IS NOT designed to go off big jumps...ouch.


.....or your father will notice the Briggs missing off his lawn edger sooner, rather than later.

.....or it's entirely possible to go over a "mile a minute" on a Taco 22 when you put on a McCulloch 101 (if you manage to get it started)

..... or the hard lesson (learned early) that Levis suck when it comes to road rash.

.... or Mini Bike street riding 101: All the pre planned escape trails are futile when the LA County Sheriff's deputy knows who you are and where you live.

.... or Mini Bike street riding 102: Wearing your little brother's Pop Warner football helmet and sunglasses does not make you anonymous to the same LA County Sheriff's deputy.

.... or Mini Bike street riding 103: Keep a clean t shirt stashed to change into before you go home. Adults can tell if you've been riding your mini bike by the vertical stripe of dirt on the back of your t shirt.

...so many lessons learned. I could go on and on...
1) Free Owners Manual download: https://tinyurl.com/fmsz7hk9
2) Don't store your FJ with E10 fuel https://tinyurl.com/3cjrfct5
3) Replace your old stock rubber brake lines.
4) Important items for the '84-87 FJ's:
Safety wire: https://tinyurl.com/99zp8ufh
Fuel line: https://tinyurl.com/bdff9bf3

Tuned forks

Like many of you guys, my Dad put me on a Honda mini-bike in the late sixties.  After that a Yamaha 80 and then another Yamaha '74 Enduro 100.  Still have that one and it doesn't even have enough miles for the first oil change. After the 100 I was on my own.  Point is, I started riding way back when too.  Many fond memories of that mini-bike and now I see they are soooooo expensive.  Too many boomers trying to relive their youth I suppose.  Those two Yamaha dirt bikes started a loyalty to the tuning forks company.  I even bought Yamaha stereo gear.

Joe
1990 FJ1200-the reacher
1990 FZR 1000-crotch rocket

Bones

I'm coming up to my 50th year of riding as well, only difference with the rest is I didn't start out on a girly mini bike, it was a 500cc army BSA. An uncle had it sitting for years under chaff bags and bales of hay looking worse for wear with broken forks. The old man talked him around into giving it to him where he welded the  forks back together and got it running. I was about 10yrs old and the only instructions he gave were, this is the clutch and that's the throttle, twist that a bit while letting this out slowly, so with a handful of revs, clutch out a bit quicker than slow, took off with a roar and a big rooster tail of dirt, been hooked since.
93 fj1200
79 suzuki gt250x7


Too young to be old but old enough to know better.

T Legg

How old were you when you could kick it over?
T Legg

Bones

Luckily every ride on the BSA the motor was running as the old man always started it. As for kick starting bikes as a kid, I had and still have two strokes so starting one was never a problem. I remember riding a mates Yamaha XT 500 thumper in traffic one day and stalled it at the lights, without thinking, gave it a quick kick and the bloody thing kicked back that hard my knee hit the handlebars and thought I broke my leg. A lesson was learnt that day.
93 fj1200
79 suzuki gt250x7


Too young to be old but old enough to know better.