Names in red are current bikes. Plus former bikes are described in the past tense
Helga
Helga is my newest ride. She is a 2007 BMW K1200R Sport. She is quickly proving to be a absolutely mediocre. She is turning out to be a bit of a one trick pony. On the open road she is brilliant. But trying to negotiate slow traffic is a real pain. At under 3ooo RPM the fueling if aweful and she stutters and hunts. Plus the fit of the body panels isn’t what you expect of a bike this expensive. One of the panels is held on with some loose fittin rivets so it rattles over bumps. Since they are rivets there is no tightening that can fix it. She is equipped with all the goodies available from the BMW options list. Electronic suspension adjustment, Remote tire pressure monitors, mileage computer, and of course heated hand grips. Aside from the grips the gizmo’s really take away from the riding experience, adding complexity and unreliability for no real performance advantage.She has the wheelbase of a limosine and requires a lot of effort to hustle through the twisty and technicallly demanding mountain excursions around here. I will say that her legs are long and she is ,so far, proving to be a willing cohort for chewing up miles. The main thing I fault her for is her value. She is way too expensive for the level of reliability and fit and finish. I see myself keeping her as I owe more than she’s worth.I didn’t pay full price for her. I bought her new and got her out the door for about $4000.00 off the msrp. To be perfectly honest a Hayabusa or CBR1100XX with aftermarket heated hand grips would have been better and less expensive.
Gertrude
Was a 2006 BMW R1200GS. She was a fantastic bike for 36000 miles. She introduced me to the BMW brand and also let me dip my toes in the adventure touring water. I found the time I took her off the pavement to be terrifying, though. After getting some time aboard a no-shit dirtbike, she began to feel like a broken hip waiting to happen. And if you’re not gonna take a dual sport off road then you should have a dedicated road bike. I did have some service issues with her but I blame the particular technician at the shop that serviced her. I would probably still have her but the dealership that employed that tech, stepped up and really made me good deal to swap out the two mechanical Frauleins in my life.
Sylvia
She is a 2003 Suzuki SV1000S. She is really more our bike than my bike. She is the perpetual loaner. She is docile enough for the newer rider and yet the grunty V-twin has guests that have been riding a while still occupied. She is nimble and light (compared to some of her sturdy german stable mates) and a real blast to ride. I haven’t taken her far from home so she only gets worked out in the local area. Bay Area backroads are her real home.
Mirabelle
She is a 1990 Honda CB1. I originally bought her as a Christmas present for The Gift. Unfortunatly The Gift and I didn’t pan out, and she couldn’t afford the upkeep on a bike, so she gave her back to me. I love this bike. It runs great and is very efficient. Plus she’s non descript as well as a head turner (to those who know). She’s had a few looks. From the stock Baby blue to the pimp white with zebra and pink details to just plain white. I ride her hard and often. She’s the masochist in the garage. She’s only happy if you’re wringing her neck. The little 400cc hamster wheel of a motor might as well be a pair of bicycle pedals below 7000rpm.
Sharkey
He is a 2001 Suzuki Bandit 1200S. And easily the most important to me. When I bought him he was my first new bike. I saw him at the dealership with 0.00 miles on the odometer. My test ride put .7 miles on it. And when I traded my ex-wife’s 600cc Eliminator in for him the ink was still wet on the divorce decree. He represented so much to me. He was my return to motorcycling. He was my return to bachelorhood. He was a symbol of a great change that I made in my life. He was my calling card in 4 states. He became as much an integral part of my personality as anything I was born with. He excelled in stock form at dragracing around downtown Boise. I was embarassingly fast to the hotted up sportbikes that revved on me at the stoplights. He was my commuter, my road tripper , and my weekend escape pod rolled into one. I vowed that when I had another bike and he was no longer my only ride I would turn him into a fire breathing, pavement buckling, backroad monster. As soon as Gertrude was parked in the garage I turned to Holeshot Performance to achieve that goal. Soon he was putting down 90lb/ft of torque at 5000 RPM and putting 130hp on the ground. He got a makeover with glossy black paint and flat black ceramic coated exhaust. He was loud and not refined at all.
I loved that bike as much as you can “love” an object. But soon my feelings clouded my judgement. And when the amount of money I put into it was 5 times it’s actual value I had to make the adult decision to let him go. I turned the ultimate jack of all trades into a very specialized thing that could only do one thing. Go in a straight line, very fast. To get what I wanted out of him it would take even more money in suspension and brake upgrades. I threw in the monetary towel as it were. Now Sylvia occupies his spot in the garage. He was sold to a german guy who commutes in the south bay. He takes road trips, and loves the comfort and power. I’m sure I’ll run into him again.
Update: 06/18/08
so I was browsing around the different moto sites on the internet I use to check inventory of local shops. Can you believe it Sharkey was for sale. The german guy that bought him got transferred to Paris. So I went down and got him back. I can’t believe how much I missed this bike. When I saw him for sale I just had to go get him. I rode him yesterday. The last owner only put 3300 miles on him. I’m so happy.
Lisa
She was a 1992 Yamaha FZR600 that I stole from a coworker. He was getting assigned to the east coast and couldn’t take the bike with him. I gave him a standing offer for $1000. So if he couldn’t sell it at least he could count on that. After weeks of dealing with low ballers and tire kickers from craigslist he told me that if I gave him the grand now, and let him keep the bike up to the last day he was here (about a month) it was a deal.
and it was a deal.
After about 6 months the caustic atmosphere of Treasure Island was taking it’s toll. And with three bikes in the rotation it was tough to stay ahead of the corrosion. I ended up selling her to some college kid who needed wheels. She was reliable, and the epitome of Bold New Graphics, ’80’s cool.
I miss her a little more each day. But I don’t think there’s room in my heart for two ’90’s moto icons.
Ayame
Named after a ninja assassin from a video game she was a 1979 Kawasaki KZ750B. A parallel twin that was my great savior. When I realized that I was getting serious with my (then) girlfriend (and future ex-wife) and was about to start a new life together under my own crushing debt load, I sold off my Ninja and various moto things. Gear , Tools, and so on went up on the Air Base “for sale” bulletin board (a pre craigslist era). The first three years we were together I was bike-less. My mom passed away unexpectedly and I came out of the deal with some time off and her old chevy truck. Since I was on the east coast, to handle her final arraingments, I dropped in on my dad. He had this bike (that he picked up for $500) and I rode it when I was visiting. Seeing how much it cheered me up to ride again, he gave it to me. I threw it in the back of my newly acquired truck and brought it back to California with me. That was the beginning of a 6 year $5,000 oddyssy that had her change colors and jobs numerous times. From metal flake red to deep-forest green. From a flat saddle UJM to a hard bag equipped commuter to a stripped down minimalist basic ride. There are more times that a mechanic has looked me square in the eye and said “I don’t even know how this bike is running right now.” and “In 20 years of wrenching on Jap iron, I ain’t never seen that come out of a motor before”, than I care to count
She’s still running great. I got to borrow her from the current owners on vacation in June of ‘08.
