2006 YZFR1LE # 78 of 500 Yamaha

When I heard that Yamaha was going to produce a YZFR1LE made in limited numbers I had to have one. I've always liked R1's because they were the closest thing to a Ducati 916 in looks that a Japanese manufacturer made. I my opinion the Ducati 916 is the prettiest bike ever made although the 1198 Duc is very very nice too.

So I called my buddy Scott at Berkley Yamaha and told him to hold one for me but he wasn't sure what they were.

I get most my information from the Internet so when Yamaha said they were going to make the YZFR1LE dealers had no idea until days later and that's when I got the call "Oh you want one of those". It's a sweet bike and the great part is you don't see one everyday. I've won some tickets to some really hard to get in to MotoGP dinners with pics of the bike. Here's one and I hope to keep getting more.
I like this bike but it's a lot faster bike than I am a rider. I prefer twins. I loved my RC51 and my Superhawk because there easy to ride and you don't have be so perfect as with the R1. I don't think I've taken this bike anywhere near it's limits but it's a lot of fun anyway. I'm getting old. Only a few heydays left I'm affraid.

2008 KLR 650 Kawasaki

It's times like this I love riding motorcycles.

I don't do it enough but I'd like to spend more time doing some dual sport stuff. I work 6 days a week so it makes it a little tough but I have a new employee who may free up some time for me. I could sit on my KLR all day. It's the best KLR ever made and I've had 3 now. Better forks and spokes have made the biggest difference. 99% of my time is spent on the road so it now has street tires which allows me to rail on the turns.

If I could only have one bike this would be it.

Early 70's racing

Here's some early racing video from the 70's. Sears Point, Riverside and Laguna Seca.

Cold Tires

2004 ST1300 Honda

Yup SHE got me and what a chicken shit ticket that was so lets talk about the bike instead.

The Honda ST1300 is one of the best bikes I've owned. I knew the second I rode away from the dealer that I had made the right choice. It handles, it wheelies, it's comfy and it's not to slow. Those are the things I look for in a sport touring bike and this one fits me perfectly.

I've been all over California on it. Went for a week to Zion in Utah and The Grand Canyon. I'm keeping this one for awhile but here's the kicker. After 30,000 miles all I've done is change the oil every 5,000 miles whether it needs it or not. I've gone though a few sets of tires and still looking for the ones that stick like glue and last forever but this is a great bike that I'll put up against any bike out there.

2000 EX250 Kawasaki Ninja

Screamer !!!!!!

This is our little 250 Ninja. Now my wife may get a little upset if I said "OUR" but I really like this little screamer. Story goes like this.

Janeen was working on Matrix Movie when she saw Carrie-Ann Moss riding a Ducati and said I can do that.

At the time I was looking to buy a ZRX1200. I found one locally and bought it but we were trying to make a 2 bike deal and no one had a 250. It was Sears Point AMA Superbike weekend and off to the races I went. Janeen on the other hand got on the phone and started searching for a EX250.

I got the call while at the track that she had found one and was going to pick it up in the truck in South San Francisco. I left the track just before the 250GP race to meet her. It's the first time I saw her really excited about getting a motorcycle and it was a bike she really liked.

I really liked it too because you really had to ride it to make it work. That motor screams at 14,000 RPM. Fun bike but sold it to get her MP3 500 Piagio.

1975 Yamaha DT400

Rattle trap
This is another fine example of a old bike I should have never bought. Mine was cleaner than the bike shown but that didn't make it any better. Give me a four stroke any day. I'll suffer with a little extra weight. I traded it away for a chainsaw. The chainsaw rattled less.

Here's the clan of bikes 1985ish

1975 RD125 Yamaha

Can't tell you why I bought this bike other than it was in great condition with low miles and I had extra money to throw at it. Didn't ride it much didn't go very fast didn't handle very well but it was cute. That's the wrong reason to buy a bike. Pretty is as pretty does.

2000 RC51 Honda

I waited 6 months for this bike and I drove the dealer crazy calling everyday to see if it was in. Before it came in I saw it for the first time at the Motorcycle show in Santa Clara. It was up on a rotating pedestal about 6 feet in the air. As I was looking at it a guy with a Honda shirt said "Do you have one on order ?" and I said "Yes !!" he told me to climb up and sit on it so I did. The next thing you know a guy wearing another Honda shirt came over yelling to get down. Turns out the first guy just had the shirt but didn't work for Honda. As we walked away someone who had seen me up on it started to climb up too. They really need to let you sit on even the newest bikes.

Did a few trackdays and a few trips but at 50 years old sportbikes are hard to put 300 or 400 miles a day on. I guess I am getting old. So thats why I sold this bike to get a YZFR1LE ?????. Maybe I'm not to old yet.

Trackday and Photoshop

Now theres a match

2005 WR450 Yamaha

Dirt Bikes
I really like dirt bikes but they seem to hurt me more than street bikes. It's probably because I'm a better street rider than a dirt rider. I quit ridding dirt bikes after my knees got torn up and so for a good 15 years didn't ride them at all.
In 2005 I bought a WR450 and I got back into it but rode as carefully as I could. Took a few spills and tore up my wrist when a big rock jumped right in front of me.
That wasn't so bad but when I blew my knee out just throwing my leg over my KLR I knew it was time to get rid of it. I had some great rides up at Penny Pines my new favorite place to ride but the knee operation didn't go so well and the bike would have been sitting for 2 years now. I do miss it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmcjILu_BLQ

2002 SV650 Suzuki

My (Wife's) SV650 was a great little bike. I bought it after she had had her 250 Ninja for awhile to move her up to the next level
Only problem was it ran a little lean and pulling out of Pinky's parking lot it coughed as twins sometimes do and caught her off balance. It was a low speed fall over but she never got over it partially because there was a lot of motorcycle buddies around.
It's not if it's when. We all will fall-crash someday and if you think you won't your just kidding yourself.

1986 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Standard

I always said "If Harley Davidson builds a good bike I'll buy it" So in 1986 I bought a Electra Glide. I paid $7300 bucks and that was a fair chunk of change for a motorcycle back then. My buddies all thought I was crazy since I had mostly owned Japanese bikes up tell then.
They told me they rattle and parts fall off, they break down and they are slow and on and on.
I knew that 1984 was a change for Harley and the new Evo motor so I gave them 2 years to get it right and they did. I did everything I could to break this bike and when I sold it in 1990 for $9500 I said "This is the first time I've made money on a bike".
I went half way across the United States with Richard who was riding a GL1000. I left him in Yellowstone because I couldn't take him anymore LOL. I drove from there to Tahoe Flat Out in about 10 hours. The bike would only do 97 MPH unless you were going down hill you could get it to go faster and less if you were going up.
Great bike and I'd buy another if they weren't so overpriced but lets face it my ST 1300 will run circles around it but it lacks that cool factor. I guess I've got to find another way to be cool.

ATC 90/110

My brother got one of the first ATC 90's in town and proceeded to roll it down the hills at Parkmead school. Nearly making it to the top he looped it (he has a way with that) and down it rolled. Now if you have ever seen one of these things roll down a hill you know it's a spectacular thing. There mostly tires and balloon tires at that. When they roll they bounce and they can bounce pretty high if they build up enough speed. So here comes this thing rolling and bouncing and all you can do is run and hope it doesn't hit you. It was never the same after that but it wasn't the only time it happened and he wasn't the only one to do it..

Later they came out with a ATC 110 which I bought and just playing around again up at Stonyford we had just got there and I was sliding though a turn and hit a little V ditch. It flipped and I broke my collar bone.

Many years ago you could ride all over the Stonyford/St. Johns mountain area. Nothing was off limits like today and we stayed in a place called Pocket Camp on the North side of St. Johns mountain. It was about an hours ride in by truck but no one was around. With a broken collar bone all I could do is lay still for the next 3 days until it was time to go home because no one really wanted to leave and lets face it you don't do much for a broken collar bone.
First thing everyone says when they see three wheelers is "Those things are dangerous". I personally like three wheelers better than quads because you can throw them around a little easier but that's just me.

1985 ATC 250R Honda

These bikes were rocket ships



I rode them around up at Stonyford and remember roosting the corners and just plain having fun. Richard was with me sometimes and like always we gave each other a bad time about who was faster. I always won. He rode a ???? I forget because it was always behind me but man was he fast when I blew by him.

I took this unit out to my brothers just after buying it and he wanted to ride it. I told him to be careful but he hit the throttle and looped it when the thing had less than a few hours on it. He tweaked the steering head and it never rode the same. I hate crashed bikes. Even though they could be alright I always feel they are not and never feel comfortable again.

1988 CBR1000F Honda

This bike was one of those bikes that Honda had left over and sold cheap. I believe it was $3995 and for that price for a brand new 1000cc sportbike I couldn't pass it up. Loved the bike but it had some bad luck issues.

First one was a ride up to North Star in the Tahoe area. I had the bike parked in a lot for the condos we were staying at and when I came out in the morning someone had run into it from behind. They hit it so hard it knocked it into the car next to it. Then they stood it back up and left no note. Insurance kicked in and $2300 later it was fixed. I got a ticket driving it home from Tahoe and another taking it to the dealer to get it fixed.

Then driving down 680 a guy was tailgating me and to make a very long story short we got into a fight on the side of the freeway. I had to do a citizens arrest because the guy was drunker than a skunk. It was his second DUI. Our fight was broken up by a FBI agent that just happened to be passing by. The guy wanted to sue me but the judge sided with me and his attorney told him don't even go there.

After a few other little things like a recall that required they pull the engine apart. I decided to get rid of it. I traded it in on my 1990 VFR but while waiting for the VFR to get ready it fell over in the parking lot and broke everything that had just been fixed. Nice bike just bad vibes so I was glad to get rid of it

1972 TS250 Suzuki

Now I can't really say this was my bike because it was purchased by my sisters boyfriend but he kept it at our house and I would say I put more miles on it than he did. We lived next to Parkmead Elementary and ran it up and down the hills daily. He also had a 1947 Knucklehead chopper that was beautiful. One day while he was washing it I came screaming up the driveway in my brothers dune buggy and thought I'll scare him. I got real close than hit the brakes to skid up to him. Problem was he was washing the bike which meant there was soap and water on the ground. Needless to say I slid right up to his bike and the buggy landed on top of it. I thought I was dead. We picked up the buggies front end and lifted it off the bike and believe it or not it didn't really hurt it. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Showing off can back fire. Now if I could just put that lesson to use someday.

2000 Kawasaki KLR650

I HATE THIS BIKE !!!!!!

For years I've had bad knees and tried not to do the wrong things that blow them out. My buddy Mike calls one day and says "Lets get dual sports and do some rides" So on Craigs list there is a really nice KLR in the green color no one likes but me and the price is right so I bought it.
In the process of getting it ready, I had it all loaded up with bags and tail trunk. I threw my leg over it to get on and blew out my left knee. 2 years later that knee is still messed up. I had it operated on but it didn't go so well and this is my second operation on this knee. Needless to say I blame this bike but it's probably just bad genetics. Both parents have bad knees. Sold it soon after getting it and purchased a 2008 KLR.

2/1/2009 BMW ride

Rode with the Central California BMW group today. Nice day, Nice ride, Nice people