Who The f!@# am I???
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Thats me on the right with Warren at the Brisbane poker run a few years ago now
Howdy.Im 56yrs old,born in Wellington New Zealand, lived there most of the time till I was 28, in a club . Love the open road on my 124'' S&S Dyna...Been living in Sydney Australia for 28years and loving it! Here's a bit of my history...
After a Lambrettor scooter that I'd rather not talk about! First real motorcycle was a 1952 Matchless 500 single at 15. Had that for a year or so, gradually destroying itself as bits vibrated loose.Worst bit was the 4 barrel nuts coming loose on the motorway and the barrel coming up and smashing the bottom of the sleeve.
After that I bought a 1962 650 pre-unit Thunderbird for $275.00. Eventually had to get it rewired professionally, converted to 12v as there weren't any of the old alternators available at the time..or so Wetzels told me. Put extended forks and struts on it eventually...cant remember what happened to it...
Hell worlds worst photographer....After a quick trip to OZ in 1976, next acquisition was a 66 Saint, for $500.00, flat tyre and wiring fucked again. Bought a manual, stripped out the old wiring and rewired it..used to run without a battery, replacing it with a large capacitor, which worked ok but meant the lights dimmed when ya slowed down...Thrashed that for a while doing some mean wheelstands, usually drunk as,(f all booze buses in those days...)until I did it up a bit and sold it to a mate while I moved up the country to work on the Huntly power project. Bought a 72 bonny for $800, nicest looking bike Id owned. Black and red slimline tank.Good old Triumphs. Day I bought it got 1/2 mile down the road and the clutch center nut came loose .No clutch.Went back, tightened it up, took off again, and the headlight fell out and smashed...The joys of motorcycling.
Went back to Wellington after a few months, and repossessed the saint my mate hadn't paid for, and restored it to original, silver and maroon tank etc. Got tired of the club scene and Triumphs about then and somehow bought a black 1978 GS1000 suzy. hell, reliable and powerful! That was stolen from outside my work one Friday evening. Heard the damn thing go, thinking it sounded like mine, but didn't check! Got it back 2 weeks later when I saw the bastard riding it close to where I lived! Sold it and went to England where I bought a 1972 750 Honda that I took round Europe.
Here I am sitting waiting for the gas station to open in the mid afternoon, somewhere in Italy. Hot as hell, see why they take siestas...
After England /Europe for a year went back to NZ and did an electrical apprenticeship. Soon as Id finished came to OZ to work. Bought a stroked Sportster after 2 or 3 years from C&R Engineering. 1976 iron head for 5k.
| When I could start it , it went like fuck. but the bloody kickstart used to slip..I was round 95kgs and it took all my weight to get it over compression, there I'd be one foot on the starter the other foot in mid air, and the bastard thing would slip. The old knee wasnt meant to try to bend forward! Crippled me so I was using the left leg for a while...and the same thing happened to that leg. Was very happy when Metho Tom RIP took it as a trade on a 1984 FXRS. |