My Bikes | Brian

bikes

While I don't recall every car that I've ever owned, I do remember each and every motorcycle that I've ever had, along with all the good and bad points of each.

All of them are listed below with little stories about my time spent with them.

01 - 1967 Triumph Trophy Trail

The year was 1971 and I had just graduated from high school. Having never ridden a motorcycle, my brother Dan's offer to teach me how to ride his Triumph 250 Trophy Trail was eagerly accepted. Thus began my long and exciting foray into the world of motorcycling.

02 - 1971 BSA 441 Victor Special

Scanning the want-ads from the local paper there was a 1971 BSA 441 Victor Special for sale only a few miles from home. Still not knowing a whole lot about motorcycles and what to look for, I asked Dan to accompany me in order to check it out. I fell in love with the little BSA the minute I laid eyes on her and purchased her on the spot. "Vic" and I spent a lot of time in the next year running around the back roads of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. That is, when I could get it started.

03 - 1974 Honda CB350/4

On one of my frequent trips with Dan to Millis Cycle in Millis, MA I spied a relatively clean 1974 Honda 350/4 (the picture is of someone else's Honda) sitting in the corner with a fresh coat of gray primer on the tank. This is where I made a big mistake that I rue to this day: both the Triumph and the BSA were traded straight up for the Honda.

04 - 1971 BMW R75/5

At Freemans Cycle in Beverly, MA, who was a BMW and Moto Guzzi dealership, there was a lovely black 1971 BMW R75/5 with white pinstriping that was calling out to me. They agreed to take the Honda in trade and soon I was tooling around in style! The difference between my previous steeds and the BMW was amazing to say the least. My first day out I thought that I was pretty much with the speed limit of 45mph; imagine my surprise when I looked down and saw that I was actually doing 80mph!!!

05 - 1967 Triumph Bonneville

My next ride was a 1967 Triumph Bonneville. It also needed a little work to get it running, but since my brother restores Triumphs for a living, I wasn't too concerned. Both years that I owned this bike it was taken apart each winter and stored in a spare bedroom on the third floor of my house.

06 - 1981 Yamaha XS850

This motorcycle had the worst seat that I have ever been un-fortunate enough to encounter. Fifty miles was about all that one could stand before having to stop for a break! Of course, since the seat was so utterly horrible, I just had to use this bike for my cross country trip. Spent a total of three months crossing the country and spending time in the Los Angeles area.

07 - 1976 Yamaha XS650

A short time later it was off to Houston, Texas. I spent a few bucks on a derelict 1976 Yamaha XS650. We were basically starting life over and never had any kind of money to sink into it to get it rideable. Although I never did get it roadworthy in the year or so that I owned it - at least I had fun tinkering with it.

08 - 1982 BMW R65

This was probably the best all-around bike that I've ever owned and I sold the bike in a fit of insanity when I returned to New England. Found a job that was an hour and a quarter each way and thought that I'd need a bigger bike to make the trip every day. While the bike that replace the R65 is long gone and forgotten, the BMW lives on as one of my all time favorite bikes!

09 - 1975 Yamaha XS650

Bought this one from a friend down in Texas. It wasn't much to look at in the beginning but when it came back to New Hampshire with me it was repainted and the seat was redone. It was lots of fun riding this one to the British Iron of New Hampshire meetings. Lots of people would take a quick look and say something like, "Cool, what kind of Triumph is that?" Once they realized their mistake they would turn their heads in shame! I loved it!

10 - 1971 Suzuki TS125

One of the maintenance men at the apartment complex had one that he just wanted to get rid of and, being such a nice guy, I took it off his hands. Had compression issues and, a month later, someone offered me 50 bucks for it and it was gone.

11 - 1978 Honda Goldwing

With my new commute of 60 miles each way almost all of which is on a highway, I traded the BMW in on a bare bones 1978 Honda Goldwing. While it was a nice bike, the exhaust always seemed a little too loud for me; plus, it never really ran right. I had two different shops try to get it to run smoothly and neither one could help. I even tried another set of carburetors on it and nothing changed. Finally got tired of playing with it and sold it back to the dealer with no regrets.

12 - 1978 BMW R80

The Goldwing was then sold and the proceeds were used to purchase a 1978 BMW R80. While this bike was OK I never really felt comfortable on it. I don't mean the seat, it just felt like a total stranger every time I took it out for a ride. It's real hard to explain so I won't try any further. The bike was finally sold and the proceeds were used to pay off some bills.

13 - 1970 Triumph Tiger

The next bike in my stable was the 1970 Triumph Tiger that my brother, Dan, built for me. Dan has been restoring Triumphs for Don Hutchinson Cycles in Wakefield, MA for close to twenty years and is now retired from the bike building trade.

14 - 1988 Kawasaki Concours

Attended the Motorcycle Expo at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH one cold February weekend I happened to stop by the booth of Motorcycles of Manchester (MOMS). Right in front of the booth was a gorgeous 1988 Kawasaki Concours that had only 10,800 miles on the odometer. Fortunately, my wife was with me and when I told her that I had lusted after this bike since it first came out in 1986 she simply said, "Buy it!" so I did!

15 - 1999 Honda Valkyrie

I was entertaining the idea of keeping the Connie but getting into a cruiser bike since that is the way I generally ride. Just love to sit back, cruise and look around. Most of the bikes looked nice but didn't seem to provide enough comfort for our proposed cross country ride we planned on making - but never did. A full fledged GoldWing was just too much... not so much that it is so large, but it just has too much garbage on it for my tastes at the time. The Valkyrie was just right.

16 - 2005 Honda Goldwing

I know, I know... most of you will say that it really isn't a true motorcycle and that a wheelchair will probably be my next ride! It may be, but lately the country has seemed a lot smaller to me and I plan on taking a lot more long weekend rides as far out of New England as I can! In doing so I want to be as comfortable as I can and don't want this old body aching every night when I stop for the day.

17 - 197? Yamaha XS650 Special

Picked this bike up off of FreeCycle.com hoping to have the time to work on it and get it running while recovering from some injuries. I soon realized that I wouldn't have the time or room to work on it and gave away to someone else after about a month.

18 - 2004 Honda Goldwing

I never did warm up to this bike. Maybe it was because it was all black and really made things look dark while riding it... I don't know for sure. All I know is that, even though I added a few lights and chrome, it just never really was an enjoyable ride to me. Put it up for sale in the fall of 2006 and the new owner brought her home early the next spring. While I owned this in 2005, this picture was taken in November of 2020 when I found it on the side of the road in Salisbury, MA for sale.

19 - 2005 Honda Shadow

I had originally intended to get a Kawasaki Drifter 800 but, after weighing the differences, the Aero was the bike that appeared to suit me better. While some would think that this is too small of a bike, you've got to remember that I was brought up on bikes of this engine size so, to me, it was just the right size. Unfortunately, the motor lacked any kind of 'grunt.'

20 - 2005 HD Road King

Ever since being a little kid I've loved the look of the police Harley you'd see in the old movies and finally got one of my own. Even though I always said that I'd never own a Harley - I knew that it was only a matter of time. It's now August of 2021 and The King is still going strong with almost 75k on the clock. Finally found a new home for the King and am moving on. As always, it was tough to see it leave with someone else. Long live the King!

21 - 2003 Honda Goldwing

Well, I finally did it. Have wanted an 1800cc Wing for quite a while now and a friend just happened to list his for sale at the same time that I sold my Road King. Took a ride to Erie, PA and Dalton, OH in 2022 and 2023 with this great ride! While this was a great bike for my trips of 2022 and 2023, it was sold on July 1, 2023 to a couple of young kids who want to buy two and take their two girls on a cross-country trip in a few years when they're a big older. Really hope that they take that trip!

22 - 2007 Kawasaki Nomad

This is a bike that I've always admired and figured that it was time to try one out. It needed a little tweaking before it was set up to my liking but finally found the sweet spot. It may not replace the Road King that I once had, but it's a decent ride.