That's really great. I am so glad to have gotten to take a few rides with my little brother before he passed away, and I have done many with both of my parents. I hope that someday I can take a few with my son.
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Well, I decided to give my pal Mick (zombie) a call and it's a done deal. My son's first bike will be a near-mint condition 1981 Kawasaki 550 LTD. Cash deal, to be delivered next weekend.
While I'd like to get him on something more modern, those are stone reliable and easy to work on. This one needs nothing but a license plate! I might replace one of the tires to get a matching pattern set, but we'll see how it works first. Cheap to fix if he drops it, and if not happy (he saw photos before I agreed to buy it) in a few months he can sell it off and have a nice down payment on whatever he really wants. This will give him time to get accustomed to riding and learn what he likes and doesn't like better.
Congrats Ken, it'll be a great feeling to get out and ride with your son again. I remember several rides years ago with him riding on the back with you. Best of luck, and maybe an old VBC reunion once the weather gets a bit better?
Great job!
Thanks Mark!
Yeah, he did a LOT of rides with me and I did get a few comments here & there about riding too fast with him aboard. Well, we both survived it and here we are now where he's finally going to get his own damn bike and follow me around...until he gets the hang of it and passes the slow old man for good. ;)
I can imagine he'll join me for a ride over to the Bean some Sunday morning when his fiancé would prefer him to be in church with her. Like father, like son. He'll have to complete the Basic Rider Course first and have the M/C endorsement on his license so he can cross state lines though. Hopefully I'll have him signed up in a couple weeks for one of the first courses of the year. Being on a tight budget as they save for the October wedding, I'm going to pick up costs of bike, registration, title, sales tax, and BRC. He's covering insurance, excise tax and buying riding gear.
Maybe a little Bennington Bash? I might even do it myself.
Little late to book a room for me & my son, and not sure he can get the time off from work because he's trying to save some time for wedding & honeymoon.
Next year (if they still have it), he'll be a more competent rider....and probably on a Triumph. He seems to like the Bonneville, though I'm going to steer him toward a Street Twin. I love the looks of that bike!
I saw that 550 the other day at Spencer's! Thing looks mint! Sweet scoop!
Let me know if you plan on heading to the bean. I live about 5 minutes from there.
You saw the one Mick is selling me? He had it here in my town (Spencer MA) for the Rice-O-Rama event and had a couple bites. The one who came closest made a big mistake though: Sat on the bike and started it up without asking, so Mick told him he wouldn't sell it to him at any price.
I'm pretty sure Spencer is Mick's nephew, though treats him as a son for sure.
If you know Mick, when the guy sat on that bike and started it without asking you know the reaction wasn't a courteous "please don't do that." ;)
Riding with my kids is one of my greatest joys. My son got his learner's permit a few years ago while I was away on vacation. (He was 23 at the time) He dropped it on the table in front of me when I got home and he said, "Dad, what should I do with this?" Wow, what a surprise! He took the rider safety course and passed, then we picked up a '77 CB550K that we worked on together. He loves that bike but he also loves all my other bikes - especially the CB1100F's. So last August, I gave him my "spare" blue 1100F that I don't need. I'm in the process of bringing it back to really good mechanical and cosmetic condition so that he can start riding it this spring.
Last August my 29 yr old daughter decided to get her learner's permit the week we were all together on vacation in Plymouth. She passed, then took the rider safety course in September and got her license, then bought a Suzuki GS550. It's in great mechanical shape and a perfect first bike for her. We've been on a few rides together, but unfortunately it was after my son went back to school. This spring, the three of us will finally get to ride together for the first time. Another milestone.
I never pushed either of them to take up riding. I felt that it was a decision that they had to make based on their own desire to ride. Both are excellent cage drivers and as a result, they're careful and good motorcycle riders.
Can't wait for riding season to start.
Not a common day to get one's first bike...and second at the same time. ;)
The one he's on in the photo ('81 KZ550 LTD) with Mick (zombie) will be the first few months, and only when he's completed the BRC and ridden with me enough for me to deem "unlikely to be a squid" will he be on the second one.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps14uku6lz.jpg
Are you adopting?
That's awesome!
LOL...I get that a lot. Nope!
I told all 3 of my kids I'd get them into their first car and bike, and have held true to that. He's the first (and probably only) to take advantage of the bike part.
When I went to Motorsports International on Friday to get my annual MA state inspection sticker it was Bill Morrow (formerly of Performance Cycles) who did it. I spoke with him about what I was doing. He called me at home yesterday (Saturday) to report he forgot to actually put the sticker on the bike. When I ran over to pick it up he told me if I wanted to sell the Kawasaki he's interested. My daughter's boyfriend saw it today and he's also interested, so I know I can get my money back. That'll be it for investment. I'll cover the 2012 Bonneville SE for now and after their October wedding my son will pay me back the difference between the KZ550 LTD and the Bonneville.
Just a little update: We took out first ride together today. Too cold for anything substantial, and he hasn't taken the MSF course yet (because none of the schools has run it yet.) All the training so far is whatever I told him and what he read in Ken Condon's "Street Strategies." Only about a 25-30 mile trip to get the annual MA state inspection sticker (on the 8th day after registering it), a lunch at Maury's Delicatessen in Worcester, a stop at his house then back to mine. I'd been waiting a LONG time for this day!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps7c6u7mld.jpg
Congrats for both of you!
Awesome!
Skipped the lil bike and went right to the real bike eh haha?
Almost. He put maybe 10-15 miles on the Kawasaki. It's got a problem we haven't figured out yet. It'll run fine, then start losing power and surging. That's very disconcerting for a new rider. He says that he feels 10x more comfortable on the Bonneville, more confident. I also haven't found a matching new front tire for the KZ550 yet, might have to spring for a new pair.
We can work out the bugs in the older bike, get it running smooth and then sell it off. He's got a couple interested parties, I have two strong bites. We won't worry about the market for that bike, it's really in very good overall shape.
With the Bonneville he gets the bike he's wanted since 4/1/2011, the day he gave me a ride to pick up my Tiger 800.
Is the gas tank venting? I've seen it before at about those same miles ridden.