I like this video. And I love that Yamaha SR 400! I wish they sold them here in the States.
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Fun Vid with Royal Enfields
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1431 to Gloster Bend
I had a couple hours free on Saturday morning before we went camping so I took a ride out on 1431 east from Cedar Park. 1431 is supposedly one of the better motorcycle routes in Texas and the many times I’ve driven it in a car I have seen tons of motorcyclists. I knew I didn’t have too much time so I figured I’d just ride a little bit of it until 8:30am, and then turn around and head back home.
My weekend morning rides have been lots of fun. There aren’t a whole lot of cars on the roads, but I do see a lot of other motorcyclists which is pretty cool, Usually they give a wave to me and I’ll wave back. Everyone is enjoying the morning! 1431 just past Lago Vista changes from four lanes to just two and is filled with lots of twisties and elevation changes. As a new rider, the curvy roads are pretty exhilarating even though I’m not traveling too fast. Usually I keep a little below the speed limit. It’s still really cool to lean into the turns.
I turned off 1431 and followed a sign to the Gloster Bend Recreational Area. I’ve never been there before so I thought I’d explore a bit. The road was narrower with a speed limit of 40 and decorated on the sides with the occasional mailbox. I only saw one other vehicle on the road, and they were just cruising along at around 30mph, and I decided to do the same. It’s so relaxing to just ride and take in the sights (while still keeping an eye out for deer or other critters) especially after the faster riding on 1431. I eventually found the recreational area, which looked like just a boat ramp and some nice picnicking areas. I stopped and had a drink of water and took a couple photos, then headed back home. It was a really great ride and I cannot wait to ride farther on 1431 to Marble Falls at some later date.
Distance: 50 miles
My friend Colin posts riding videos accompanied by excellent tunes. Colin had a Vespa P200 when we were in high school. It was from way back then that I wanted a motorbike. Now Colin lives in Monterey, California, where he gets to ride his FZ in some beautiful country.
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Site Maintenance
Just so my loyal readers (all three of you), I will be adding old motorbike-related posts from Takoyaki.org here. Anything before 2010 is originally from that blog.
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Motocompo Chase
A fun little anime clip I found from The Scooter Scoop:
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Mariko’s Old Scooter
While in Japan (and before we met), Mariko used to have a scooter like the one above. She cannot remember what happened to it, though. I can’t believe you can just not know what happened to you scooter? Crazy woman!
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Dream Bike
OK, this is my dream bike. A Honda CB400SS… available in Japan, but not in the U.S. Bummer… It’s got the classic style, but with updated components. If only they sold this in the States, it would be so cool. I love the white tank with rust-colored graphics. The blue and silver color scheme is nice too.
Check out the cool wallpapers they have at the Japanese Honda site.
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My New Infatuation
So, I have been having tons of fun restoring my C70 these days, and still love it, but I have my eyes on a new (old) bike… a Honda CB350. These were apparently very popular in the early 70’s, and tons of them were sold here in the States. I see ads for them every so often, prices ranging from “free†to $1,500 for a close-to-perfect specimen. I am interested in a “runs, but needs some work†condition model. The motorcycle itself is not really a sought-after classic, but I like the look of it, and it’s small, light. Plus, parts are readily available on ebay, with more availability and cheaper than C70 parts.
One of the things about the C70 is that, although it goes up to 40mph, it takes it’s own sweet time to get up to speed. I guess that’s the trade-off, however, for being so economical (over 100mpg). But being rather slow makes it more dangerous, even for neighborhood riding. The bigger bike is safer, since it can pull away from tailgating cars more easily. With the C70, once you hit 40, that’s pretty much it. The CB350, from what I have read. has enough power and zip to accelerate faster than most traffic. (How’s that for rationalizing)
My thinking at this point is that I need to get fix the C70 to as good a condition as I can, then sell it to fund my CB350 project. It’s funny, but a nice C70 sells for pretty good money. I think I would be able to get $1,000 for it. By my estimate, I have put a grand total of $500 into it, including buying the bike itself.
At any rate, to do more restoration on the C70, I need to wait until we are in the new house, so I can unpack all my tools and C70 parts. Plus, we will have a 2 1/2-car garage, which means more room!!! So, this project will have to wait until 2006. In the meantime, I still have some things I can do to the C70, like work on some electrical issues.
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Paper Motorcycles
Yamaha has some neat little models of their motorcycles that you can build. Just print out the pdf’s, cut the pieces out, and you can assemble a cool little motorcycle. The YZF-R1 also has a cool toolkit, jack-stand, and other accessories.