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motorcycles. MOTORCYCLES! I love motorcyles. I love riding motorcycles. And I love motorcycle adventures ... and while I've mostly driven Honda Motorcycles, I riden BMW, Harley, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and BSA. My current ride is a 1998 Honda Valkryie (Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3 Picture 4 Picture 5 Picture 6 Picture 7 Picture 8
1978 Honda 400. I started riding on a 1978 Honda 400, burnt orange w/black pinstripping. I paid $500 for it in 1985. My riding buddy at the time, Matt Peters, just picked up an 1986 Yamaha 650 Seca Turbo, which at the time, rocked. My poor little honda had a top speed of 98 mph. I could never, even with a backwind, break the 100 mph barrier. The ECM unit on the bike went out twice ... and after several ditch riding event, I eventually got water in the magneto, and left it on some deserted MN pasture ... it was a good bike, it was a gone bike!
1984 Honda V65 Sabre 1100. For starter bikes, the Honda 400 was a good learner. In the summer of 1990, I test drove a 1984 Honda V65 1100 Sabre. Shaft driven. 11:1 compression ratio. It had really great acceleration. I paid $1500 for it, which at the time was a good deal. I kept the bike for 10 years. Never doing long trips with it (i.e. the longest was a 700 mile one way trip from Minneapolis to Tulsa). Of course, the bike wasn't meant for long touring ... something my body eventually told me. The '84 Sabre was the best, most cost effective mode of transportation I ever owned. I logged a total of 17,000 miles on my V65. I HAD NO PROBLEMS ON THIS BIKE WHATSOEVER.
1998 Honda Valkryie. As my consulting business began to prosper, it was time to sell the V65 and move up in biking world. I've always been prone to Honda's, but in the early 90's, the Harley style bikes came into prominance. I've always been fruggle when it comes to large ticket item purchases (e.g. auto's, home's, etc.). This immediately took Harley out of the picture ... I couldn't see parting with 10,000 just for a name, let along abandon a name brand that has showed me well throughout the years. What to do ... What to do ... ah, Honda Valkryie. In the summer of 2000, I researched, found, and picked up a 1998 Honda Valkryie with 3,500 miles on it. Great style, low end tork, big footprint. I picked it up for $8000 (saving several thousand off a new one) and so begins my adventure trips.
2003/2004 Honda Goldwing. My next bike ... WITHOUT A DOUBT, will be a Honda Goldwing (1800). I will probably buy it 2 or 3 years old, with between 2k and 5k miles on it, and again save on what I would pay at a dealer. Honda builds *idiot proof* bikes. By this, I mean, unless you drive it without oil for, say 600 miles, its almost impossible to break the thing. I've researched the Goldwing thoroughly. Honda needs to make 2 adjustments on their flagship product. The first change, is a larger gas tank. 6.6 gallons doesn't cut it. The MUCH less expensive Kawasaki Concour has a 7.7 gallon tank, and pulls almost 50 mpg. Honda, listen up. Put an 8.5 gallon tank on your Goldwing. The 2nd change is to add a 6th gear. I know the 5th gear is touted as a cruising gear, but its really not. With all that torch cranked out of the 1832 monster, a TRUE 6th gear for cruising is more than warranted, its required! Click Here to sign our Goldwing Enhancement Request webpage.
Documented Trips. I have hundreds of photo's, journal entries for the following trips that will soon be posted, so please keep on checking back from time to time: 2000 Denver to San Francisco. 2000 Hawaii on a Harley. 2001 Denver to Vancouver.
Upcoming Trips. 2004 Denver to Halifax. 2005 Denver to Alaska. 2006 New Zealand on a Goldwing. 2007 Europe on a Goldwing.
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