New member: My motorcycle story - long

Mr. Clean

I heard about this forum a few months ago and visited it from time to time. I see that there is a lot of good information here and finally decided to join.

I purchased my first motorcycle in 1970 - a wrecked Honda CB 160 that I bought from a neighbor's son for $35. I saved money to get this bike running by skipping lunch and using my lunch money for parts to fix the bike, buy a helmet, register the bike and get insurance. I graduated from that bike to a succession of Hondas - CB350, CB750, GL1000 and a CBX. Then in 1997, I bought my first Harley, a new Heritage Classic. A few weeks later I signed up for a charity ride and while waiting for the ride to begin was parked next to a custom painted, fully chromed 1996 Heritage. The bike was beautiful and the owner looked over at my totally stock Heritage. He says "nice bike, I see you bought a starter kit”. I thought what is this guy saying? I just paid $17,500 for my bike - more than I thought I would ever spend on a motorcycle - and this guy tells me I bought a “starter kit”.

Well----- 3 years and over $10,000 more spent for custom paint, custom seat, modified wheels, engine work and lots of chrome. I finally had My Harley. I now knew what that guy meant by "starter kit".

I retired (not by choice) in 2002 and started riding my Heritage almost every day. Well the Softail was not so soft - it was beating up my back. I found that I was taking pain medication before every ride, so I decided to sell my Heritage. In September of 2002, I had a room reservation in Milwaukee for the 100th and tried to buy a new Road King. My local dealer told me that most of his 100th Anniversary Road King allocation was already spoken for and he could not guarantee me a bike in time for the anniversary ride. Other dealers were charging anywhere from $2500-4000 over list in order to guarantee me one in time for the ride the following June – 9 months away. There was no way I was paying those prices. Accordingly, I went in another direction.

That is when I purchased my BMW R1150RT. The bike was perfect for me and the riding I was doing at that time. Even the stock seat worked. The only changes I made were a footpeg lowering kit (I am 6’ 4”) & Motolights and a Kisan Tail Blazer for safety. I rode the BMW 6000 miles the first year with no pain whatsoever. In the next 1-1/2 years, I rode another 4000 miles. Then we moved from New Jersey to Florida and I hardly rode the BMW at all – only 1500 miles in 2-1/2 years. The BMW had excellent weather protection, but that translates to a very hot ride in Florida. The BMW was great on the twisty back roads of the Northeast, but top heavy when cruising on the straight roads of South Florida. Also, the BMW need to be run above 3500-4000 RPM to be responsive – hard to do in all the traffic on local roads.

I was hardly riding at all, but not ready to give up motorcycling. After a lot of demo rides on a number of different bikes, I decided that the best bike for the riding I was now doing was the Road King that I never bought back in 2002. Last October, I came across a slightly used (4 month old with 2300 miles) Road King Classic at a local dealer. The price seemed fair and the dealer took my BMW in trade. The market on used BMWs was not very strong and I felt that I did not get beat up too badly by trading it rather than trying to sell it privately.

Now that I have put over 1000 miles on the RKC, I feel I made the right decision. I am trying not to go as crazy with the RKC as I did with the Heritage. So far only SE slip-ons, a SE air cleaner and some extra chrome. The original owner put about $1000 of chrome and accessories on it, most of which I would have chosen to do, so I hope I can resist the calling to do more and more.

That is my motorcycle story.

glider

Great story but tell us a little about yourself
Just kidding.
<<---as you can see, I'm partial th the RKC

Welcome to the forum.

I have a buddy that just got a RK custom down your way looking to hook up with some riders in Cape Coral. Are you anywhere near there?


You made a great choice/move with the RKC and I think you will enjoy it very much. One thing thou and that's the fact that you will probably never resist the calling for more chrome.

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hissatsu

Hi and a very warm welcome to you . It's always great to hear about rides members have had, what the present and future plans are & such
Thanks for the respect of taking the time to share, I'm sure you will not only enjoy your stay, but find it extremely rewarding

atvvb
Bill

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DarkKnight

Resisting the chrome is like resisting the Dark side of the Force... it doesn't work! Just give in, in small doses.

Glad to hear you're riding something that's workable for your area, and your own comfort.

You'll love that RK.

Glad to have you here... enjoy the forum...

Ride Safe!

Speed

Thanks for the story,welcome to the family.

Ride safe

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Hobbit

welcome to the forum enjoy the stay

SCORP

Great story...
Welcome! Ride Safe.

pahunter

Thanks for the story WELCOME Ride Safe Doug

DJMICK

i am a rk guy as well thanks for the story and ride safe.
Derek

Rosemary

Hello Mr Clean, quite an interesting story you have. Welcome to the forum.