Very nice evening! I was looking for six of something in my fridge, but I don't have an unopened six-pack.
When we were in the drag racing business, I loved going to the coast after an event at Maryland International Raceway (MIR) and enjoying the view. My coworkers busied themselves smashing crabs with hammers and bibs, but I'm not a seafood person, so the view was fine with me.
06-20-2026, 08:29 AM (This post was last modified: 06-20-2026, 08:32 AM by Gone in 60.)
Ferris Gone's Day Off!
Friday was going to be a repeat of Thursday's riding for work. I had prepared for a long day in the saddle, at least 350 miles, making multiple runs between a hospital in Riverside and the blood research center in Van Nuys. I had been given a heads-up from the head researcher that they were going to keep us very busy on Friday. It would take two of us, leap-frogging the pick-ups to make it work. I had extra snacks and a few extra water bottles in my left side box for the day, and had planned out my mid-day gas stop, a Chevron station with a clean bathroom that has easy-off, easy-on freeway access to make it as short a stop as possible.
Bike loaded, gear on, first route plugged in to the routing app, and was just starting to roll out of the garage when the boss texted. The app would have pinged him to let him know I was rolling, so the text must be very important. Called him from the helmet to hear that power had gone out at the research center, all of their equipment was down, and it would take through the weekend to get it back up and running, so all pickups were cancelled for the day.
All of the sudden, Yello's "Oh Yeah" started playing in my head (look it up). I looked at the sky, no puffy clouds against azure, it was June Gloom, but it would clear up.
I felt some sense of responsibility. I spent the early morning detailing #4. She had worked tirelessly for me all week and had racked up over 1000 miles since I turned the key on Monday morning. My gear was ready for a bath too. Got that taken care of, while I thought about what I'd signed up for, but assumed I was going to have to pass on for the day. It was "Roadster Demo Day" at the local Triumph dealer. The Trident 800 was still swirling around in my mind since I saw the "unveiling" at the dealership a few months ago... I'm sure they repeated that unveiling at every dealer in the area at the time, but something about that bike hit me right in the "I want that" brain button.
I jumped on the CB as my work pants, jacket, gloves and Helite vest were drip-drying, and headed to the Triumph dealer. There were already a lot of guys there, and as I parked the CB, a guy on a V-Strom said "Man, that's a beautiful bike. I've never seen one. Brand new?" - "No, 2013 actually. Thank you, I do like to take care of her." I walked over to the sign-up tent while he was drooling on my red beauty.
The Trident 800 demo bike, in cement grey was pulling in, and the rider getting off had a smile from ear-to-ear. I had just gotten my name on the clip board when the demo rep said "She's free, why not take her out?" Don't have to ask me twice. The growl from the triple is freakin' awesome. Very comfortable, tractable power but plenty of it, and after a blast through their demo route which includes a bit of canyon riding and a return on a fast section of freeway, I had the "Yup, I want one" look. John, who had originally sold my Bonneville to its original owner, said "Let's go look at 'em." "Gee John, it's nice, but I don't think grey..." "Yeah, you want this red one."
Remember that public service message about drunk driving in the '70s when the guy slaps his wife in a drunken rage and staggers out to a Cordoba in the driveway while the wife yells "Don't take the car, you'll kill yourself!!!"? (Man, what happened, we used to have awesome PSAs) In about the same tone, as I was putting on my helmet to go to the Triumph dealer, Mrs. Gone yelled "Now don't go buying another motorcycle!"
Her message rattled around in my skull while I took in the red Trident. That is until I turned the price tag over on the handlebar and saw $12,400 before tax. I thanked John and said I'd think about it. Suddenly my CB1100 seemed absolutely perfect. And she is, as I rode to a few gear shops to try on boots, something I very realistically need more than another bike. I'm storing bikes in Mom's garage, a very sympathetic friend's garage... all temporarily until we can open up that magical company shop soon, and as Fleet Manager, I will rule over its domain and store my metal children.
A good day. And in about 30 minutes, I will ride the CB1100 to the Petersen for my shift. I am giddy. I got the shop inventory list late last night from my boss' assistant. She's not a movie car fan. On the list is a "Dark green Mustang fastback".
I will be right here waiting to see more about that Mustang. It sounds like something that might have some McQueen dna in it.
There's a difference in riding a naked bike and riding a bike naked.
Won't make that mistake again.
2013 Honda CB1100 Standard. Gone, but not forgotten.
06-20-2026, 10:33 PM (This post was last modified: 06-20-2026, 10:34 PM by rdprdp01.)
(06-20-2026, 08:29 AM)Gone in 60 Wrote: '"Man, that's a beautiful bike. I've never seen one. Brand new?" - "No, 2013 actually. Thank you, I do like to take care of her."
The moment you shared in your post is what the CB1100 does better than any other motorcycle you may ever own, Gone. I am glad she will remain in the stable forever. You were meant to be! David
2017 Honda CB1100 EX
The most sophisticated, smooth, perfectly engineered motorcycle I've ever owned. A pleasure in every way.
06-21-2026, 09:43 AM (This post was last modified: 06-21-2026, 09:46 AM by Gone in 60.)
Yes, David, she is a beautiful bike, and I'll never sell her.
Rode to the museum, and first thing I noticed was a huge pillar of yellow/grey smoke right next to the 5 freeway just east of Downtown L.A. I thought "Huh, that's a coincidence", I noticed a huge plume of black smoke in the distance on Thursday late afternoon as I was transitioning from the 405 South to the 105 East to get home from my marathon delivery day. At the top of the 105 interchange, you're a few hundred feet up, and have a commanding view of most of the L.A. area. Turns out it's the same fire... a frozen food warehouse caught fire on Thursday, and apparently the insulation in the freezers is what was still burning on Saturday. This is why I ride in the L.A. area - a massive fire next to the freeway is a spectacle that will cause a mile-long traffic jam, and I can slide through without any trouble. There's always something causing a jam like that.
The closer I got to the museum, the more excited I started to get about that "Dark Green Mustang". Nothing came through official channels on my emails, which I thought was weird. But, I had seen a few teasers on Facebook about "The only way to see the most iconic movie car in history was to take a Petersen shop tour on Father's Day weekend".
To preface, I'm a movie car chase nerd. Ronin, Seven-Ups, French Connection, Italian Job, you name it, but Bullitt... that's the king. I've studied it, even wrote an article about it in 2013 for the 45th anniversary, when I was working as a Ford drag racing promoter (hence the NMRA racing references): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bullitt-4...opat-r7urc
I got to the museum, headed down to the Vault (the underground collection and storage area, and where I change out of my riding gear and into my museum uniform), scoured the work shop, but didn't see a green Mustang. Hmm... asked the security guys, and was told it was up on the second floor.
Went up, and saw a large group on the second floor parking area. The Petersen was hosting "Detail Fest", a show and gathering for professional detailers, and plans had changed for the Dark Highland Green fastback.
I saw her under a cover.
If you know your Bullitt lore, there were two cars used for the iconic chase scene. After filming, one of the Mustangs was deemed too far gone to save, and was sent to be crushed. It was thought to have been lost forever, but was found about ten years ago, rusting away in a Mexican junk yard. This sounded weird, and although VIN numbers had been verified, Marti reports had been issued to confirm, some people still question the validity of this car being used in the movie. Nevertheless it had been undergoing an extensive restoration, and the thought was that there was no better place and time to unveil the restored car at the Petersen on Father's Day Weekend. They had decided to do the honors at Detail Fest, and to have professional detailers do their magic on it.
I had to miss the actual unveiling... I was there to give a tour after all, not stand by like a spectator. But, after my tour, I darted back up and admire the green beauty. Hard to tell what might still be original, but looking in the trunk, the main thing that pegged this Mustang as the "Jump Car" is still there. Several holes, and a large one, used to mount a generator and run its exhaust and cables out of the trunk to run the onboard cameras. Not much of this car can possibly be original, as most of it had rotted away, but no matter, it was still awesome to be in its presence. The only other time I felt that way was during the premier of Ford vs Ferrari, when some of the original LeMans winning GT40s and a Cobra Daytona that had been driven by Ken Miles were being stored in the work shop, waiting to be shown at a movie premier. Being among them was truly biblical for me.
Just thought of something kind of cool. Right about where the Bullitt Mustang was parked is where I took photos of my CB1100 right after I bought her in 2019, the first time I rode her to the museum.
