Picking up a new bike

[Guth_imp]

I'm sure a lot of folks have good stories about going to pick up a new (or new to you) bike. I was recently reminded of this story...

For years after passing on the opportunity to buy one off of the showroom floor I dreamed of owning a Honda Hawk GT. My time finally came when a guy up in Seattle ended up posting his for sale. A really clean blue '88 model just like the one I passed on. Perfect! I didn't own a truck at the time, but a buddy of mine did and he owed me a favor. It turned out that he was up for making the trip and hauling the bike back. He even suggested that we make it an overnighter as he had a friend who lived in Seattle so there would be a free place to stay. We drove up on Saturday morning and made a full day out of it — even took in a Mariners game that night. The next morning we headed over to pick up the bike and finally head back to Portland on Sunday afternoon.

Picking up the Hawk was the highlight of the weekend, but my story comes from the fact that a second buddy joined us for the trip. Neither of these guys were into motorcycles mind you. I had informed my buddy with the truck that another friend had agreed to lend me his aluminum loading ramp so that we could easily get the bike in and out of the truck. Saturday morning came along, and my first buddy with the truck stopped to pick up the second buddy before heading to my house to pick me up. As the story goes, the first buddy told the second buddy that after they picked me up there was one more stop to be made before leaving for Seattle so that I could pick up a ramp. Apparently with a look of shock on his face, the second buddy looked at the first buddy and replied "Jeez, he hasn't even bought the thing yet and he's already planning on doing stunts with it?"

Classic.

 

[Cormanus]

 

[ride4now_imp]

Too funny...

 

[CIP57_imp]

Funny the way things have a way of getting crossed, its happened to me twice and they become stories you tell and get a laugh for years to come.

""Had an old friend I grew up with and had not seen for 15 years, met up with him at a school event when he moved into the district. In the auditorium of the school we caught up with each others lives, told me he just bought a house and was in the process of fencing in his yard for "JAKE" i said oh would kind of a dog do you have, he replied, Jake's my son. We laughed uncontrollably as did our wife's.""

 

[the Ferret]

Great stories guys. Fun to wake up and read this while drinking the first cup of tea in the morning.

 

[redbirds_imp]

Good story Guth. Nearly shot coffee out my nose when I read the last line.

 

[emptysea]

Funny story. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Thanks for the big smile so early in the morning

 

[ClassicVW_imp]

That is a good one!

I thought it was going to say you forgot the ramp like I did once when I drove 4+ hours to Lancaster PA and picked up my CB400 Twin. Good thing the bike was light and my trailer was kind of low. The girl (yes, girl) I bought the bike from brought an old interior wood door out of her garage and we used that as a ramp.

 

[rboe]

So.

How far do you think you can jump her?

:angel:

 

[Guth_imp]

So.

How far do you think you can jump her?

:angel:

Ha! I'd have bet on myself to grab far more distance as a kid with my bicycle over myself now with a motorcycle.

Growing up we had a variety of dirt bikes from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki. However, I actually spent far more time on BMX bikes back then. I practically lived on two wheels. Occasionally there would be an actual organized race to participate in. But mainly I liked just messing around doing stuff like seeing who could ride a wheelie for the furthest distance, who could pull off the best flat track style drift with the feet remaining on the pedals and of course jumping. We'd set up ramps and jump over garbage cans, or find construction sites where they had created big piles of dirt and set up some wicked courses to ride around on with big old jumps. We'd actually dig out the back side of the dirt mounds so that you were forced to jump the things if you were going to ride over them. Of course it was nothing like what the X-games generation of kids today are doing, but I had a blast just the same.

We really beat the crap out of bicycles back then. I alone went through countless sets of cranks and pedals, quite a few forks and a few frames to boot. I was really devastated when I figured out that I had cracked the frame on my prized Yamaha Moto-Bike (anyone around here remember those?) The head tube and the bottom tube had decided to go their own separate ways. Happened in a contest jumping for height and distance of all things. I believe that I was actually leading the event — up until that little discovery was made. :rofl: That bike was a pig and didn't work too well for actual BMX races, but I really had a blast with it doing just about everything else.

It looked just like this one:

 

[the Ferret]

Guth, I have a friend with 2 of the Yamaha bicycles in his collection of motorcycles. Figure $1500 apiece these days.

 

[Guth_imp]

Guth, I have a friend with 2 of the Yamaha bicycles in his collection of motorcycles. Figure $1500 apiece these days.

Well, add the Yamaha Moto-Bike to the long list of items from my youth that I wish I still had.

 

[metallyguitarded_imp]

That was a great story and gave us a little more insight into Guth the stunter. When your own friend's immediate reaction is that you're going to be jumping your new motorcycle, that has to say a lot about your personality and mental health. Ha!