Hi from Wisconsin

[omegajim]

After looking around a little, this forum seemed to have the most members, so I'll start here.

Have been driving a bit over 10 years steady, on and off for more than 20. As I like to say "90,000 miles and counting." Not a lot, but I do other things besides motorcycle.

Heck, yesterday (new year's day) took the scooter out for a ride. The bike is so old, any possible salt (not much) won't effect any more. The Yammy (xs 850) has nearly 42,000 miles on it. Don't really know just how far it will go, but I plan on finding out.

[Clint]

Welcome, Jim. By "driving" do you mean riding a motorcycle? That's a respectable career.

[tallannie]

Jim,
I look forward to your stories added to the mix here

[robertc729]

[919Hooligan]

Welcome Jim! I've had two different XS850's in the past; it's a great bike. One of them had 55k miles and still ran like a top. I've never owned a 3cyl bike that I didn't enjoy. They make a "special" sound that's hard to match.

[Uncle B]

HOWDY " " NEIGHBIOR

[RampageRider]

Welcome aboard!

[omegajim]

Welcome, Jim. By "driving" do you mean riding a motorcycle? That's a respectable career.

Yep, 90 K and counting on two wheels. In Wisconsin, no less. To say that's a bit of a challenge is an understatement. Some years we have 5 - 6 good months of riding (ride the scooter to work) and some years, lucky to have 2 good months of driving weather (last Oct, it was called as a Witches' youknowwhat) and now in Nov. through now, the weather has been ridiculously warm (bikers in Jan in Wisconsin just doesn't happen, unless the driver is nuts).

In addition to the xs 850, I used to drive a Honda cb750 (took the bike on longish trips which it was never made for --- by which I mean the seat isn't terribly comfortable. Surprised I didn't get hemmoroids from what I did).

My next bike is a 1984 Honda Magna. Nice little scooter, found out the hard way that this bikes achilles heal is low oil flow at high RPM. That bike now sits in my dad's barn, whenever I get around to putting another engine in it.

Currently the 1980 xs is nearly 42 K. Remarkably enough, it only had 9 K when I bought it in 2000. Apparently the previous owners (all both of them) just didn't have time to bike. Ever.

Lastly, I found some disturbing news about the Yamaha shaft drive unit (on the wheel), and that is namely at some point IT WILL HAVE CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. Found that out at the local junk yard (the guy had a xs 1100, mmmmmmmm) and he plunked down $300 to get another (parts still readily available for bikes that are nearly 30 years old, I love it).

That all said, I plan to drive the wheels off of the xs as I haven't put much in the bike for 33 k of driving.

[Clint]

Time to taste of the magnificence of modern machinery, perhaps?

[omegajim]

Time to taste of the magnificence of modern machinery, perhaps?

Maybe, one of these years. However,
1) the old Yammy (that's what I call it) has electronic ignition (no points!)
2) It has shaft drive (no chain!)
3) Insurance is peanuts (i think $90/year, hell collision, what 4?)
4) Doesn't look like a Harley wanna be (a common malady these days)
5) ......oh and that dopey kick start. Gotta love it.

However, that doesn't mean I don't look. Go to the Chicago bike show every year. There are some really niiiiiiiiiiiiiice looking bikes. Not practical with the solid rear end (imagine practical and and bike in the same sentence in any manner).

The BMW's look the nicest, subjectively speaking. Unfortunately, a good $8,000 bike will set you back about $11,000 in the BMW world.

[MOTOHOLIC!]

to this cool place! You'll love it here, I'm positive.

[SNAFU]

not a thing to do but talk to you
we're all right
we're all right
hello Wisconsin!

[captainchaos]

Just say'an hey from NW WI. I also ride a old Yami '84 FJ1100.This site should be fun.

[omegajim]

......I don't believe in posting for every liddle thing, so I'm going to answer a few questions at once (hey, I think that's as close to multitasking as I'm going to get!)

captainchaos

Just say'an hey from NW WI. I also ride a old Yami '84 FJ1100.This site should be fun.

......Yeah, but in NW Wisconsin, that's still considered "modern." I look at the new bikes, and yes, they are new, but personally I don't believe they are made any better. If you keep an eye on Yamaha, you know that their 650 vstar (I believe that's the model, correct me if I'm wrong) has had problems with shaft drive failure. It could be a different model, but I'm sure it's Yamaha. Cutting too many corners (and us consumers fall for it "but this model is $50 less")

next

SNAFU
not a thing to do but talk to you
we're all right
we're all right
hello Wisconsin!

[omegajim]

......I don't believe in posting for every liddle thing, so I'm going to answer a few questions at once (hey, I think that's as close to multitasking as I'm going to get!)

captainchaos

Just say'an hey from NW WI. I also ride a old Yami '84 FJ1100.This site should be fun.

......Yeah, but in NW Wisconsin, that's still considered "modern." I look at the new bikes, and yes, they are new, but personally I don't believe they are made any better. If you keep an eye on Yamaha, you know that their 650 vstar (I believe that's the model, correct me if I'm wrong) has had problems with shaft drive failure. It could be a different model, but I'm sure it's Yamaha. Cutting too many corners (and us consumers fall for it "but this model is $50 less")

next

SNAFU

not a thing to do but talk to you
we're all right
we're all right
hello Wisconsin!

......that's an interesting reference. I'll take it as a complement.

"If all you do is hit a button to start the bike, you're missing the point..." anon.

[SNAFU]

Originally Posted by omegajim

SNAFU


......that's an interesting reference. I'll take it as a complement.

"If all you do is hit a button to start the bike, you're missing the point..." anon.

That's the theme song from That 70's Show.

http://that70sshow.com/audio/old_70_8mhz.wav