Hi all,
My Name is Jim. I have been into motorcycles since I can remember. My first memory of motorcycles was my father buying a brand new Honda CL350 back in 1973. My parents said that night after we brought it home I was saying "motorcycle" over and over in my sleep, hehe. I remember a couple of years later some H-D brochures (which I still have) winding up in the house and I think this is where my love of Harleys took root. I would look at those brochures for hours.
Around this time my grandfather bought me my first bike, a 1971 Honda Mini-Trail 50. Great fun and a great little bike that I am planning on purchasing for my son and daughter soon. Wish I had never passed mine on to my brothers....
My next bike when I turned a teenager was that Honda 350 my father had bought. By this time he had started his own business and didn't have as much time to ride (and because of this never did get to own his Harley) so he gave it to me to ride in the sand pits around our house. I slowly but surely destroyed it riding it in those pits but I had the time of my life doing it! Really disappointed my father but he understood (well I think he did). What I really learned, besides what it took to get the bike airborne was that you must take care of your machines or they will break. Valves do bend!
The next bike I owned was a 1984 Honda Nighthawk S. I couldn't afford a Harley at this time (I was in college) and I really liked the styling of this bike.
Finally we get to my first Harley. It was a 1977 Sportster XLT. This bike is pretty rare in that it was the touring edition of the Sportster that I think was made from '77 to about '79. The Nighthawk was gone, I had just gotten married, and I finally felt I could afford to get a new Harley. Unfortunately, there was an almost year long wait to purchase one. Being impatient I bought the '77 off a used car lot for too much money. The bike was styled along chopper lines with the original windshield and Sportster fiberglass bags long gone. I proceeded to basically completely change this bike around by buying the bags (which were hard to find) and adding a cafe racer style fairing (I have always loved the '77, '78 XLCR). I called it my American sport tourer. The best thing about owning this bike was I was able to fulfill the dream my father had of buying a Harley but couldn't because first, his business, and than shortly after his premature death in a car accident (non-bike related).
I sold the Sportster after I bought my first house and went bikeless for awhile until I took a new route at my job (I am a UPS driver) that brought me in contact with a man who services and sells vintage German and English bikes. Having more disposable income I wound up first purchasing a 1966 BMW R50/2 with a sidecar and than a 1979 Triumph Bonneville. I bought the sidecar rig so I could give my son and daughter rides around the neigborhood. It's lots of fun and a great conversation starter. The Bonneville I bought because I remember sitting on and staring at my father-in-laws Bonneville when my wife and I were kids and her brother and me were close friends. Classic Triumphs, to me, are the second style of bike I think of when I think of motorcycles at their essence, Harleys being the first.
Which brings me back to Harleys. Presently I have a 2005 Electra Glide Standard on order. I have scheduled delivery for Spring 2005 because that is when the lease on my dreaded mini-van will be done and I can afford to swing the payment on what is my ultimate dream bike
. It is now or alot later for this because before I know it the time will come for colleges and weddings and no new bikes, hehe. Thanks go out to my wife for letting me have this now.
Nice to meet you all and thanks for letting me ramble.
And still another guy from NJ!
!
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