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Fellow XSives -
As many of you heard, I gave my last running XS (XSerendipity) to Tina's son, Jon, just before the XS Northeast rally. He wanted a naked bike, so I found a headlight and stripped off the fairing and luggage. The bike was stolen the next night. Bummer... I told Jon he could have my '81 GS850L.
The next day, during a rally ride, another full dress 1979 was spotted with a "For Sale" sign. Gary Granger said it looked to be in fair shape. I thought about it, then called. They wanted $700... too much.
So, I let it go until Tina started asking me if I'd thought much about it. Turns out she kinda missed having the big touring XS around. After two weeks I called back. Big sob story at the other end and "Make me an offer and we'll talk". I asked a few questions and he told me, "I won't lie to you... she runs good. Might need a tune up, though" I figured I could go $500 and Tina said, "Take $600 just in case...". So, the next morning she drove me north to Wallagrass, Maine to look at the bike.
It looked pretty good, so I asked to ride it. The owner wanted to be sure I knew how to ride a big bike like that. I assured him that I could.
He gave me the key and it started rough... wouldn't idle. "I told you it might need a tune up!". I checked the pipes and #1 was cold. I tried to explain to him that one cylinder wasn't firing at all. "She ran great last year!" Yeah, well, I'll take it for a ride.
I took it out and it ran just like a 4 cylinder bike that's running on 3 cylinders. It died as I rolled back into his driveway, so it wasn't hard to look very disappointed. I told him it didn't run the way he said and I wasn't interested. "How much could you give me for it?" I offered $400 and he accepted $500... cash.
It was a long 60 mile ride home... plenty of time to wonder if I could fix what was wrong. Luckily, it smoothed out when I tried another plug in #1. Still didn't "run real good" so I pulled the carbs. Went through "The Valley of the Carbs" for a week and a half before I got them to work pretty well. Four or five times out and back in.
Given the circumstances that brought me to this bike, I've named it, "unXSpected". Insured and registered it today and thought some of you might like to see some pictures.
unXSpected Pictures
XSively,
As many of you heard, I gave my last running XS (XSerendipity) to Tina's son, Jon, just before the XS Northeast rally. He wanted a naked bike, so I found a headlight and stripped off the fairing and luggage. The bike was stolen the next night. Bummer... I told Jon he could have my '81 GS850L.
The next day, during a rally ride, another full dress 1979 was spotted with a "For Sale" sign. Gary Granger said it looked to be in fair shape. I thought about it, then called. They wanted $700... too much.
So, I let it go until Tina started asking me if I'd thought much about it. Turns out she kinda missed having the big touring XS around. After two weeks I called back. Big sob story at the other end and "Make me an offer and we'll talk". I asked a few questions and he told me, "I won't lie to you... she runs good. Might need a tune up, though" I figured I could go $500 and Tina said, "Take $600 just in case...". So, the next morning she drove me north to Wallagrass, Maine to look at the bike.
It looked pretty good, so I asked to ride it. The owner wanted to be sure I knew how to ride a big bike like that. I assured him that I could.
He gave me the key and it started rough... wouldn't idle. "I told you it might need a tune up!". I checked the pipes and #1 was cold. I tried to explain to him that one cylinder wasn't firing at all. "She ran great last year!" Yeah, well, I'll take it for a ride.I took it out and it ran just like a 4 cylinder bike that's running on 3 cylinders. It died as I rolled back into his driveway, so it wasn't hard to look very disappointed. I told him it didn't run the way he said and I wasn't interested. "How much could you give me for it?" I offered $400 and he accepted $500... cash.
It was a long 60 mile ride home... plenty of time to wonder if I could fix what was wrong. Luckily, it smoothed out when I tried another plug in #1. Still didn't "run real good" so I pulled the carbs. Went through "The Valley of the Carbs" for a week and a half before I got them to work pretty well. Four or five times out and back in.
Given the circumstances that brought me to this bike, I've named it, "unXSpected". Insured and registered it today and thought some of you might like to see some pictures.
unXSpected Pictures
XSively,
(ducking and running)
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