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Sorry for the length...
For those that don't know me or my story, I had an 81 Special and a 79 Standard. While working on the carbs on the 79 they leaked and caused a house fire. Both of my bikes were lost along with the house and most of the things in it. Thankfully everyone was ok. As an update, things are going very well for me and my family now. The fire was a blessing in disguise for us because nothing but good has come of it. I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. I didn't get a chance to do any work on either of the bikes because someone stole them and probably sold them for scrap metal. It's over and done with and I've moved on to the next chapter of my life.
As some of you know my dad, after seeing how incredible these bikes are, got himself an 80 MNS that I found on Craigslist for $400. After trying to ride it numerous times and dropping it almost every time, he decided it was just too tall and heavy for him. So he gave it to me. Of course I was extrememly disappointed about this (sarcasm) but I accepted it anyway. It's not much to look at, particularly since it's been dropped at least 4 times, but it still runs like a beast. The rear brake drags slightly, it leaks oil, and the clutch slips once I get past 6K rpms, but it still moves like a raped ape.
So this season I found a couple of local friends that ride and I've been riding with them. One (I'll call him MonkeyBoy) rides a brand new $23K Hardley with a huge 103 engine in it and the other (I'll call him Beiber) rides a slightly later model GSXR 600. I have the worst looking bike of the bunch and definitely the oldest. MonkeyBoy loves to joke with me and give me a hard time about my bike but I've warned him that once I'm in my power band I have a strong feeling that I could give him a run for his money if not flat out beat him. I'm not sure he believes me. The first time I went riding with Beiber we took off from a stop light on a nice long straight stretch and I absolutely destroyed him, even with my slipping clutch, which is of course exactly what I expected with my engine being almost twice the size of his and all. Well last night we were all three out riding. We turned onto a four lane road right by my house that has a nice straight stretch. I turned first and MonkeyBoy was right behind me with Beiber playing tailgunner. As I straightened my bike up and began to roll on I heard the rumble of the Hardley and I knew he was rolling on and getting on it pretty hard. So just to show him that my throwback clunker isn't the p.o.s. that he seems to think it is, I rolled on too. I rocketed up to 6K rpms in the blink of an eye and my clutch started slipping, I let it slip for just a second hoping it would catch but it never did so I shifted up into second launching again. As I looked in my mirror I noticed that MonkeyBoy was dropping back, but I could still hear that his engine was trying pretty hard. I let off the gas and so did he as we let Beiber catch up and then all 3 of us rolled on again at the same time. This time as usual Beiber faded rather quickly but I hung neck and neck with MonkeyBoy. As we came to a stop at the stoplight quickly coming up in front of us MonkeyBoy looked over and said "That thing really is pretty damn quick." I beamed with pride and chuckled silently to myself that my $400 beater could keep up with and even, at times, out do his $23K bike. There's just something to showing someone up that thinks their bike is invincible.
For those that don't know me or my story, I had an 81 Special and a 79 Standard. While working on the carbs on the 79 they leaked and caused a house fire. Both of my bikes were lost along with the house and most of the things in it. Thankfully everyone was ok. As an update, things are going very well for me and my family now. The fire was a blessing in disguise for us because nothing but good has come of it. I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. I didn't get a chance to do any work on either of the bikes because someone stole them and probably sold them for scrap metal. It's over and done with and I've moved on to the next chapter of my life.
As some of you know my dad, after seeing how incredible these bikes are, got himself an 80 MNS that I found on Craigslist for $400. After trying to ride it numerous times and dropping it almost every time, he decided it was just too tall and heavy for him. So he gave it to me. Of course I was extrememly disappointed about this (sarcasm) but I accepted it anyway. It's not much to look at, particularly since it's been dropped at least 4 times, but it still runs like a beast. The rear brake drags slightly, it leaks oil, and the clutch slips once I get past 6K rpms, but it still moves like a raped ape.
So this season I found a couple of local friends that ride and I've been riding with them. One (I'll call him MonkeyBoy) rides a brand new $23K Hardley with a huge 103 engine in it and the other (I'll call him Beiber) rides a slightly later model GSXR 600. I have the worst looking bike of the bunch and definitely the oldest. MonkeyBoy loves to joke with me and give me a hard time about my bike but I've warned him that once I'm in my power band I have a strong feeling that I could give him a run for his money if not flat out beat him. I'm not sure he believes me. The first time I went riding with Beiber we took off from a stop light on a nice long straight stretch and I absolutely destroyed him, even with my slipping clutch, which is of course exactly what I expected with my engine being almost twice the size of his and all. Well last night we were all three out riding. We turned onto a four lane road right by my house that has a nice straight stretch. I turned first and MonkeyBoy was right behind me with Beiber playing tailgunner. As I straightened my bike up and began to roll on I heard the rumble of the Hardley and I knew he was rolling on and getting on it pretty hard. So just to show him that my throwback clunker isn't the p.o.s. that he seems to think it is, I rolled on too. I rocketed up to 6K rpms in the blink of an eye and my clutch started slipping, I let it slip for just a second hoping it would catch but it never did so I shifted up into second launching again. As I looked in my mirror I noticed that MonkeyBoy was dropping back, but I could still hear that his engine was trying pretty hard. I let off the gas and so did he as we let Beiber catch up and then all 3 of us rolled on again at the same time. This time as usual Beiber faded rather quickly but I hung neck and neck with MonkeyBoy. As we came to a stop at the stoplight quickly coming up in front of us MonkeyBoy looked over and said "That thing really is pretty damn quick." I beamed with pride and chuckled silently to myself that my $400 beater could keep up with and even, at times, out do his $23K bike. There's just something to showing someone up that thinks their bike is invincible.
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