Bikes on the Bay

I took a ride up the coast today and in the little town of Soquel I happened upon a vintage motorcycle show. It was kind of a small affair but there were quite a few cool bikes there. While I was checking out the old bikes it occurred to me that most of these "vintage bikes" are from the 1960's and 1970's. I was born in 1950 so I guess that makes me vintage too! Most of the bikes were from Europe, Japan or England with a few US made bikes. There were even some very unusual bikes like a diesel powered salt flats racer with a BMW engine in it and a V-8 powered trike!

This Kawasaki ZX-14 is said (by its owner) to be the fastest street legal bike in the world. It did 189mph at the Bonneville salt flats but it would be over 200mph at sea level. They are going to try again at the next meet for 200 mph at Bonneville.

The USA is well represented here by some classic Harleys and choppers.

This classic head gear and eye protection probably would not be approved by the CHP but back in the day this was ATGATT!!

I really took a liking to this 1970's Honda 750, I always liked the shape and size of this bike plus the 4 exhaust pipes are just to cool. This was one of the very first "super bikes". This bike has been restored to original condition and looks like it just came off of the show room.


This Honda 750 has been set up as a cafe racer.

This is a Honda CB77 which was a 350cc bike I believe. I like the chrome tank and the black rubber knee grips.

This all chrome pan-head Harley was very cool, snake skin hand grips and check out the speedometer face.

There was a lot more there to see but even those who don't want to ride on 2 wheels anymore have options like this Moto-Guzzi.

It was a great event and I hope I can attend again next year.

A ride to motorcycle mecca

On Saturday April 12, 2008 the weather here on the coast was warm, dry and perfect for a motorcycle ride. I decided to ride up to a place called Alices Restaurant which is in the Santa Cruz Mountains at the intersection of highways 84 and 35. It is a Mecca for riders in this part of California. Here are some pictures of my ride:

My first stop was in the town of Santa Cruz where I saw some of the local characters





Here is a shot of the lighthouse and the world famous Steamers Lane surf break. Inside the lighthouse is a surfing museum.

I bought some lunch here on the wharf before riding up the coast.


After a short ride up the coast I took this shot of Natural Bridges State beach. This beach used to be famous for an arch in the rocks but this natural bridge fell down several years ago. The Monarch butterflies don't seem to mind though, they still spend their winters here.



I continued up the coast in until I reached the turn off for the town of Pescadero. The name of this town means "fisherman" in Spanish. After leaving the coast I start to climb into the mountains and the redwood trees. Here is a shot of a short rest I took on highway 84.


I continued up the hill and when I reached highway 35 I arrived at Alices. It is a restaurant that is a gathering place for motorcyclists. I saw all kinds of bikes there from Harleys to sport bikes. After checking out the bikes and visiting with a few people it was time to head south on 35 and then down the hill to home.

A wasted life....

Hi everyone,

I hope the thread title might have piqued your interest a bit and led you here to hear this story about a wasted life.

Yesterday after church I got to talking with an older gentleman about motorcycles. He told me that back in 1982 he bought a brand new Honda CM 250 C street bike. He rode it home from the dealer and parked it in his garage. He found out that he needed a special license to ride a bike on the street and since he didn't have one he just parked the bike in his garage untill he got his motorcycle license.

Well he just never got around to it and the bike just stayed in his garage. So I asked him "what ever happened to the bike?" He said "its still in the garage right now. How many miles does it have on it?" I asked. "6" (you heard me 6 as in six!!!). I said "do you want to sell it and he said sure, give me $200 and it is yours." I called him tonight and left him a message saying I would take it if he had the title and the registration could be worked out. I looked at it last night and all I could see was the front wheel, forks, gauges and a bit of the seat (to much other junk was around it). Except for some light rust in spots it looks prety good and also very dirty!!

I feel sorry for this poor little bike, just born and never had a chance yet to be a real motorcycle!! A wasted life for sure. What do you all think about this? I will follow up with some pictures if we are able to work out a deal.