Our Motorcycle History

In 1958 a friend with a paper route managed to save enough money to buy a Cushman motor scooter and let me ride it a time or two. This was my first ride on two wheels with a motor. I was 14. In those years a motor scooter of less then 5 HP could be ridden by 14 year olds.

In 1960 another friend let me spend too much time on his Lambretta 175 (I bought gas) I managed to T-bone this into the left front fender of a 1954 Dodge. Totaled the scooter, did serious damage to the Dodge, and nearly totaled me. I was unconscious long enough that I recall this as a near death experience. 

In 1962 while in the Air Force another friend and I were sort of  partners in a used Honda 250 Dream. He had the cash to buy the machine and I kept it in gas. This experience convinced me Honda had all the right ideas. During this time another friend bought a Triumph Bonneville, which I rode once. It's clutch was totally uncontrollable and the breaks didn’t do much to slow it down.

In 1973 I bought a new Honda CB350 at a mid-winter clearance sale from a dealer in Michigan, while visiting there, before the 1974 models came in. My brother and I got the deal on a lifetime on a matched pair of these motorcycles, which while I do not remember exactly, were about $795 each. The dealer had a buy two - get a huge discount deal designed to promote the Trail 90. They forgot to exclude other models, and when pressed they did give us the discount. My brother wrecked his and himself within a year, and as far as I know has not been on a bike since. I rode mine for ten years, and have not been off a bike since. I brought this bike back to California, in a trailer, but rode it through parts of Montana, and down the coast of Big Sur on highway one.  I used it for daily commuting for about three years and weekend riding after that. I dropped it twice in all those years. Both times off road, where it had no business being. One time I got edge trapped in a rut left by a Jeep on a dirt trail back in the San Rafael Wilderness, following a friend on an XL350, and almost went over the cliff. The other time I managed to dump it in the sand up at Pismo Beach trying to be an ATV. 

In 84 Honda up-graded the GL 500 Silver Wing to a GL 650 and I was smitten. This was the most beautiful bike I had ever seen and I thought 650cc was just about the right size for weekend riding. I still think this is one of the best looking standards ever built. Diane rode with me on this a few times but didn't like it much. Every time I hit the brakes our helmets bounced off each other. I would still have this bike if the dealer I bought the Gold Wing from had not offered me so much for it. After eleven years, it was in such good shape and prices had inflated enough, than they gave me almost what I paid for it.

Sometime in 1995 Diane and I, went to dinner with Keith & Ruth Denby and Al & Helen Jenkins. They on their Gold Wings, we on our Silver Wing. Diane figured out Ruth and Helen had stereo and back rests and intercoms and floorboards and arm rests.  That was that. 

Within three weeks we had a brand new Pearl White and Metallic Silver SE1500 and have been happy Gold Wingers since. On our vacations and trips to Wing Ding we've managed to get our Wing into 28 states.