Just wondering what type of people ride an fj, what work we do, how long we've been there, and how we get there etc...
I'll start it off.
I work for the local council driving a tractor / slasher,
been there for 25 + yrs , ride the bike every day where possible and travel about 12km a day.
Tony.
I started my working career by joining the USAF right out of high school, from there I worked factory jobs in three different factories, the last two which closed there doors on us. Been a cop, worked at three separate auto body shops as a body man/ painter, and for the last 4 years I have been a mechanic for a Chevrolet dealership.
All the while, being an avid motorcyclist.
Leon
Self employed in graphics, publishing, video, music. Not getting rich at it but meeting cool people who love what they do and help them out with promotions.
It's because I moved to a rural area and my friends all live rural that I thought a motorcycle would be a fairly safe and neat way to show up at their door, using the less traveled roads.
If I was still living in Toronto there's not a hope in hell it would have crossed my mind. I just wasn't prepared for the enthusiasm I have for it, expecially checking out new roads and destinations.
The first month I'd use up a tank of fuel for an after work loop around Lake Simcoe. Then I was into 3 tank days on the weekend. Week 7 I was packed and heading for Montreal.
Anyway, to the bikes: I don't know when I'll ever be able to afford something off the showroom so the FJ offers some real fun for little money. It's the kind of bike I'd buy new if I could - litre bike, one piece seat, hard bag options, conservative styling with fairings, comfy riding stance. A friend has a few FJ's so he spotted a cheapie 1984 on Kijiji he thought would be good for me and we snatched it up.
Been scraping grease from under my finger nails ever since ;)
Charlie
Now let me think back the 17 years I have had my 86'. I have been with the same company for 20 years so I just need to list all the titles I have had.
1992 to 1999
Mechanical drafter (CAD)
Drafting supervisor
Mechanical designer
Transit line mechanical engineer
Product Data manager
2002 to 2008
Technical manufacturing manager
Senior manufacturing technician
Quality assurance manager
Materials control manager
Engineering products development manager
Engineering projects manager
At present
Facilities and Maintenance manager
I use to commute on a bike when I was younger a more foolish. The city traffic in SoCal is not safe for motorcycles IMHO. So I enjoy the mountains and twisties on the weekends and rally days.
Am I sharing too much????
Started riding when I was a teenager, off road then on road. Racing desert then working in bike shops. Still love to ride as much as ever, Yamaha WR500 in the dirt, still love the smell of a two stroke. Ride whenever I can, my FJ is just too much fun, in the last year riding a DRZ400S I bought from a friend. I should have gotten one of these years ago. Last night my wife need a couple of things from the store for dinner, it would have been faster to just take her car but where is the fun in that. I pulled the Suzuki out of the garage and off I went, only about ten blocks one way but better than the car. I used to ride my bike to get to and from work all the time but now I have a company vehicle that I must drive. When I ride now its for pleasure. My 93 FJ I bought new in the summer 94. I still own my first street bike, a 76 Yamaha XS500C, dad helped me get from a friend of his. This was over thirty years ago.
Started working for my dad in grade school, he farmed grew vegetables and had a chickens about 500,000 at its peek. Then he started a construction company that I worked for up until he died. Worked in bike shops after that for over ten years. Then a friend asked me to come work for him managing his service company, left there to manage another service company. I decided that was enough working for other people so I started my own business and have been self employed ever since. This was almost ten years ago. I guess growing up with dad working for him self, it just seemed like the the thing to do. Sorry if this is TMI.
Kurt
I'm a tech support analyst at a software company. Been here about 6 (or is it 7?) years. People break their complex and important systems, I fix them.
I've been commuting by motorbike since last summer. The FJ purchase was partly a result of that commute - it's mostly highway, and the XS400 twin got a little buzzy at speed. Sure is good on fuel, though. My wife wants to ride the 400, so I needed a second running bike, and here I am.
Riding experience started with a moped at age 12, I purchased my first street legal motorcycle while a junior in high school. A new 1983 Honda XL125. Bought a new 1986 Honda Interceptor 500 in 1986, I rode this bike solo from California to South Carolina as a 19 year old. Ended up putting 96k miles on it before it killed itself. I got my first FJ in 1988, I had it for 2 years before I wadded it up on Angeles Crest Highway in California. I bought a 1984 Honda Interceptor 1000 and rode it for the next 6 years. From 1993 to 1996 I commuted from Palmdale, CA. to Simi Valley CA. every day mostly on the 1000 and occasionaly on the 500. I sold both bikes in 1996 and was bikeless until I purchased my current 1989 FJ1200 April of 2012.
I joined the Marine Corps right out of high school. Started my mechanic back ground there as a Helicopter mechanic. Did that for 8 years. After that I worked for an Automated machine manufacturer in Simi Valley CA for 3 years, then left California and ended up in Kansas. Over the last 15 years I have worked for a number of large corporations, either as a automated machine mechanic/electrician, or a aircraft mechanic/avionics tech. Currently working as a Maintenance Electrician, covering everything from commercial cafateria equipment, to 9 axis CNC milling machines,
Company's;
General Electric Aerospace,
Learjet,
Safelite Auto Glass,
Gulfstream Aerospace,
Farmland Foods,
Love Box,
Sherwin Williams,
Bell Helicopter,
Rubbermaid
Air Midwest Airlines,
Bombardier Aviation Services
Spirit AeroSystems
Fred
Military Vietnam US Navy 65 - 69 Interior Communications.
Cash resister repair, Anchor Data Systems
Self employed, Photo processing lab (pre digital) remember film and slides.....?
AS degree in drafting + 60 other credits in fun courses. (pre electronic calculators) slide rules.......
Worked for Idaho Power Substation design and Energy Management
Back to self employed. Government contacting across the U.S.
Owned a body shop (Son still in the industry)
Back in the military, US Army Aviation, OH 58 (Bell Jet Ranger) Crew Chief on flight status.
Transferred to PT Mugu, Calif., P-3 Second Mech / FE aircrew.
Idaho Air Guard, State of Idaho/DOD Air Field Manager / Air Force Aerial Port flight chief. (hard to explain).
Retired 2002
Throw in flying, motorcycles, street rods, RVing, Amateur radio, photography etc. life is a twisty road.
The only thing that sticks is motorcycling....... :sorry:
George 65.5
Jeez, with what you guys are posting makes me almost feel under educated. Graduated grade 12 in 1973, worked in a sawmill for a couple of years, got my class 1 d/l and became a professional driver. Have been driving for 36 yrs. Started hauling logs then went to a wood chip truck,hauled sulphuric acid for a while and am now back hauling logs for the last 24yrs. I turned 59 last month and started riding when I was about 10. My grandfather gave my brother and I a Suzuki 80, from there I went to 1967 Honda sport 90,a 69 Kawi A7 avenger,a1981 920 Virago, 1981 GS1100E and finally my FJ. Its been fun and the FJ is the best bike so far. Hopefully my knees will hold for a couple more years before I have get into something like a(god forbid) cruiser. Big R
Retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2009 after 22 years of service.
- C-141 Crew Chief
- C-17 Crew Chief / Flying Crew Chief (favorite job EVER)
- C-17 Maintenance Instructor
Currently C-17 mechanic for Boeing in Hungary since 2009. Same job as the Air Force, but now with a beard, no deployments, and double the pay! :biggrin:
Bought a 1985 FJ1100 in 2002, owned it for about 1 year
Bought my current 1988 FJ1200 in Hungary
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/Lotsokids/Hungary/Atwork.jpg)
Hi there, my name is Mark Glorioso,
I've been rideing most motorcycles most of my life. When i was 6 years old my dad whould put me on the gas tank of yamaha 175 or 250 he would then hope off, and let me drive around the court all by my self, :yes:. from that point on i've been hooked on rideing motorcycles :good2:Four our five years down the road, my parents bought me a 1980 yamaha GT80 and i rode the hell out of that dirt bike.My dad gave me a 1975 yamaha Mx400 :rofl2:, i let my sister ride the gt80, as I was moveing up to a whole new 2-stroke dirt bike.. So from 7th grade to12 grade that was all i would do go rideing..In 1988 i bought a RD 400, and rode it a lot, the rd was not happy with me and wouldlock up now and then :dash1:...i traded it for a very nice ten speed (popcorn) saved my money from resturant work,, and bought a 1980 KZ1000st :i_am_so_happy:i rode the hell out of this one to.30or 40k after buying i shattered my right arm lane spliting,, :scratch_one-s_head:That was a live and learn. i could have done with out ,,down the road i sold it and bought a 1995fzr600, with 5k on the engine :good2:i was married started haveing kids.joined the ironworkers,L.U. 118in 1992 15 years dowun the road i bought the MotherShip.. :dance2: My 1985FJ1100,I love this bike with all my heart, I was rideing to Patterson@ back to Carmichael every day..210miles round trip,I would'nt do it on anyother,,Happy FJing :good2: ,,,Mark Glorioso
Started riding on a stripped down clapped out Honda CL100 at 13 and began riding on the street daily a year later on a CB450. A few years later traded my first POS car for a new old stock Yamaha XJ650 Seca. Road it for 13 years. Tried road racing an RD350 and then RZ350 - ended with a high side and collor bone broken thru in two places. Then bought the 89 FJ as a "rolling basket case" - and been working on it and modifying it for the last 15 years! :good2:
A couple years later bought an 84 for a parts bike that somehow became a dragbike project :unknown:
For good measure throw in a short fling with primer grey XS650 cafe-rat-bobber and a lime green big bore Kawasaki KLR650 Tengai :flag_of_truce:
Just finished up 24 years flying in the Air Force - 20 of it in special ops. Now just started a new job flying for Sierra Nevada Corp -- turns out this NOT the company that brews Sierra Nevada beer :ireful:
Hoping to get some more free time now (been out of county for 4 of my first 7 weeks though...) and get to make a rally or ten!
10 years doing child abuse investigations
13 years as a parole officer
3 years on a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force
retired
presently security officer at IRS facilities
started riding in 1984 when in college until 1986;
started again in 1997.
9 years for UPS 5 as union scum, 4 as an oppressive manager. (I never signed out of the union, I'm pretty sure they think I owe them many tens of thousands... ooops, let 'em come and get it...)
4 years as a dispatch supervisor for an Intermodal company.
4 yeas as a Dispatch Manager for a small 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) company
5 years as a subject matter expert/ project manager/ consultant/ for TMS implementations: i2, Manugistics, McHue etc.
13 years (so far) as a product manager, building best of breed TMS (transportation management) software G-Log/ Oracle OTM, from the ground up. Now we're bigger than the next six players in the space, combined.
I have been riding a motorcycles for, counting the mini-bike/ dirt-bike years, 35+ years now. I have been riding a street bike for 25+. I have owned about 10 street bikes, with the first being a Yamaha Maxim 550. Other bikes of note: BMW K75, Honda CB500, 85 FJ1100, Honda CBR1000F, Honda Shadow 1100, and I currently ride a Suzy GSX-R750 and a Kawa Ninja 250.
The FJ died an untimely death, due to a poorly designed "L" fitting in the fuel line coming off of the petcock. The fitting worked its way loose while I was riding and the bike continued to run on the fuel in the float bowls. The still-attached vacuum line kept the petcock happily pumping the gas onto the hot motor. I came to a stop at a stop sign, began to accelerate away and the back tire stepped out. -"Must be oil on the road" i thought -when in fact it was my own fuel I had just slipped on. The bike stalled a hundred yards later, finally out of fuel, having exhausted the fuel in the float bowls. A woman drove by rolled down her window, and asked if I needed help -I answered that I did not, and that my house was .5 miles away and it was down hill. (what I should have said was "I think I have a bent rod, can you help me straighten it out?" but I didn't) :)
Suffice it to say it did not end well with lots of gas on a hot motor... I never saw the old girl, or at least what was left of her, again after that day...
Dan
I've owned 4 FJ1200's starting in 1990. Before that my first bike was a DT125. Then to a Maxim 400. Honda released the VT 750 Shadow I believe in 82 I bought one in 83 and I still have it! I've been working for Air Canada as an Inflight Service Director(flight attendant) for 27 years. Didn't know how to do more than change the oil on my bikes until I joined this forum, so a big thank you to all.
Andrew
I've been riding and owning for decades.
Started riding a Briggs & Stratton-powered mini-bike that I bought with my paper route earnings when I was 11 years old. Cut my teeth on mechanical repair with that little thing. Moved on to a 1967 Yamaha 80cc YG-1 (stamped steel frame, anybody remember those?), that was a money pit. Ditched the YG-1, and bought a real dirt bike, a 1974 Husqvarna WR175, and started racing motocross and hare scrambles. During my racing, I graduated to a Yamaha YZ 125, then moved up to the 250 class with a YZ 250. Raced for ten years and loved it. Had to get out of it because of "obligations" (marriage, mortgage, young father, etc., etc.).
In the early 80's, I bought my first street bike. A 1981 Kawasaki KZ550. Owned that for a year or two, sold it, and then bought a 1981 Kawasaki GPz1100. God, what a difference doubling displacement made! Swore that I'd never go back to anything smaller, but did. Sold the GPz, then there was another drought of bike ownership.
I bought a 1997 Honda VFR750F round 2002 with 1,600 miles on it. My first real sportbike. Put 28,000 more miles on it, before selling it a few years back, thinking that I was done with that kind of bike, and could rely upon my 2000 Honda Valkyrie Interstate that I had had for a few years already. Wrong!
I discovered FJ's by accident, never rode one until I got my first one running, then bought another, because they were both good deals, but non-running. I have learned a lot about them through toiling on them, and of course with the advice and knowledge of others on this website, for which I am grateful. Prior to buying the FJ's I bought another 1981 Kawasaki GPz1100 from the original owner. Re-living my youth? :unknown: It was non-running too, and I spent a lot of time (and money) sorting it out, and getting it back on the road.
Besides the aforementioned paper carrier position, I worked at service stations as a teenager, then slaved as a laborer in a unionized chemical factory for around 14 years, before deciding that I needed an education (hindsight is always 20-20). Starting at ground zero at the local community college, and trasferred to a local university, where I earned my BSME and have been working various positions as a Mechanical Engineer/Mechanical Design Engineer for the last 16 years. Very interesting work along the way. Consulting in heavy industry, designing NASA manned-flight experiments, working on Navy and Army defense projects, and now working on an R&D project for a medical device manufacturer.
Never regret going back to school.
I've been with VDA Productions for 24 years. Started out in 1988 as a production carpenter am now Director of Operations and a Senior project manager. I get to travel to most of the major convention cities in the US. It's tough to explain what we do. Check out www.vdaproductions.com (http://www.vdaproductions.com) if you want. I started riding at age 43. People needed a reason to believe why I would want a motorcycle at that age so I went with it's a "middle age" thing. Bought a non-running R65 BMW off ebay in 2002. Found the FJ in 2006. It will probably be the last motorcycle I ever own. I commute to work as many days a year as I can. Have made it to December every year which is not bad for living in New England.
james
Hey Bones.......great thread......maybe should have started it with this
INFORMATION SOCIETY - WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPuXvpkOLmM#)
Anyway.....all jesting aside......
I love the outdoors....and working with my hands, so I found a career that allowed me to do both....Building houses. I started building them as a labourer back in september of 84. By June of 86, I decided I knew enough to start my own business....I was just shy of me 23rd B-day...and I have never looked back.
My first bike ever was an 82 Seca Turbo I bought in 85 but after 4 years and too many close calls, I stopped riding. 10 years ago and just around the time I was turning 40, I moved into this place where I am now(photos on the Ont BBQ thread), so I decided it was time to rekindle some passions I used to have, including drumming and of course my baby....CanD. I bought an FJ since the Seca Turbo was considered to be the little brother on the bigger stronger FJ....plus being a proud Canadian, I loved the Red and White. I surffed the web and read atricle after articles of guys around the world who were modding the old girls and thats when I joined this site. Great members......unlimited resorces and smarts in here.....some very very inteligent minds in here........and everybody gets along well .... :mocking:...well most of the time :good2: Characters of all sorts.......and likely the most array of colours of any rainbow right here on this site(people as well as bikes)
Other hobbies for me include golfing,skiing both water and snow,hockey and my 300zx tt (my other disease :blush:)......I love to travel and had in not been for the untimely passing of my wifes mother in January past, I would have been in Australia for the Rally. I do plan to do the circuit of Rallys....All of them.......hope to meet everyone in here.......wouldn't it be cool to just spin cool to take a globe and spin it and stop it with your finger and then pull a date out of a hat and make that an International FJ Rally.......would be crazy. Ride safe and nice to have you on board .......
CanDman
Quote from: big r on May 11, 2013, 04:58:39 PM
Jeez, with what you guys are posting makes me almost feel under educated.
I wouldn't worry about it. I dropped out of college and went to work in IT, I only got an associate's degree two years ago just so that my resume doesn't get round-filed if I have to look for a new job.
Electrician, Caltech 35 years, van pool, occasionally FJ
Only had the FJ for a couple of months, But have been riding all my life, I'm a truck driver by trade, but at this moment I'm wrenching on cars with a friend to keep then bills paid until another driving job comes up,I've done the over the road thing, and don't want to go back if I can help it, Local driving jobs are scarce here in Lost Wages, NV
Ok i'll go next
First bike while in high school a yamha dt 100 followed by a dt 175. After my 2nd winter logging i bought 84 honda 750 shadow had a love hate thing with it. It was to hard on my back traded it for a 1968 amx. After I sold the shadow the new owner lent it to a friend who used it for a get away vehicle in a bank robbery. Next bike a yamaha 650 maxim while been a bum on Vancouver Island. The 85 750 fazer I bought while working as a power enginer in a hospital in victoria sold it to buy a fj1100 first flat tire at 66,666 while the wife and I were touring with the fj inMexico. pulled the motor from the fj to fix 2nd gear and to a top end OH Bought the fazer back and moved back north to run a guide outiftting camp with my father. Lost my dad ran the area for 6 more years, worked all summer and with kids I had no time to ride. Sold out in 06 and got a honda ns400r for summer fun found a street bike did'nt sort the area that I live in so I got a 525 KTM exc.
I now work winters in the oilpatch and fix my house in the summer
(http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/bcguide/398.jpg) (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/bcguide/media/398.jpg.html)
(http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/bcguide/Still34.jpg) (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/bcguide/media/Still34.jpg.html)
(http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/bcguide/honda%20ns400r/NewZealand1710-1.jpg) (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/bcguide/media/honda%20ns400r/NewZealand1710-1.jpg.html)
Spent a few days in New Zealand
(http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/bcguide/003.jpg) (http://s1102.photobucket.com/user/bcguide/media/003.jpg.html)
I put up any Kiwi who brings me some Hokey Pokey ice cream, aw hell if any of you find yourself in my neighborhood you can find a couch to sleep on.
wow what a thread.
myself , I currently own and operate a heating and air conditioning , refrigeration company.
Teach it at nights at a local tech school in Sacramento ca.
started as a gas pump jockey,
then a auto mechanic,
then a automotive engine machinist/builder
then a hvac tech
then some process serving on weekends (not as glamorous as tv)
then started my own hvacr bizz in 2008
started teaching on the side in 2010, great way to find quality employees.
high school education with tech school , no time for college .
married for 29 years come this august.
have been riding motorcycles for 40 yrs.
the list would be endless for the bikes I have owned so I won't boar you with it.
The 86 fj1200 I now ride is the result of a test ride of "you break it ,you buy it".
well I broke it , so I bought it. (blown fork seals had something to do with the high side crash)
I have now had the fj since 2004 and became afflicted with moditis at the 2006 west coast rally.
so that's the short version , see me at the wcr for exciting details of valor and conquest. :drinks:
Quote from: Lotsokids on May 11, 2013, 05:08:11 PM
Retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2009 after 22 years of service.
- C-141 Crew Chief
- C-17 Crew Chief / Flying Crew Chief (favorite job EVER)
- C-17 Maintenance Instructor
Something just occurred to me.
Say, Lots, you didn't by any chance have an Astro van and hang out at Astro/Safari forums a few years ago? Your nick combined with AF service seem familiar...
As for me this is my first motorcycle and I just started riding 2 years ago I have since put about 12000 miles on it. I know it is a big bike to start out on but it is a great bike I fell in love with it the first time I rode it and it was in my price range. :) as for what i do right now I am the Parts manager for a electric forklift company for the last 3 years was a service tech for 8 years same company worked on gas turbines in the navy for 4 years and odd jobs here and there before this job 12 years ago. i know i have missed the WCR the last 2 years but it is hard because of work and my wife mom battle with cancer so I pick up the slack. i am hoping for next year i might beable to got for a day this year but not sure yet. sorry for the ramble :crazy:
When I was 3...no wait...when I turned 10....when I graduated high school jobs were scarce, very scarce and no it wasn't 1929. There just happened to be a new car dealership opening in my hometown and since I was steeped in automotive experience they hired me as a porter. Now this job didn't pay much but money isn't everything. I once saw a woman walk from her bathroom to her bedroom butt naked as I sat on her sofa waiting for her to get ready so she could go pick up her car. That was priceless to 18 year old. I was later promoted to automotive service consultant and after several moves I ended up at a Cadillac dealership making five figures, hooraahh. Then in 2001 I got bored, the wife says mid life crisis and we cashed out the 401k, sold the house, my beloved LongEz project and Corvette. We moved to central Florida and I went thru a airline training program or two. This allowed me to earn all my certifications and tow aerial advertising in Myrtle Beach for a couple of seasons making a very modest $10.00 every hour that the prop was turning. I also ferried airplanes coast to coast in the off season and I parlayed that into a cargo job. As a cargo pilot I enjoyed all the benefits thereof such as flying a $2M airplane with weather radar, staying in $30. a night motels with mold and cockroaches for weeks on end. I was able to go home to visit the wife every three months or so and it was on one of those trips that I had an epiphany; be carefull what you wish for. I decided to reinvent myself (several times), I became a industrial maintenance technician, a machinist, a courier and a underground utility locator. (my resume looks like a train wreck) During this period of psychological uncertainty, I would work on different projects as a means of transcendental meditation. I restored a John Deere riding mower, a pontoon boat and a 1984 FJ1100. I also set up three violins, a electric guitar and built a radio control helicopter. The Fj1100 is my third motorcycle, my first was a 1974 Kawasaki KZ250 and my second was a 1979 Yamaha 750 Special. I think what made the 750 "Special" was the imbalance of the three cylinders and the resulting oil leak. I traded a perfectly good 1972 Olds 442 W30 (all original, 455HO) for it so you can imagine the the pain I felt when the damn camshaft chain jumped and bent several valves. I sold it for $200.
I started working in a machine shop when I was 17 and 33 years later, I am still in machining. I moved through several different shops over the years gaining experience on all types of cnc equipment. Now I run the shop I work in now as a designer and cnc programmer. I also recently purchased a company that builds headers and exhaust systems for Porsche 911s and 914s which I work out of my shop at home.
My first bike was a 1984 Honda 750 Interceptor. I really liked that bike and I had it for several years before I sold it. Bought my 86 FJ in 96 and have had it ever since. I do still have my 1st car from high school, a 1956 Chevy convertible which is currently under restoration.
I started into the working world as a machine repairman in large foundry. Took night classes to get my mechanical engineering degree. Worked my way up the corporate ladder into the world of meetings all day as a manager then into plant superintendent. Got burned out so quit went back to school and I am now a cardiac registered nurse. I worked in open heart surgery for 4 years, and now work on a step down unit for cardiac surgery patients. Really enjoy what I do.
I have rode bikes since I was 14, raced motocross until my head hit a rather large rock that ended my racing career. I didn't ride for 3 to 4 years, then bought my first road bike which was a Honda custom cb750. Rode that bike for 17 years then bought a 98 Harley FLHTC which I still ride. I rode a buddy's Fj in 1988 in which it made a great impression on me. So when able to trade some rebuilt Dana 44 axels for a jeep collecting dust in the garage for my 84 FJ I jumped on it. Only had about $100 in the axels and a few days of my labor. So the price was right. It was a solid foundation bike to restore and to help preserve a little bike history.
Quote from: JPaganel on May 13, 2013, 11:49:33 AM
Say, Lots, you didn't by any chance have an Astro van and hang out at Astro/Safari forums a few years ago? Your nick combined with AF service seem familiar...
YES!!! The 350-powered Astro. That's me - same name also. Good to meet you [again]. That's kind of bizarre. :hi:
http://v8astro.homestead.com/ (http://v8astro.homestead.com/)
Quote from: Lotsokids on May 13, 2013, 09:02:22 PM
Quote from: JPaganel on May 13, 2013, 11:49:33 AM
Say, Lots, you didn't by any chance have an Astro van and hang out at Astro/Safari forums a few years ago? Your nick combined with AF service seem familiar...
YES!!! The 350-powered Astro. That's me - same name also. Good to meet you [again]. That's kind of bizarre. :hi:
http://v8astro.homestead.com/ (http://v8astro.homestead.com/)
Interesting... I've had a couple of Astros, and always wondered if it could be done. :good:
Am an owner operator of an exotic animal clinic and software developer.
I grew up racing mx. Been riding 30 plus years. But offload only. Always sworeoff street. Friend gave me a screaming deal on a low mil 89. So i decided to give it a couple years see if i like it. Current my main ride is an 09 husqvarna wr300. Weekends i am usually riding gnarely single track up in the mtns. I guess i will need to make time for both.
I started driving motorcycles as a teenager, so have been riding for 15 years.. Yeah, I'm still young compared to some of you :good2: Hehe...
My friends dad owned a motorcycle shop so it kind happend naturally.
As for work I started of joining the military as a paratrooper and advanced into the special forces. Did two trips (of 6 month each) to Afghanistan, first in January 2002, and then in July same year.
After that i figured I want to do something else in life, then end up dead at some point so I started taking my flight certificate to become a pilot. But that never happend I'm afraid. House ex-wife etc came in the way of that. :rofl2:
But I do have my Private pilot licence, and I do fly regularly.
I then started working as ground crew for an airline company here in Norway, Widerøe, and been there ever since.. The pay way too good..
Got married, got kids and a new house. (Still paying for the last one!!)
Two years ago i started studying at the university to become a teacher at higher level (college and university), after I started school again I found put that i have a talent for History, so that's my major, and I am aiming for a master degree in some year I hope..
Well, that my life story..
Public Affairs Officer for provincial government. Started on a Maxim 400, Radian600 and now the FJ (my big bros old bike). Big gaps in riding and was never 'hardcore' but like the skill of riding quick and with competence. Finding the FJ to be my style of bike - big, fast, comfortable, just 'sporty' enough. It kind matches up well with my car, Lexus GS400.
Quote from: Lotsokids on May 13, 2013, 09:02:22 PM
YES!!! The 350-powered Astro. That's me - same name also. Good to meet you [again]. That's kind of bizarre. :hi:
http://v8astro.homestead.com/ (http://v8astro.homestead.com/)
:good2:
I had an Astro and a 350, but haven't actually put the two together. I bought a pickup to fix my parent's house, and then got re-bit by the motorcycle bug, so the Astros got sold. All I have left are a few random parts I trip over in the garage.
The whole bike thing started when I was a kid and my parents would take me to see ice speedway. That is a seriously crazy type of racing - smooth ice track, huge steel spikes on tires, two speeds and no brakes. About the only sport I've ever gone to see with any regularity. Parents had a bike, an orange CZ. One day while they were watching a race at the track the CZ got stolen. Then, we had a 50cc moped that I rode for a while. It was fun, but also got stolen. Then I kept thinking about bikes for years.
Not too long ago I decided it wast time to quit thinking about them and got an XJ750. That turned out to need lots of work. While working on it I got an XS400 that actually ran. Rode that for a while. Then, my wife declared she wants to ride, and I traded in the XJ750 on the FJ that I have been drooling over for a few months so that I can have two running bikes.
Being an optimist I also have an XJ550 I'm working on right now. It was a $200 basket case. Just got done chasing down the oil leaks and adjusting valves.