Where It All Started

[PaulG]

Do you see a trend here....?   



Like millions of others it all started with the a Honda Cub   







A brief foray into four wheels.  Dig the AGAT man...     (And those pants!  )







Then came The Puddle Jumper (as we called them).  My older brother once again refitting the chain... 







Now we finally get to grips with a real man's bike...     (one of my other older brother's 500 Triumph gas spitting-oil squirting-bone shaker)







Fast forward 15 yrs and two bikes later... probably the best bike I've owned, next to the FJ   







Then I stupidly traded it in for a new GS...    It was a good bike ('til I T-boned a car), but hands off any maintenance.  Dealer only 






+40 yrs later from that original Cub, I'm nearing my last one.  Couldn't go out a better way with an FJ!!!  She ain't perfect, nor shiny.  She's like that old couch that the wife wants to throw out but it fits every roll on your body... and at times seems more conmfortable than the bed...    (don't fret about the stain, it's just water from the incessant rains we've had)





If you have any blasts from the past in faded Kodachrome or B&W (or even digital) let's see them.  It's always interesting exploring where we came from.   

[aviationfred]

As a teenager, my parents got my brother and I a used CT70 and the love of motorcycles began.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_0.jpeg

Once in High School, I got a job and rode a bicycle to and from work. I saved up quickly and bought my first street legal motorcycle. a Honda XL100s. I rode this little thing during my Junior and Senior years.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_1.jpeg

After graduating School, completing Marine Corps boot camp and headed out into the world. I found myself at Champion Motorcycles in Costa Mesa California. Coincidentally, the same place that Father Pat purchased his FJ1100 a couple of years before. Being 19 years old and all of 130lbs. I couldn't see myself needing anything larger than a mid sized bike. I left the store with a brand new Honda VF500F Interceptor.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_2.jpeg

I soon left California and did my first long distance ride, Still 19 years old. Over 7 days, I rode the little Interceptor from California to Ohio, to South Carolina and finally to North Carolina. To show how inexperienced I was, it never occurred to me that I might need a rain suit. 7 days, Coast to Coast with a detour into the upper Midwest in July. I didn't encounter a single rain drop.

Shortly after arriving in North Carolina, the 500 was stolen. I needed a new ride and ended up with a brand new Radian 600. Good all around bike, but it was only temporary (6 months). My Interceptor was recovered and I sold the Radian

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_3.jpeg

I owned the 500 until I paid off the loan and immediately fell in love with a used FJ1100. 21 years old and I had to have it.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_4.jpeg

A side note, I did sell the 500 Interceptor to the parts girl that worked at the bike shop that I bought the FJ1100 from. 18 months later I married her and got my bike back...

Before I left North Carolina for California, I had the opportunity to play on a 3 wheeler, Honda 300X and had a blast. You can see my FJ in the background.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_5.jpeg

Thus begins the love affair of the FJ. A couple of years later, I was back in California and a patch of sand on Angeles Crest Highway ended the FJ1100's life and almost took me with it. 3 weeks in a Pasadena Hospital. While recovering from my injuries, I found a 1984 Interceptor 1000 that was a rolling frame and the rest was in boxes. While I was convalescing, healing and participating in physical therapy, I assembled the Honda and brought it back to life. At this time I still had the Interceptor 500.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_58_6.jpeg

The big Interceptor was a fine bike, but never did measure up to the mighty FJ. Over the years I rode all over southern and Central California. Occasionally taking the little 500 for a blitz through Big Tujunga Canyon and Angeles Forrest Highway.
Within 3 months of each other, both bikes committed suicide. The 500 broke a rocker arm while riding, sucked a valve and grenaded a piston. The 1000 spun a rod bearing. This was in 1995 at the very beginning of the internet.... Remember AOL and 14.4 Baud modems?? No such thing as eBay, the couple of Motorcycle wreckers in the Southern California area wanted a fortune for bike parts.... There was very little competition and often had their used parts priced at nearly 75% of the new cost.

Fast forward 17 years of no motorcycle ownership.

I found a 1989 FJ1200 on Craigslist that had my name written all over it.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/3/2562_27_09_12_10_10_01_3.jpeg

This thing needed some serious TLC. Shortly after I found the bike, I found this forum and the rest is history.

From buying and selling a few FJ's, to my Theft Deterrent White FJ getting stolen.... go figure on that one. This forum and the members are the greatest and I feel fortunate to be part of it.

The 89 shortly before it was stolen.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_59_7.jpeg

The 1987 Satin Black one that I had for about 9 months and sold.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_59_8.jpeg

The 1990 that was a crash survivor from Arkansas that I also parted ways with.

http://fjowners.com/gallery/11/2562_27_05_19_12_53_59_9.jpeg

And my current FJ, the 1995 Grey Import.





Fred