Turn the clock back

Since we are still in the midst of Winter's Grip riding anything 2 wheeled is really not possible. Over the years I have made rules which really can't be broken. Better to err on the side of safety than to cave in to impulse. The temperatures right now in Vancouver are hovering around the freezing mark. Minus during the evenings and single digits during the day. The ice just doesn't burn off until mid morning so I have decided that it would be too risky to take my commuter scooter to work as I leave for work early, around 7am. At this early hour there is still ice on the roads. The first thing I notice when I bring in the morning paper is to check the status of the cars parked outside and how much frost has accumulated on their windshields during the night. Lately riding my scoot has been a no go, it's just too risky.

As I cannot post "fresh" information about current rides, I have decided to let you know how I got into this addictive malady of accumulating self powered 2 wheeled vehicles (ie: motorcycles and scooters -- and a car or two).

My first real motorcycle was a Yamaha 80cc 2-stroke powerhouse. I cannot remember the actual model designation. I traded a reel to reel tape recorder for it. this was around the mid 60's. I learned how to ride and also obtained my motorcycle licence, of course the test was not as stringent as it is today. But being a cash strapped student at that time, I had to sell the Yamaha to finance the tune up on my MGB sports car.

Fast forward to the late 70's --> I purchased a brand new Suzuki GS400 from Ernies Suzuki Centre on Dunbar/29th, and in no time at all I traded up to the GS550L, GS1000L and before the ashtray was full, I was the proud owner of a GS1100L, all this happened so quickly within a span of around a year. I knew this would be a hard thing to explain on the home front, so I told Ernie that I'd be able to 'go for it' as long as each subsequent bike was of the same colour. We had a young family and responsibilities so after a few years I did the right thing and sold my bike. So I was bikeless for quite a few years until . . . this showed up