PROLOGUE (April 2010)
My last bike was a new 1977 Yamaha 750 triple with a new idea - a drive shaft; I haven't been on a bike since that time. When a friend purchased a used "102" cubic inch Yamaha Road Star, I went along for the ride - what a gorgeous piece of machinery! That bike got my juices flowing and a couple weeks later, I purchased a new Yamaha V Star 1100 Silverado; again what a gorgeous piece of machinery.
Needless to say, when I attempted to ride it home, the manger of the store noticed my "rust" and offered to trailer the bike home for me. Not wanting to damage it, I eagerly agreed. That night with little traffic in our retirement community, I took her out for a spin. After once around the block, it was like I never was off for any length of time, no less 31 years!
October 2010
After putting 2700 miles on this bike, my riding skills were back where I felt comfortable. Unfortunately, that is when the "short comings" with this Yamaha started showing up. In addition, to do an oil change, which I enjoy doing myself, it required removing two mufflers, front cylinder engine pipe and the front brake caliper reservoir; I don't know what the engineers at Yamaha were thinking when they designed 1100.
When the dealer, Cahill Motorsports LLC of Zephyrhills, Florida offered little help with the transmission problem and engine back firing, I decided to trade the bike in before it lost too much value.
October 22, 2010 I traded it in on my new 2008 Honda VTX1300T. In the attached photos, the blue one is the Yamaha 1100 I traded in, and the black one is my new Honda. After putting 1000 miles on my new Honda, which included an oil change at 600 miles, I completely forgot about any money I lost on the trade in.
December 2010
I was planning on keeping this new VTX till age 65. At that time, when I received my full Social Security, I planned on trading it on a new Goldwing. With the current mess in Congress, I started to think that my Social Security might not be there at age 65, so I decided then to take it early at age 62. Now, my second thought was why wait till I'm older to get the new Goldwing; with the economy in the tank, the dealer made me an offer I could not refuse on a new 2008 Goldwing - AND the rest "as they say" is History!
I enjoy riding so much I joined two motorcycle clubs, the Blue Knights FL17 and the GWRRA.
My last bike was a new 1977 Yamaha 750 triple with a new idea - a drive shaft; I haven't been on a bike since that time. When a friend purchased a used "102" cubic inch Yamaha Road Star, I went along for the ride - what a gorgeous piece of machinery! That bike got my juices flowing and a couple weeks later, I purchased a new Yamaha V Star 1100 Silverado; again what a gorgeous piece of machinery.
Needless to say, when I attempted to ride it home, the manger of the store noticed my "rust" and offered to trailer the bike home for me. Not wanting to damage it, I eagerly agreed. That night with little traffic in our retirement community, I took her out for a spin. After once around the block, it was like I never was off for any length of time, no less 31 years!
October 2010
After putting 2700 miles on this bike, my riding skills were back where I felt comfortable. Unfortunately, that is when the "short comings" with this Yamaha started showing up. In addition, to do an oil change, which I enjoy doing myself, it required removing two mufflers, front cylinder engine pipe and the front brake caliper reservoir; I don't know what the engineers at Yamaha were thinking when they designed 1100.
When the dealer, Cahill Motorsports LLC of Zephyrhills, Florida offered little help with the transmission problem and engine back firing, I decided to trade the bike in before it lost too much value.
October 22, 2010 I traded it in on my new 2008 Honda VTX1300T. In the attached photos, the blue one is the Yamaha 1100 I traded in, and the black one is my new Honda. After putting 1000 miles on my new Honda, which included an oil change at 600 miles, I completely forgot about any money I lost on the trade in.
December 2010
I was planning on keeping this new VTX till age 65. At that time, when I received my full Social Security, I planned on trading it on a new Goldwing. With the current mess in Congress, I started to think that my Social Security might not be there at age 65, so I decided then to take it early at age 62. Now, my second thought was why wait till I'm older to get the new Goldwing; with the economy in the tank, the dealer made me an offer I could not refuse on a new 2008 Goldwing - AND the rest "as they say" is History!
I enjoy riding so much I joined two motorcycle clubs, the Blue Knights FL17 and the GWRRA.
