Hello, everyone, my name here is Uncle Billy, I'm 76 years old and have been a motorcycle enthusiast since I was 15 when my folks bought me a Sears 50cc moped (made by Puch, in Austria I think), and I've never been without a bike since. My first real motorcycle was a used '65 Triumph T120 Bonneville I bought with almost all my pay when I was assigned to Keesler AFB tech school as an Air Force E-2 recruit. I rode it north to my first duty assignment which was in New York state, in early March through a snowstorm in Ohio, with a little help from a constable in some tiny town off route 75 in Tennessee who jailed me overnight as a bike bum and apologized next morning when he discovered I was in the USAF on leave. I thanked him for the warm bed, hot shower and home-cooked meals and hit the road. Years later a good friend and I got involved with speedway racing- 500cc JAP 4-stroke single running on methanol, total loss castor oil system, no brakes, sideways most of the time. He could slide the turns feet up! We also spent some time road racing a Yamaha TD2B (I think), which is where the front brake on my Yamaha came from. As of now I have 7 bikes, 3 on the street: '84 VF750F bought new, '73 Yamaha RD250 bought new and made into a cafe racer with rearsets, clipons, chambers, 4-leading-shoe front brake and such in 1975, and a 2014 Royal Enfield Continental GT- 500cc but only about 27 hp. Someone is working up a new cylinder head with better breathing to get the horsepower up to some less embarrassing numbers. I also have 5 cars, one of which is just a normal car, but that's not on point here. I'm happy to be among Interceptor folks!
Well hello Uncle Billy I can relate well to your past, I did a spell on a methanol burning JAP stirring up the cinders I used to rebuild the engines for L & D motors in Bristol who bought out the original Royal Enfield factory in the 60's, built myself a 700cc Super Meteor engine from new parts, put it in a works lightweight frame, nickel plated, Roadholder front end, Jota bars, etc Still not a patch on the experimental 800cc DOHC that RE had sitting in the factory, the best British bike never produced
Welcome Bill Fabulous life on two wheels- typical guy, always wants more horsepower. Glad your here Two big up to you Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Welcome Bill, glad you posted some pictures with your first post, otherwise the guys here are merciless about posting pics! I too am one of the over 70 crowd, first bike was a used Honda 305 scrambler, eventually got my '83 VF750 new in Toronto, which I still have as well. Looks just like your '84 because I replaced body work to get a decent tank a couple of years ago. Had a couple of Nortons along the way plus a Z900 Kawasaki. Now my main ride is a '14 VFR800 Deluxe We will see how long we can keep riding!
Great meeting you, Billy. You fit in here perfectly. seems like you're like the guy i might have become, but i only began riding at age 44 on a 23yo 100cc 2-stroke. first of my collection, still have it and usually ride it 2 miles once a year around the 4th of July. You may be our oldest still-riding member, any other candidates ?
Old timer here also, started in 1968 with a Monkey Wards Riverside 50 (Benelli). Road the piss out of her, anywhere and everywhere. From one forum noob to another a hearty---Welcome Aboard!
