Yesterdays Ride

It was a beautiful day here in New York yesterday,cold but beautiful.After writing the previous post I got suited up in my leathers,pulled my 1969 Yamaha out of the garage ,and,prepped it for a ride.Did the air in the tires and topped off the injector oil.

10:30 AM and I was off.Did some back roads thru the park near my house and got on the high way headed east.The bike was lovin it.She really likes the cold air which is why I ride my two strokes this time of year.It was a good ride out east to Manorville , NY on the Long Island Expressway.I was just cruising along at 65 mph in the right lane for the most part bringing it up to 70 now & then.Once out east where I got off the expressway I finally was in my element on deserted back roads.It was wonderful,no fucking cars or even other bikes. I had the place to myself and took full advantage of it.

Went here and there just blasting thru the woods .Stopped at a couple nice places that I know of to stretch my legs and rode. It sure felt good to just get out and own the road.Can't wait for the day I'm doing this out west again.You know,just going and not returning for a few days,wandering and camping out in the middle of nowhere.Well,for now this tease will have to do.

After a couple hours of having fun I started to see a front moving in from the south east.The clouds were gathering and on a day like today with the temps in the mid 40'sF once you loose the sun it gets raw so I went down one last road I like and started working my way west staying in the sunshine.

Took the expressway again but got off and detoured to the north and rode along the north shore from Port Jefferson west to Huntington where I live using back roads.It was a really good three and a half hour ride.The bike really needed this before winter.You know,having a fleet of bikes is work.They have to be run and run often or they turn to shit.It's a bitch but someone has to do it,yeah right ! I'm one lucky son of a bitch.

It wasn't foresight that made me buy these bikes when no one wanted them, it was love of the machines.Back in the day when I was bringing these things home people were giving them to me for almost nothing and even free sometimes.They all wanted Harleys.You know,the herd mentality , they all had to have the status symbol while I had no use for it.Now here I am with this collection of nice Japanese motorcycles with a few Italian and German ones thrown in for good measure.Motorcycles are my life,I breath them like air.There have been good things and really bad things in my life ,the one truly wonderful thing has been motorcycles and the people that they have brought into my life.Motorcycling has opened up so much for me,it has saved my life more than once,and it has kept me on a path of happiness.Well,it's a cold rainy day here in New York.Today there will be no motorcycle riding or garage work.Today I'm going to work on a painting.I like to paint,it also keeps me happy and centered.Soon I'll be starting to do some restoration and builds.Last night I was thinking about what to build this winter so I have something to sell to get money for the down payment on a house out in the desert.My first project will be to finish the nice orange DS6C that I did then get going on the 70 Yamaha R5 and then I think I'm going to do a ground up resto on this gem.I bought it as a keeper but I really need to get this down payment together so I think I'll be selling it.It's a real sweethart but I need to move west to live out the last chapters of my life.Check this one out.I bought it 10 years ago and just let it mellow in a nice dry garage.

Yes,it's original and yes that is the correct mileage.It doesn't get any better than this !So,that's it for now,time to eat some breakfast and smear some oil paints around on this big canvas that I have been working while I dream of the west and what lies ahead in the near future out in my garage.