Working On My Bikes

My 1971 Yamaha R5

After that incident with the deer back in July I just rode and didn't really do much else.It's important to ride lots after you go down to keep those imaginary fears at bay so ten days after I hit that deer I was healed up enough to start riding again.Sure felt good. While out on my 1971 Yamaha R5 a problem developed. At first I thought it was fuel related but soon came to the conclusion it was electrical. I'd go out on a good running bike and after 20 miles it acted up again and again.I changed all sorts of parts one at a time ,test ride, and no luck. So,I just put the R5 away for a bit and rode other bikes like mt 1975 Moto Guzzi 850-T and my 1988 BMW K100 RS. After the deer hit I stayed off my really nice older stuff. I figured I'd wait until Fall when the leaves are off the trees so I can see into the woods on the edge of the roads I ride looking out for deer.I see then almost every time I go out. They have become a real threat here in Long Island. Well,enough about the deer. The other day while out riding I was thinking about this electrical problem and just how frustrating it is to find the cause. I decided to just rip out the entire electrical system on my R5 and replace it all. So, here I am now taking apart a spare wire harness to get all the correct color coded wires to rebuild another one I have. I'm finally reaping the fruits of all my labor over the past winter doing an inventory of all my motorcycle parts.I now have over 180 boxes of parts for all six of my riders all organized by make, model, and type of part in numbered boxes on shelves,with the contents entered in a book so I can easily get at anything I need. Shit, it only took me 60 years of riding a motorcycle to finally get organized! Well,I had my fun riding and traveling all over the place camping and wandering down all these incredible roads so I can't complain really but it's nice having all this stuff in order. Today it's back to the basement and the wires.With a bit of luck I'll be back up on my old friend by the end of the week and all will be well back in the land of two wheels. I've also started gathering all the parts needed to fix the bike I was riding when that damn deer crossed my path. Lifted out the dent in the side of the fuel tank. It's going to be a busy winter this year out in the garage. My shop and the work that happens there :

This is my life! Motorcycles are the air I breath and here I am at 76 years old playing with my toys like a child of 10. Well, at 10 I was no different really. I could be found down in the basement dismantling the washing machine or out in the garage tearing apart my bicycle or out in the woods down by this pond catching frogs and turtles. This is the bike I've owned the longest. It's a 1969 Yamaha DS6c that I bought in 1972. As you can see,I still ride it today. She's all restored now after the years of abuse she saw. I rode this bike to Newfoundland back in 1975! Well here she is in recent times with the old goat who rides her still after all these years. I'll be a biker 'till I draw mt last breath!