Hi there.  After a very, very, very long period of inactivity, I'm finally getting back into updating and changing this site.  

This is some of  the story of me and my bikes.  First of all, I have never considered putting up a "me" page.  As you may have noticed, motorSmart and Canadian Online Autowreckers are all business, most of which has to do with someone else's business.  This part of the site is the selfish part.  Minding my own business, so to speak.
     Much of my life has been spent on or around motorcycles, so I thought I'd share a bit of this interest here in this part of the site.

Over the past 30 years, these are the bikes I've owned:
-Yamaha GT80
-Yamaha XT250
-Suzuki GS400E
-Yamaha FJ600
-Yamaha FJ1100
-1969 H-D FLH
- 1974 Honda ST90
- 1975 Suzuki RV50
- 1986 Honda Goldwing Aspencade

Currently, my stable includes the 1985 R80 G/S I've owned for 12 years, a 1986 Honda Transalp with dual-purpose sidecar, 1986 Goldwing, and several small dual purpose bikes. This year, the G/S finally got old enough to get collector plates, which I've been waiting to happen for many years.

Here's some pics from a few years ago I took of the Transalp:

The Sidecar was built by Side Effects in Kamloops, for the previous owner, who wanted a machine to take with him into the bush when he treeplanted. 

Click on the images for larger views.
 

These pictures were taken during two separate rides last summer - one to Carmanah Park, and the other over the Horne Lake Trail (over the mountain range on the centre of Vancouver Island).  The other bike is a friend's DR Big (750cc).
 
 

I think this G/S was somehow meant for me...you know, fate or something.  I'll explain.  I spent six years on my FJ1100, logging around 60,000 kms.  In all that time, I never had a single breakdown.  Somehow, I wound up with a 1969 Harley Davidson.  Beautiful, classic looking bike.  Looks aren't everything.  After numerous breakdowns, thousands of dollars and endless hassles, my Harley had to go (I never got used to the image thing anyways). I put the hogger up for sale in early March 1998.  While toting the beast around to a shop to put it in the showroom, I happened to spot a bike that I'd only seen a couple of times in my life - a nearly pristine blue 1985 BMW R80 G/S - in another cycle shop.  I wanted the bike - badly, but the Harley had to go before any purchase was made.  No problem, I thought. After all, everyone knows that you can't lose money on a Harley, and they're so easy to sell.....wrong.  The first and only serious offer came 10 months later, two days before Christmas of 1998.  I sold the beast (only lost a few grand, oh well), and thought I'd better start looking for a new bike.  I figured that there was no way the G/S would still be at the shop (after all, this was the only G/S I'd ever seen for sale at a shop on Vancouver Island - I've only seen one other one resident G/S in the area in my life).  I phoned, and the bike was.....there!  24 hours later, I had my G/S loaded into a van and was on my way home.

I've since found out that this bike, serial number 6363157, was the last '85 sold in North America (maybe worldwide), which I suppose means really nothing, but I like the idea of having the first or last of something anyways.

I thought that the price I paid may have been high, but ongoing perusals of the IBMWRA Marketplace have led me to two conclusions:
1.  Monolever G/S's rarely come up for sale.
2.  These bikes hold their value very well (worth almost as much as far newer - and supposedly better -R100 G/S's), and they're highly sought after.

I put over 15,000 kms on my G/S in 1999, and spent less than $40.00 CDN on maintenance (not including tires and oil changes).

One thing that's been really buggin' me is the accuracy (actually, extreme lack of accuracy) of those so-called "expert" online price guides I've browsed.  According to ALL the guides, a G/S isn't worth diddly-squat.  One site says $1400-$1800 US, while the others 'generously' value the G/S at around $2300 US.  According to these gurus, a standard, plain jane R80, even a base model R65 is worth more .  What's going on here?  I emailed one of the guides,and they said that they get their figures from real world research of markets across the U.S.  What markets?  They obviously aren't looking at the only place I've found ads for early G/S's, the IBMWRA Marketplace.  I've never seen one of these machines advertised for anything as low as $2000.  I guess it really doesn't matter, except that these publications are quoted as gospel by motorcycle dealers and insurance companies looking to assess value for various reasons.  I sure feel sorry for the poor sucker who only gets $2000 for his totalled or stolen bike because of these phony values.  Just a rant or two....
 

Everyone who tours needs outdoor equipment that's well built, compact and functional. motorSmart - in affiliation with Gearpro, will soon be providing online shopping and product information for our visitors.Click on the logo at right for more info.

	A view of the bike before I had the chance to do any work to her.  Being the parts/service person at the local Yamaha dealer allowed me to turn a somewhat sad machine into....
	A much prettier ride.
	Taken at the site of the Hope Slide, where the side of a mountain came down and removed a large section of the highway.  A few people caught in the slide were never found, and are still down there somewhere.

As you can see, I became pretty familiar with the way she was put together...
 

G/S Links - Here are some links I've found useful.