Page up dated on 13 November 2003
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About Us |
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 Me and the "Beast" |
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A quick bio on me, I was born and raised in New York, yes I am a Yankee; but I have been transplanted below the Mason Dixon line and will never move back north. I finished high school and joined the U.S. Navy and hung around for 23 years. I retired and now live in Newport News, VA. I have been in this area for thirty years now and work for one of the states largest employers and the largest shipyard on the east coast Northrop Grumman Newport News. I build one of the largest and most complex ships in the world; nuclear powered aircraft carriers. I'm an Outside Machinist, I install catapults and all of their related machinery. I have been riding most of my life; I raced Motocross when I was younger and have been street riding since 16. I have numerous scars and hair-raising stories of daring do and stupidity. There is an old 8 mm film hanging around somewhere showing me inventing the first complete summersault on a dirt bike; although I failed to complete it and crashed rather secularly, I am sure that's where today's freestylers got the idea.
But, after buying the ’96 Honda CBR 600 F3 in December of 2001, I went through a rediscovery of sorts. I got back to the handling and performance of motorcycles. Don’t get me wrong Fat Girl handled well and ran better than most, but at 650 lbs and only 60 hp, she was not intended to do what I tried to make her do. I spent more and more time on the CBR than on Fat Girl. I wanted to move up to a new bike one which I didn’t have to worry about the previous owners maintenance or riding style having shortened the bikes life. So I began a long and painful search for the new motorcycle. Last year I came real close to buying the R1 in the silver and black, but something told me to wait and I am glad I did. At first I had a plan which would have allowed me to sell the CBR and buy a new CBR 600 F4I, and keep the Harley but just as I got set to execute that plan several things happened. I spent a day riding with a group of sport bikes, I realized I was a lot better rider than I thought and I might not be so happy with the smaller bike. Then I went on to Yamaha's web site and saw the Limited Edition R1 in black, I fell in love. The rest is now history, I became the owner of the "Beast" at 2pm on 01 March ‘03 I also own a 30-year-old BMW 750/5, which I rode daily back and forth to work year round for the last three years. It now sits waiting for some restoration or or to be sold. I really don’t have the time to do a full on restoration and I’m not really interested in doing it on this particular bike. But, I do love to ride it with all of it's old technology; it will keep you honest. I have been building and repairing motorcycles as long as I can remember. My dad can tell you because he used to raise hell about all of parts laying around in the garage and his missing tools. I can understand how frustrated he must have been with three sons, I only have one and he never showed the desire to take things apart like my brothers and I did. I finished several rebuilds on both Harleys and some metric bikes and now I am deep in a full on restoration of a 1967 Harley Davidson Electra Glide. I have my BMW waiting and there is an old Gold Wing waiting to come into my shop. There is one other bike in my shop a Yamaha Virago which is waiting for parts. I also have a 69 Honda 305 Dream waiting for me to restore. |
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She wanted to know what it was like to be up front on the bike, so I let her sit in the front for short ride with me on back working the controls. A few days later she told me I had to go down and pick up her new bike, a 250cc Honda Rebel. In the first year she rode from Newport News, Virginia to Washington D.C. for Rolling Thunder, trips to the mountains and alot of other motorcycle events in and out of the area. She accumulated 3500 miles on it in less than 7 months. She moved up to the Sporty the following year. She had me modify it to fit her 4 foot 10 inch height. I dropped the forks in the triple trees, and installe a White Bro's lowering kit in the rear. This dropped the bike down enough for her short legs. She rode daily preferring the motorcycle to the car for every trip she had to make. Until she had her first accident. A bad one, she survived with 9 pins holding her knee together. Her sporty was repaired and I didn't think she would get back on it. I was wrong. She does have a biker heart. Two years later we made a trip to Canada, and we rode up to New York to visit family.
I hope you enjoy our page and pictures, as much as we
enjoyed the company of our friends on the rides and other occasions we hope to
show off, on this site. Check out
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Flo has been riding on her own motorcycle for
the last ten years. The mother of two, and my partner for the last 32 years.
When we met she had never ridden on a motorcycle and our first date was her
first ride. She enjoyed the ride and I guess my company too. I rode a CL350
Honda back then, and we toured all over Florida on it. 
We have been living
in the tidewater area over 30 years. I am retired Navy and enjoying it. Both of
our children are grown and living on their own. Aside for one old dog with one
tooth (old dog has since passed on to doggy heaven), a new house and Bud the
wonder dog there is nothing to keep us at home, so we are out enjoying our
motorcycles together as much as possible.
