Jenny

(Note: pictures shown are not of my bikes, just reasonable facsimiles) 

I am just going to type away for no reason, Jenny (my 07 Super Glide) (which this blogs address is named after) has been having some issues as of late. But...let's start at the beginning. My first bike was a 1964 Yamaha 80cc "Street" Bike.

Back then an 80cc bike wasn't all that small after all, the Big boy on the street had only come out 5 years earlier. It was in 1969 that Honda brought out the 750 Four cylinder, so a lot of bikes on the road were 500 twins, 380 twins, and 650 twins. At the time I bought this bike (for $50.) I was only 14, so it was mainly used in the yard, which had a permanent dirt track torn into it around the house, on trails through the woods in the neighborhood, and an occasional dash down two roads to route 184 for gasoline and a visit to Teds Sales room. Remember Teds, it was a junk aka antiques store, it burned and collapsed years later, but at the time we used to hang out there drinking soda and buying useless items to take home. of course none of that has anything to do with anything, except that it was "that bike" that made me fall in love with motorcycles. From that bike it was a Honda 150 Dream,

The Dream tried to kill me once on 184 when a washer in the transmission started floating around and wedged in between the gears locking the bike up at around 60 mph. A quick grab of the clutch and the rest of the day was spent pushing (It's 1979, what the hell is a cell phone), I mean pushing the bike the 6 miles home from North Stonington. It was about this time I fell out of love with this bike.

 Then it was a Honda 550four which we chopped with the help of a weld on hard-tail.

 It was at that point the story began, I wanted apes on that bike, but my brother talked me out of it. So that bike had raised drag bars, it was cool and still a blast to ride. The next kike was a Triumph 650, 1964. 

Water damaged photo,  holy shit!!!!   Skinny and has hair!!!

We put a real frame under this one, a pre-built hard-tail from "Jammer" (remember Jammer, a custom parts distributor for everything motorcycles (Sport bikes did not exist yet). There was a Jammer dealer in a tiny building located in a trailer park off 138 in Glasgo, it's now a vacant lot and Jammer is a thing of the past. But once again...off track. The Triumph chopper, we decided, should have a long springer, so we gave it a long springer, making a u-turn was not an option unless you were at a shopping center. Because we went with the long springer, apes would look good, but...not really the smartest move, so we added eight bend bars (try finding those nowadays). So I still had no apes, My brothers Triumph was a hard-tail with tubes (he had no use for apes).  I kept those two bikes until around 1984, when other financial issues arrived and I needed the cash, plus after the crankshaft snapped in half on the interstate the love for this bike had dissipated also. Jerry, my friend, sold his when the furnace gave out, it was either heat or riding, his furnace still sports a Harley Logo on it. 

I did have a small run with MZ motorcycles out of Germany for a while in 1976 and 77.

 A Stonington Dealership (where I worked at the time, also gone I believe its a patio store now), wanted to get into the Motorcycle Business. The owner wasn't one to go with the logical, he decided if he went with something different he would be the guy to come to for the bike, sort of an monopoly. So the German built Bikes were in the showroom, the over stock....my basement. Ugly damn bike the 1976/77 MZ, but they were free to use as transport to work, sort of like a demo. Unfortunately, his bookkeeper decided she needed the businesses money more than he did and skedaddled with it, and with another guy, she was the owners wife. With that store in bankruptcy we had free run of the basement stored bikes for about 3 months before someone remembered where they were and they were taken and auctioned off by the bank.

From 84 til the New Millennium, I was bike free, not a cool thing but as we get older dumping money into a vehicle we don't really need is not an option. In 2008 I had had enough and now with the ability to afford a bike again I was off and running, I did not want to get a Harley because of the prices, so I looked at Metric bikes. I took a ride to Mikes Harley Davidson, picked out a bike and had them run a purchase, they added accessories, maintenance programs, wheel and tire insurance. They pretty much loaded it up, it came out to $19,000.00 and I was approved, at which point I thanked them, declined the purchase and knowing I had a decent credit line, went Metric shopping. Jerry was also in the world of cages and wanted a new bike, I stopped at Xcailibur Motorsports in Plainfield and bought a Yamaha. I was originally getting a Kawasaki 1500, but when I arrived on Sunday to buy it from Central Sports in Taftville I found out they did not work on Sundays. I have a tendency to think about buying something for a little while before I do it, but when I decide to buy I want it then. I do not like waiting, so just up the road, Xcalibur.  I walked in and looked at a few of the bikes, after having been off them so long and riding bikes with peanut tanks, sitting on the V-Star the bike looked huge. I realized that for $8,000.00 I could afford two and offered to get Jerry one, he declined because he wanted a Road Star Classic loaded and would wait, (two bikes later and he still hasn't bought a Road Star, although Harley has been a strong point with him).

About a week after I bought the V-Star 1100 Classic I began to realize just how small it was, but it was still fun to ride and I took that bike everywhere just about everyday for two years. In 2010 I had Brenda on the back of the bike, this was the first time since the eighties I was accompanied on a bike. We took a few rides on the bike along the shoreline and such with the club without and issue. It wasn't until we went to Vermont and New Hampshire that I decided I really needed a different bike. The 1100 moved right along without a problem and climbing hills she did fine with the two of us, but if you were on a hill and wanted to crank the speed up, a full turn of the throttle did nothing, it was as if the bike said, "Nope, we're doing fine as we are".

So...it was time to move up in the world, and Felicity arrived. felicity was a 2010 Street Glide, I had the true twos installed, the seat changed, a Stage one upgrade, a CB placed on board, which never worked, and a few hundred little trinkets no one really needs but seem to need when the items are seen in the store.

This was the beginning of a new world, All the hype in the world hadn't persuaded me, but get on a Harley Touring bike, and you are cruising on a Barker Lounger. Amazing.

Now I realize this story is named Jenny, a 2007 Dyna, and I haven't talked about her, but, hey, sometimes that's how it goes. If you are expecting to hear about Jenny you will probably be disappointed. 

The Saturday work day ends at noon ad it is now 12:24 so I am leaving and this is where I will end it.