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Petrolheads Anonymous
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Great bikes Howard. I’ve always wanted to try out the Triumph Tiger. I rode a Bonneville 650 back in about 74 when I burned up my second engine on my Chevelle. I think the Bonneville was about a 68. Kind of a fun bike. Just slightly chopped in a “British Way.”
I’ve had about a dozen bikes. The only screamer I’ve had on the street was my V65 Honda. 0-60 in “what the heck was that!” High 10’s in the quarter mile. Only pushed it once when I got a call that my son couldn’t be found near a busy street. My hair is still blown back from driving home from my office. No pictures. Gave it to my son a while back because it looked too sad just sitting in my garage. The Goldwing and Outlander 4×4 kept it company though. Had to make some room for a new toy – a 68 Corvette.
Possibly one of the saddest things about the 70’s was the in-accessibility of cameras, so I only have one picture of my beloved 70 Chevelle. “Hugger Orange” with Thrush side pipes, black vinyl top, a tricked out Corvette LT1 engine and flared fenders to hide the M50 tires that were about 16 inches wide to attempt to give me some traction. Have only been in a dragster that had that kind of horse power. OHHHHH the tickets….. the cost…. ouch..  But a lot of fun. I feel so bad for my neighbors. One told me he could tell me coming miles away, but that was better than me flying by on one wheel on my motocross bike. I lived about a half mile from the mountains and miles of trails.
The one picture is because we had a record snowfall (nothing like Edmonton – but huge for here.)Â In the winter time I usually threw studded truck snow tires on the back to get up the canyons in search of moguls or powder.
Amazingly I lived through all the car adventures on the street, but have nearly rolled jeeps in the hills a couple times.  Had three lucky (not so lucky?) calls on the bikes. Cool helicopter and plane rides in life flight though. Intensive care kind of sucked and slowed me down for a while. The crashes were other people twice and a pile of logs jumped out and attacked me once. Had nothing to do with me coming into a corner at about 60 on a dirt bike 🙂 “Too soon we grow old – too late we get smart.” I learned to be cautious in the dirt and pure 100% paranoid on the streets. I just assume I am a deer and it is hunting season. The reason I most like the V65 was about once a week the power got me out of a situation where someone else was about to clobber me.
So yes. Welcome to Petrolheads Anonymous. I’m John and I’m an addict. I’m a speed addict. It’s been about 20 years since my last ticket.  It’s been 48 years since I’ve broken a bone or caused an avalanche skiing. About 45 years since I’ve gone off a cliff on a motorcycle (not on purpose) or jumped off one on skis on purpose.  If I get upside down these days it is playing with grandkids, not doing flips on skis.
Oh and Howard. LOVE the “Sons of Arthritis” shirt. Hadn’t seen that before. Not ready to laugh about my arthritis too much yet, but I know I did what it took to create it.
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Here’s the current project. Not a convertible, but the T-Tops come off in seconds for the same feel. I’m a little torn. I bought it partially because everything is original. Yet the Petrolhead or “Greaser” (the 60’s and 70’s US equivalent) wants to do all the same I did to my Chevelle. I guess I’ll just be careful with all the original parts in case someone else wants it back original some day. I bought it on kind of a splurge. My two teen boys had been sick and hadn’t felt good enough or motivated enough to get excited about driving. I thought if I picked up something fun to drive they might catch the excitement. To them it’s just “The blue car” and they have no interest in a 4 speed manual transmission. They just want Bluetooth, spotify and power everything. My son Jake calls my favorite song as a teen elevator music. He’s talking about “Born to Wander” by Rare Earth. Teens these days!Â
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Wow, John! You definitely are a fair dinkum bogan petrolhead! Amazing how we survive our youth. We think we are invincible and will never get old (“I hope I die before I get old (talkin’ ’bout my generation’)”. It is no wonder so many young bikers don’t survive their youth. Perhaps it should be a compulsory requirement of obtaining their bike license to be escorted through the orthopedic wards of hospitals.
As for your teenage sons, I think I understand where they are coming from. I can’t recall hearing “Born to Wander” before but the introduction at least definitely sounds like ‘elevator music’!
As for tickets, I understand. I think at times I single-handedly funded the annual policeman’s ball! I lost my license once in the early seventies (car license) and had it suspended several times later when I became a bike rider. Fortunately, especially since I am now retired and no longer have an over 40 kilometer return daily work commute, I have not had a ticket for several years and for the first time in my life don’t have a single point against my license!
I like your “Petrolheads Anonymous” and think maybe that should be the title of this post.
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Jacki, it’s a pity that one idiot has put you off bike riding. I guess it would have been a very traumatic experience for you. I don’t like being a pillion on bikes. I like to be in total control as I know all the things that can go wrong and you have to treat all car drivers as though they are out to get you! Defensive riding is a must if we want to survive!
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I guess “Born to Wander” was a personal thing. I can’t image why high school seemed so stressful at times. I always had my skis on the roof rack, a sleeping bag in the trunk and my thoughts on Sun Valley, Idaho. I thought if things got too much I’d just head to Sun Valley ski resort and be a ski bum. Be a lift operator, instructor or whatever and maybe fix and race motorcycles in the summer. You know….. that still sounds good 🙂
Warren Miller ski movies and a tv series “Then Came Bronson” about a guy that just cruised around the country on his motorcycle were my favorites. Racers Joel Robert, Roger Decoster, Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen were my heroes.
So the song reflected my attitude.
There’s nothin’ you can do girl, there’s nothin’ you can say
You talkin’ to the sky babe, I just got to get away, yeah
Got to hear the wind song singin’ in my ear
Got to get it on girl and I’ll never make it here, yeah‘Cause the wind was my mother, the highway is my brother
I was born to wander and it’s time for movin’ on
I was born to wander turn around and I’ll be gone, gone, gone -
Thanks Howard and John for sharing your passion for your wheels!
Awesome pictures of all your bikes Howard! That Moto Guzzi and a tent sounds like a wonderful way to cruise!
Love that 68 Vette John. The only time I ever drove a Corvette was my friends 84 Vette when they skipped the 83 Vette for the all new redesigned 84 model. It felt like I was in a space ship, low down in the cockpit, and the amazing digital dashboard at the time. While not the power monsters of the earlier 60’s vettes nor the current ones, it was still a ball to drive.
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I don’t have any pictures of my 1989 Mustang LX 5.0 (pre digital camera days), but compared to the 2002 Mustang GT, which had more overall power and probably quicker 1/4 mile performance, it felt more like a hot rod because it was so damn light. I surprised many 60 muscle car owners at street lights with the 89 Stang. The 2002 GT was still no slouch often beating an unsuspecting Corvette off the line, until the Vettes greater horsepower kicked in and it would overtake the 02 GT by about 50 MPH. The 2nd gear charge of the 02 Mustang GT up to about 60 Mbps was quite phenomenal if you knew how to launch it just right without loosing the critical traction off the line.
Here are some pictures of my 2002 Mustang GT in in 2017 that I used for my Craigslist listing when I sold it. I kept it very clean for the 15 years I had it, so it sold within days of listing it.
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That’s one very nice looking machine Jung. I bet you treated it like your baby. Aren’t you sorry you sold it?
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Thanks Howard! Oh yes after a sum total of almost 28 years of Mustang’s, it felt like I lost a little of my soul. My plan at the time was a 3rd Mustang, but other priorities crept in and transportation from pt a to b had to settle with a red Kia Rio for now, though that 3rd Stang is not off my radar.
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But I think we can all agree, these two are the best Petrol Heads ever.
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