By Joe Berk
Like most of you, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’d park in my garage if I had the money and the space for a motorcycle collection. At various times in my life I’ve owned several motorcycles at the same time and I’ve sort of realized the dream I describe here (at least in terms of how many motorcycles I owned), but this blog describes something different. The bikes I owned in the past came about as the result of having the time and the money when something cool caught my fancy. This time, I’d start from scratch and define what would go into my ideal collection. Gresh and I have theorized and fantasized and written about this in the past (see our Dream Bikes page). Here, I’m starting from scratch and I’m limiting myself to six motorcycles (just because I think that should be the right number of bikes). You might be surprised at some of my choices.
1965 Triumph Bonneville
When I was a kid in high school, one of the seniors (a fellow named Walt Skok) bought a new Triumph Bonneville. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I wanted one. Later in life, I bought, rode, and sold several Triumph Bonnevilles, but I never scratched that itch for a ’65 model. Someday…
To me, everything about the 1965 Triumph Bonneville was perfect: The colors, the exhaust system, the exhaust notes, the tank parcel grid, the design symmetry, the little decal recognizing Triumph’s world speed record, and more. I always wanted one and I still do.
1965 Harley-Davidson Electra-Glide
I’ve owned a couple of Harley full dressers, but the one I always wanted was the 1965 Electra-Glide. That year was the first year Harley offered electric starting and it was the last year of the panhead engine (which I think is the best-looking big twin engine Harley ever made).
The ’65 Electra-Glide is another bike that, in my opinion, was styled perfectly. I like the tank contours, the 1965 paint design, the panhead engine’s look, the fishtail mufflers, the saddlebag contours, the potato-potato-potato exhaust note, and more. Apparently, my thoughts about this motorcycle’s intrinsic beauty are also shared by the U.S. Post Office (see the above postage stamp). The ’65 Electra-Glide is the bike I used to think about as a teenager when I rode around on my Schwinn bicycle, imagining that my Schwin was a Harley.
Cycle Garden 1974 Moto Guzzi El Dorado
Ah, a Cycle Garden Guzzi. This is one I tumbled to only recently. I’ve been writing a series of articles for Motorcycle Classics magazine, and one of the shops that’s been helping me is Moe Moore’s Cycle Garden in Indio, California. I always thought the mid-1970s Moto Guzzi were stunning in their stock and restored configurations. Then, during one Cycle Garden visit, I saw a custom bike that Moe and his crew had assembled for a client.
The bike was a 1974 police motorcycle, but it painted in a breathtaking battleship gray and metallic blue paint theme. I could see myself riding it, rumbling through the open roads and magnificent landscapes of Baja. It is a motorcycle that is firmly on my list.
1983 Harley XR-1000
I wrote a Dream Bike piece about this during the first year of the ExhaustNotes.us blog’s existence, and the thing that struck me about it was that Joe Gresh told me I’d beat him to it…he was thinking about doing a Dream Bike piece on the same motorcycle.
I’ve never owned or ridden an XR-1000. Come to think of it, I never heard one run. I could have bought an XR-1000 new for around $8K when they were new, but I didn’t have a spare $8K laying around in those days. It’s another one of those motorcycles bikes for which I think the visual and visceral appeal is perfect. Maybe someday I’ll get to scratch that itch.
2006 Kawasaki KLR 650
To me, this is an interesting choice with which some might take issue. I don’t care. I loved my KLR 650. Lifelong good buddy Baja John had one, too. That’s Baja John and yours truly somewhere in Baja in the photo below.
The KLR 650 is one of my all time favorite motorcycles. Mine was a first-gen KLR, and I think those are more desirable than the second gen bikes. My KLR was perfect for exploring Baja, and I did a lot of that on it. It had just the right amount of power, it was simple (except for the shim-and-bucket valve adjustments), it was a very comfortable motorcycle (the ergos were perfect), and it was inexpensive. I bought it new in 2006. It was one of the best motor vehicles (of any kind) I ever owned. If you’re wondering why I sold it, so am I.
2015 CSC RX3
The CSC RX3 motorcycle is another bike that I thought was just perfect for me. I covered a lot of miles in Baja and elsewhere in the world on it.
I think a 250 is the perfect size for a motorcycle (you can read why here). I traveled through a lot of the world on one: Through the American West, Mexico, the Andes Mountains in Colombia, and China (with Joe Gresh; Joe and I are in the photo above auditioning for a Chinese gladiator movie). All those trips and all those miles were awesome, and the RX3 didn’t miss a beat on any of them. I almost cried when I learned Zongshen discontinued the RX3, and if they were to bring it back (which they should), I would no doubt be riding the world and blogging the RX3’s virtues again.
There you have it. It was fun thinking about this, writing this blog, imagining the above six motorcycles parked in my garage, and riding them in different parts of the world. A quick mental tally tells me I could make the above wish list a reality for something around $120K in today’s dollars. Hmmmm…I don’t have a spare $120K laying around, but maybe if a few of you hit that donate below…
What about you? What would be the ideal collection you’d like to see in your garage? Let us know in the comments below.
You know you want it. Go ahead.
A couple of decades ago when I taught the MSF safety courses, I admired the occasional student who would bring a scooter to the course. These students always did well in the course, especially the stopping test, always stopping several feet shorter than anyone else due to their integrated front/rear brake systems. They also excelled at any of the maneuvering tests, such as the cone weave, due to their low center of gravity. Of course scooters had a stigma about them, and I couldn’t get myself to buy one, but one of the few positive things about getting older is that you eventually just don’t care what other people think, so I pulled the trigger about 6-months ago and bought a 2007 Honda 250 Reflex. I believe that this is one of the most practical and reliable motorcycles that anyone can buy, especially as a senior adult. It’s simple to ride with the automatic clutch, it can propel my overly large frame to 70 mph, it gets 60+ mpg, the seat is low and comfortable for both rider and passenger, and mine came with a Givi trunk adding to the already significant storage. It’s also very quiet, it has nice lines with an integrated windshield, and the step-through design begs for you to hop on and just go anywhere, even if it’s just around the block. The insurance is even inexpensive. I recently had a temporary health setback that makes it difficult for me to walk, but I know that my re-introduction to two-wheels will be on that scooter.
Very cool, John.
During the CSC days, we frequently rode with a couple of scooter clubs. They were interesting and cool people, much easier to talk to and with much less ego than the folks we ran into on motorcycles. One of our readers (Rob) is a scooter guy. CSC Motorcycles at one point sold scooters (the Genuine brand). I’ve never owned one, but I can see the logic behind them.
Thanks for commenting, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
My current Triumph Tiger 1050 is almost vintage at 19 years with me. Oldest bike I want is a Yamaha RZ350 in the Kenny Roberts livery. And also a Yamaha Niken. I would then consider my garage full.
Triumph’s Tiger is the best of the newer bikes. I had a 2006 and I loved it. An RZ350 would be cool, too.
Thanks for commenting, Fred.
I’d make a list but can’t hold the line at 6. I’d have 100!