I fell off my first Honda 50 at age 5
smashed my fingers on trees from yz & gt 80's by 12
Had street 750's and a DR 350 as an adult in both Europe (Navy) and NJ
Moved to Florida, and sold my bike after driving here for a few weeks... decided i would rather live than ride and die with all the horrible drivers here in the Tampa area (either blue hairs who shouldn't be on the road anymore, or young punks in their modified Hondas and Mazdas driving like idiots).
That's when i bought my first boat... a Hobie16
It's like I have a twin. I was a crazed cafe racer for years. I saw two really bad crashes within two weeks literally right in front of me. I sold my bike and got a Hobie 16. I never looked back.
Started with a 73 Yamaha RZ-350. Put the Kenny Roberts top end package on it, Bassani pipes, with Konis in the rear and the Currnut fork package on the front.
Needles to say six months later I am before the local magistrate for a few speeding tickets and was told to sell the bike if I wanted to keep my license. That's a wake up call for any 16 year old.
Sold that, bought a DKW 125 and rebuilt the engine in my 74 VW Bus which we punched out to a 2200 CC from an 1800 with a better carburetor. BIG DIFFERENCE when we dumped all the smog crap they were putting on theses things back then and tweaked it a little bit.
