I bought this bike on a whim because the price was right. It hadn’t been on the road for a couple years, but it at least started and ran and appeared to be reasonably safe. I gave it a 10 mile test run once I got it down off the trailer. It seemed to go ok, not great, but ok. So that night I flushed the oil. I then threw my saddlebags over the back of the seat, strapped on a suitcase and tent and left for and left for a roadtrip to Kentucky. I’m sure you are thinking that it’s a terrible idea to ride an old bike like this 1,000 miles without so much as checking bearings, but that’s just the kind of rider I am. . . reckless. Heh.
It got pretty bad gas mileage, and only had a 3 gallon tank, but I managed to make it all the way to Kentucky. 1,000 miles in only 19 hours on the road. I wouldn’t say the bike performed beautifully, but it did perform.
On the way back I ran into a couple minor mechanical troubles, as well as a hell storm of dense fog, torrential rains, and lighting. But I’ll get to that all next time.
