Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for 1974

they sure don't make'em like they used to.

I'd been slowly hunting for a '74 honda xl-175 and a couple of weeks ago
found the best specimen i'd seen in years on ebay, 4900 miles on it. it
was in Oregon. Not being able to go personally to look at it, i had to
go on the pictures and the sellers ebay reputation. figuring in a worst
case i can always resell it, i took a deep breath and busted out a
winning bid in the last minute of the auction. after futzing around
with shipping for two weeks, IT ARRIVED HERE THIS MORNING !

Holy Shit, this thing is in great shape for a working 30+ year old dirt
bike. Had to get the freight hauler ( it was secured to a pallet on a
semi) to go over to a Kroger so we could unload it on a dock; years of
being a good customer there paid off, with the store manager letting me
unload a motorcycle in the midst of stacks of Glamour magazines, Hostess
cupcakes and Cabbage that were also being loaded into the store.

Got the bike off the truck, rolled it outside the back of the store and
proceeded to see if it would light up. there was something that would
pass for gasoline in the tank and the headlight came on, so flip the
choke lever, knock the kick starter into place and begin the old drill.
After some pumping and fiddling with the ignition switch to find the
right position, it burbled to life! Yeah buddy, i now know how Dr.
Frankenstein felt when the monster first moved, IT"S ALIVE !!

It was either ride it home or walk it home, so pulled in the clutch, hit
first and let it out; it rolled smoothly under power and shifts easily,
awrite, not walking this thing home. Puttered across the street to the
high school parking lot to see how it was, made a big circle; it has all
the gears, the brakes are close to non-existent, but that's ok, i can
deal with that; they are easy to fix drums. Puttered back out into the
street and motored the mile and half back to the house, with the
proverbial shit eating grin. what a ball, no one makes street legal
on-road/off-road bikes this small anymore, now they are all 600+cc. It
all came back why these bikes were so cool, it felt like a bicycle with
a good motor, legal on the street and immediately fun off the pavement,
easy to slide around, jump and wheelie and sooo easy to pick up.

Well, it's now sitting in the front drive, i'm slowly making a list of
things I want to address on it and just tickled to have this new toy in
the house. the final touch to the story: it was my wife who had her
original XL-175 in 1974 and sold it before going in to the Forest
Service in Oregon. She has owned almost as many bikes as I have (her 5
to my 7 over the years) and now she has her favorite bike of the entire
lot back again. While typing this tale, she just asked me if it would
be ok to hose off the dust from shipping and clean it up.

You betcha it is.

 

cool story
I wore out a 71 ace100 Hodaka back in the day and drool at the thought of a
new one to putter around the county roads and pasture.
Congrats on finding this jewel.

Richard

 

(another viewer wrote)
/
they sure don't make'em like they used to. /
I'd been slowly hunting for a '74 honda xl-175 and a couple of weeks ago
found the best specimen i'd seen in years on ebay, 4900 miles on it. it
was in Oregon. Not being able to go personally to look at it, i had to
go on the pictures and the sellers ebay reputation. figuring in a worst
case i can always resell it, i took a deep breath and busted out a
winning bid in the last minute of the auction. after futzing around with
shipping for two weeks, IT ARRIVED HERE THIS MORNING !
(Bjay here) I imagine you were a little bit nevrous, during the two
weeks.
I think ebay is atleast 95% safe.
/
‘‘Holy Shit’’, this thing is in great shape for a working 30+
year old dirt bike. Had to get the freight hauler ( it was secured to a
pallet on a semi) to go over to a Kroger so we could unload it on a
dock; years of being a good customer there paid off, with the store
manager letting me unload a motorcycle in the midst of stacks of Glamour
magazines, Hostess cupcakes and Cabbage that were also being loaded into
the store.
/
(bjay here) What a lucky deal.
That was pretty clever about getting it unloaded at the Kroger store. I
had a Yamaha Enduro 175 around 1973, it was probably about a 1970 model.
On and off the road.
/
‘‘Got the bike off the truck’’, rolled it outside the back of
the store and proceeded to see if it would light up. there was something
that would pass for gasoline in the tank and the headlight came on, so
flip the choke lever, knock the kick starter into place and begin the
old drill. After some pumping and fiddling with the ignition switch to
find the right position, it burbled to life! Yeah buddy, i now know how
Dr. Frankenstein felt when the monster first moved, IT"S ALIVE !!
/
(bjay here) So it had a decent battery in it? I guess the old boy who
had it,actually road it around. Did he tell you it ran good, and he rode
it?
/
‘‘It was either ride it home’’ or walk it home, so pulled in the
clutch, hit first and let it out; it rolled smoothly under power and
shifts easily, awrite, not walking this thing home.
/
(bjay here) You mean Jonathon, you didnt follow the trucker over to
Kroger in your Truck? You had a lotta faith, that the old Bike would
run, huh?
/
‘‘Puttered across’’ the street to the high school parking lot to
see how it was, made a big circle; it has all the gears, the brakes are
close to non-existent, but that's ok, i can deal with that; they are
easy to fix drums. Puttered back out into the street and motored the
mile and half back to the house, with the proverbial shit eating grin.
what a ball, no one makes street legal on-road/off-road bikes this small
anymore, now they are all 600+cc.
/
(Bjay here) I rode my 175 Yamaha Enduro a many a mile on the trails. Now
I like rifing my ATV, back in my woods, and creeks and trails etc.
/
‘‘It all came back why’’ these bikes were so cool, it felt like
a bicycle with a good motor, legal on the street and immediately fun off
the pavement, easy to slide around, jump and wheelie and sooo easy to
pick up.
Well, it's now sitting in the front drive, i'm slowly making a list of
things I want to address on it and just tickled to have this new toy in
the house. the final touch to the story: it was my wife who had her
original XL-175 in 1974 and sold it before going in to the Forest
Service in Oregon. She has owned almost as many bikes as I have (her 5
to my 7 over the years) and now she has her favorite bike of the entire
lot back again. While typing this tale, she just asked me if it would be
ok to hose off the dust from shipping and clean it up.
You betcha it is.
--
Iron Butt Assoc., WATR 4X, BL3 paparazzi, Jonathon swift.
/
(bjay here) I'm proud for ya, Buddy.
It's fun to stumble onto a deal, that you've been on the prowl for.
Nothing like that feeling. Then, your buy turned out to be a true &
honest dealing thru ebay, what good luck. Fix it up, and I bet the wife
will have her some good memories while riding the little Old
Motorcycle. heehee...bjay

 

i haven't had any awful experiences,. it just took a while for the thing
to get loaded. it was loaded in springfield, oregon, last friday and
got here todday.

closest dock high loading i could think of, and we go there all the
time; enough to qualify for the free turkey at thanksgiving for doing so
much business there. the store manager didn't even flinch, it was an
immediate, "sure, no problem".. talk about customer service lol

yah, it had been in use, but i din't know what they had done for
shipping, apparently not a darn thing. battery still connected, and gas
in the tank.

oh no, i went over there with a little ferd exploder, that bike wouldn't
fit in that thing. it was gonna ride or be walked, not much over a
mile, no big deal, but i'm happier it started.

they don't make'em like they used to and i don't think an ATV jumps logs
quite the same.


(INSERT NOTE TO BJ HERE:
your response below was copied and pasted because you put it below my
sig line which is automatically cut off on responses. just fyi, so you
can keep track of what messes with things; no biggy, simply an fyi)

(bjay here) I'm proud for ya, Buddy.
It's fun to stumble onto a deal, that you've been on the prowl for.
Nothing like that feeling. Then, your buy turned out to be a true &
honest dealing thru ebay, what good luck. Fix it up, and I bet the wife
will have her some good memories while riding the little Old
Motorcycle. heehee...bjay


i'm pretty tickled too, as is SWMBO. it's perfectly ridable now and will
slowly be restored to like new condition. i've had a fun afternoon with
it already.

 

Would it be rude to ask what the winning bid was? The curiosity is killing
me.

Bryan

2002 Nighthawk 750
1978 Dt175 (2)

 

I realy like those old Japanese bikes, but clean ones are
hard to find. They bring back a lot of memories. A couple
of friends of mine who worked on their dad's dairy farm bought
pair of new 175s, but I think they were SL, not XL. At the time,
I was riding an SL125, so those 175s were AWESOME, and I was
jealous.


-

"Evil prevails when good people do nothing."

http://www.commondreams.org/
http://www.truthout.org/
http://counterpunch.org/
http://responsiblewealth.org/


"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."
-- Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"You know, when bu$h said that he's against nation building,
I didn't realize that he meant only the United States"
-- Al Franken

Don't let bu$h do to the United States what his very close
friend and top campaign contributor, Ken Lay, did to Enron...

 

Mine doesn't mention it any more but she would be ecstatic if I sold
the bike and never bought another.
I'm not sure if would totally be my safety or the $$$ but she would be
happy.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

Cool story, thanks.

Reassembler

 

(INSERT NOTE TO BJ HERE
your response below was copied and pasted because you put it below my
sig line which is automatically cut off on responses. just fyi, so you
can keep track of what messes with things; no biggy, simply an fyi)
Jonathan Swift, AV.
/
THANKS, for that. You have shown lots of patience with me and ma WTV
appratus.
(More than most, I should say)
I hope it is mainly because you are interested in what I say in my
responses.
AV, I went into the Twtex.com (Two Wheeled Texas Motorcycles Group),
that you recommended. AV, it is what I
imagine you guys see when your PC's read quotes.etc.
Because Twtex is really nice and organized, with many options, that even
a WTVer can take advantage of.
Those posters have no idea that I am different. They can find out, if
and when they go into my profile. I like the idea of the profiles
offered about each person, in the Group.
I reckon you have visited the twtex group? If not, & you ever do, I am
using another WTV user name, ''willie''. and the WTV addy is wambajays,
just in case ya ever get bored and visit there!.
It may be my new NG home, because the folks in there are pretty normal,
like ya'll (some, wink) in here, tx.moto.
BJAY

 

Yeah, mine has the new cage so she can't use that one but I am
retiring in a month and a half and income may be tight.
Now might not have been the best time to mention getting a new
Electraglide Classic. ;-)
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

My first wife was like that <g>

 

Not a bad choice. Lots of bike for the money.

--
PC Paul

Trip pics at: http://photos.yahoo.com/paul1cart

"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to
society" - Theodore Roosevelt

 

Mine doesn't mention it any more but she would be ecstatic if I sold the
bike and never bought another.....

''My first wife was like that'' <g>
Vito~~

''All my wives were motorcycle enthusiast.
heehee~~bjay

 

After checking trade in allowance etc. I'm closer to the concours than
the Electraglide. :-(
I'd have to come up with another $11,400 including taxes to go from a
2004 FXD toe 2005 FLHTCI
As much as I like them it isn't going to happen.
It is even $7410 to go to a 2001 Road King Classic which, as nice as
it might be with many extras, isn't looking like that much extra to
me.
And I wanted tunes dammit.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

My first wife might be too.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

Try a Venture. Looks almost exactly like the Ultra and has two more
cylinders <g>
--


Don Binns
RCOS# 7

2000 - Yamaha Venture Millennium Edition

Disclaimer:
This message may contain incidental references to various
brands of motorcycles, vehicles or parts manufacturers.
They are included for informational purposes only and
are not intended to upset, inflame or otherwise disturb
the sensibilities of anyone associated with the brands.
Hyper-sensitive readers of the post who might be upset
with the content are advised to make copious notes,
organize them into a coherent message and then hit the
delete button.


http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/reeky.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/radium1.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/banff.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/kananaskis.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/walkercalgary.htm
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/calgarybrowning.htm

 

I'd agree.
I may just tune it up, get it saftied and advertize it.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

I have been.
There is one for sale but the seller wants $16,300 for it.
A touch too heavy.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

Not so bad where you are, you can find things to occupy your mind.
I'm looking at 1600+ miles each way to Texas and back across the bald
prairie.
You need something to make up for the scenery.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

 

We share much in common then.
Actually, failing to get a bike with stereo I will be opting for the
less expensive Mp3 player and phones.
I have to wear ear plugs anyway.
--
Bob Mann

Before you critisize someone,
you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you critisize them,
you're a mile away and you have their shoes.