The one and only ROADKILL!


suzukizone

Grasshopper
This is Roadkill, my 1981 Suzuki GS850G. P.O. had left it outside without protection for way too long. It had somewhere between 20k and 120k miles on it (a whole other story!) when I rescued it in 2002, abandoned per a shop lien. She ain't a pretty lady, except to me, lots of corrosion issues, fading paint, scratches, dents & she rarely bathes, much like her geezer owner. Roadkill is a working bike, that is she takes me around shopping, etc. wherever I need to go, never breaks down and keeps me alive without makeup or designer clothes. I pretty much do all my own maintenance work & have managed to turn the wiring into a bowl of spaghetti that even I have trouble understanding. But it works and she keeps on going.

(An aside, recently replaced my 139db black Nautilus MC horn with a new fire engine red one. Wish it pointed straight ahead but was about 1/3 the cost of the black MC version. Still can skin a cat at 100 yards. Was about $12.95 on eBay.)

Her hobby is camping and if I fail to take her out on a trip at least twice a year, at least, she gets moody, though she remains fiercely loyal. Fully loaded on the road, that's when she runs best.

So like the semi drunk old bag lady in shabby clothes, she may not be a pleasant sight to passersby but she is an angel to me. My wife is jealous of our relationship,...with good reason I will say. Someday we will run off & join the circus.

There are so many gorgeous, shiny and perfect bikes out there. Sometimes the mutt is the best dog at the park though.
 

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brianinpa

Five Star Vetteral
Country flag
Welcome to the forum. Anyone can ride a shiny bike. The old crusty ones show the character of the bike and the rider.
 

suzukizone

Grasshopper
I have a Wolo Bad Boy on my Nighthawk, and as you can see belowe, the horn's output ports do face forward:

http://www.vetterowners.com/attachments/150820_003-jpg.1749/

http://www.stebel.it/public/nautilusCS_z.jpg

And, yeah, it's loud.

I had that black Nautilus horn but the compressor failed. An exact replacement was about $35 + S&H & I saw this on eBay for about $13.00 delivered. Cheapskate that I am I got it. It was much redder than I thought it would be & I didn't notice the "trumpets" facing downward until I opened the box. It said the compressor should be kept vertical. I was going to try & salvage the old horn's plastic horn assembly but when Roadkill got used to the more assertive look, she told me to leave it as is. I always listen to my bike. My philosophy is anything that makes a motorcycle noticeable, stupid, ugly or whatever is an advantage. Sort of like the HD rider's case for loud pipes providing protection. So they stay as they are. Still 3x louder than any OEM horn & this bike came with a pretty good matched set of large loud traditional ones.

DH
 

Kynan C.

Admin
Country flag
Wow, that is a hardcore Vetter touring rig. Looks like travel machine. Thanks for sharing the photos. Totally cool.
 

suzukizone

Grasshopper
Wow, that is a hardcore Vetter touring rig. Looks like travel machine. Thanks for sharing the photos. Totally cool.
You are kind. I will advise Roadkill she has an admirer out there. Hope it don't go to her head 9or her crank)
I actually prefer those semi-soft throwover bags to the hard shell Vetter types.

DH
 

aliensatemybuick

Vetter Aficionado
Cool bike. In 2014, I re-bought my Father's WJ5-equipped '81 Goldwing nearly 25 years after he passed. I hung some new chrome on it here and there, and cleaned and touched it up here and there, but it's far from a show bike and anyway that's not the point. It's priceless to me, cooler and worth far more than any shiny new bike. Not that they don't have their place. :)

Keep enjoying your own piece of rolling history.
 

suzukizone

Grasshopper
Thanks for your reply. It is up to us to keep the old iron rolling. The design choices & brands are limited these days. I have a large encyclopedia of motorcycles. It is almost heartbreaking to see the thousands of entries & pix of all the brands from around the world that have fallen by the roadside, some only produced for a year or two. I lean toward the european/Brit designs of the 50's to early 60's. My first big true love was my red & white Jawa 250 Californian that I rode all over from N. Carolina to Maine. Still dream of that bike.

Go to You Tube and paste this in.
1971 Jawa Californian 250 two stroke 210 orig miles! vintage motorcycle

Should see a 2 min video of the exact model & color I had. From another world. Them commies did have a few good ideas.

DH
 
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