I hate my neighbor!!

[melville]

So five years ago, when I first got my Beemer running, I stopped by my local independent MC mechanic to say hi one day and he had a crashed Ducati in for an insurance estimate. "Lowside on cold tires," he said. At least one of the wheels ($$$$) was bent and all the plastic (also $$$$) was fucked up.

It turns out that that was my neighbor's bike. He actually bought another one but kept this one. Now he's finally decided to sell. Here's how it looks presently:



Pluses:

Ducati!!
Red!!
$2,000!!!
Running when crashed!!

Minuses:

Ducati!!! Parts are $$$$
Salvage title. Minimal resale value.
He's put it up for sale at a time when I have nearly no money coming in for three months.

But there are more pluses:

Salvage title!! I could do whatever the fuck I want with it and not kill the value.
Did I say this already?? DOOOOCAAAAATTTTIIII!!!!

I became a lapsed Catholic at age 12 when I moved in with my father. Church for him was a Sunday morning gig he could do when hung over from his Saturday night gig. But a couple lines from the Lord's Prayer have been going through my head:

"Lead us not into Temptation"

Oh Lordy, this thing is Temptation. Speaking of which, the radio is playing the Supremes and Temptations together right now. "I Second That Emotion," to be precise.

"Deliver us from Evil."

I don't think I'd need God to deliver me from Evil if I had this bike. I can just about guarantee that Evil is riding something slower.

I've left him a message. FML. Muriel knows about this--she said, "Oh, you're good at fixing up stuff."

[Steve in Golden]

Hunter S Thompson would approve

Song of the Sausage Creature

[Zombie Master]

Non practical money pit! I'd get the GT 1000.

[melville]

Hunter S Thompson would approve

Song of the Sausage Creature

Mmmmm sausage.

Another plus:

I'd have to get colorful one piece leathers.

Another minus:

I'd have to stay in shape to fit those leathers.

[Sibbo]

Dukes only have one speed, the reason I knocked back a mate's very good offer of a Monster.

[Airbear]

Mel wrote, "Muriel knows about this--she said, "Oh, you're good at fixing up stuff."

A fait accompli, I'd say.

So, red one piece leathers? O dear.

[melville]

No word from the guy yet. Humph, but it's probably just as well.

There's also a guy with three /7 era bikes for sale here, all parts or projects.

[Rob]

There's also a guy with three /7 era bikes for sale here, all parts or projects.

If it were me, I would be looking for a Earles /2 that needs love.

[melville]

I still hate my neighbor because he didn't sell the the Duck. But it's OK now.

It's almost exactly a year later. My phone blew up over the weekend with text messages that included pix. My local independent MC mechanic sent pix of a couple Airheads. I couldn't see much on my 2" X 3" screen, but they looked like an R100RS and a regular /7 with a Windjammer fairing.

There was also a voice mail describing the bikes. I called him back and told him I could be down on Tuesday when he reopened.

I own them now. Here's the /7:













Yes, it's twin plugged:



I thought I took more pix of the RS, but I'm only finding these:





Unexpected was a bonus R75:





It looks mostly /6, but that's a /5 fork. The brake disc is probably from a Suzuki sportsbike. There's no caliper.

The divorce was final five weeks ago. I can't take these home. I'll be scrambling for some space for them this afternoon.

[Rob Frankham]

Not a /5 fork... the /5 fork has two deep ribs at the front tapering fairly evenly from the top to the spindle. I think the forks are originally from a R60/6. No disc brake caliper mount so it must be a drum braked machine.

Rob