When I turned sixteen, and got a job at Pep Boys, the first thing I bought with my employee discount was a motorcycle helmet. It wasn't until five years later that I actually bought a 1980 Kawasaki KZ440LTD. I loved the bike. It was everything that I ever wanted and more. Although I didn't ride large distances at a time, I did ride often. It got stolen by a local punk who dropped it up the street. It didn't have much damage, just the turn signal and handle bars (which I replaced). Over the years, I cleaned this bike up. I painted the motor black, and gold to match the gas tank, and added chrome trim. I had the seat re-done in leather, replaced the ignition coil, shocks, chain, brakes, steering bearings, and so on. Friends who tell me they used to have a KZ440LTD say, "I wish I never got rid of that bike!" I loved this bike, but felt it was time to move onto something bigger and better.

In March of 2004, I sold it. While I had other offers (including my buddy Fran who wanted to chop it), I made up my mind that the bike didn't owe me anything. I figured I would take less money if I knew it was going to someone who would ride it and take care of it. I sold it to my brother-in-law's nephew (who is the same age as my brother-in-law, and older than me). He liked the bike (as did his son). My wife cried on the day that it left. I had my KZ440 since before we were married, and I guess it had a lot of memories for her as well. Unfortunately, Joe was in a bit of an accident with the bike. I know he sold the bike to someone else. I hope it is still running, and that whoever has it is enjoying the hell out of it!

Here are some pics of my '80 Kawasaki KZ440LTD:

When I was looking for a new bike, I was looking to go big. I really liked the Kawasaki Mean Streak (especially since I had few problems with my 440), but I soon found Victory motorcycles. I found one on ebay that was just what I was looking for. Talk about comfort and handling. This bike is sweet. The only down side is that the shifting is very loud (not that it bothers me - my hearing sucks!)

Here are the pics of the Victory that the seller posted. (The first thing that I did was remove the windshield, then the sissy bar):

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In August 2006, I replaced the pipes with a set of Jet-Hot coated drag pipes. The bike was soooo loud without the baffles! I also added highway bars to give it that clasic look.

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I loved the bike in black, but let's face it, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a black motorcycle. So I went with a totally wicked paint job (Color shifting paint blue/purple with a wild metal flake purple (with silver metalflake outlines and drop shadows) I also chopped the passenger pegs off to make it a true single seater. I replaced the passenger seat with a luggage rack and added a set of easy brackets so I don't need to keep the bags on all of the time. I also threw on a chrome rear sprocket and added the baffles to the exhaust. The bike actually ran better with the baffles in and still has a mean roar.

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Riding back from Eagles training camp in 2008, I noticed that the Victory was beginning to show signs of a transmission problem that is common with these bikes. Its a very expensive fix, and I couldn't see putting that kind of money into a bike that is not very reliable. I went out and bought a 2003 Honda VTX1800. Its a sweet ride! It already had Cobra pipes and LetherLike bags. The only thing that I did to this bike is add highway bars, a Mustang seat and some fender trim. I've put some miles under me on this bike. Its not the head turner that the Victory is, but its the real deal when it comes to riding.

In May of 2007, my wife, who used to ride with me decided that she wanted to try riding. She learned to ride and we bought her a 1986 Suzuki Savage. The bike was a big one cylinder 650 thumper! It had a real nice look to it (almost like a Sportster). She had it for a couple of summers, but didn't really feel comfortable riding, so I sold the bike to my nephew Kevin.

Here are the pics of Jen's bike:

The Biker Chicken!

In 2007, My brother John, who to me always seemed to have a fascination with motorcycles, finally broke down and bought one! His first bike was a 2002 Honda Shadow 750. After John got his first bike jumped on my Victory and rode up to John's house in Auburn, Pa. It was a little over a two hour ride using the back roads (73 is a great ride). John and I, and a couple of John's buddies, went out for about an hour. It was very cool riding with my brother.

Here are the pic of John's bike (as it was posted on cycletrader.com):

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In 2008 JT decided that a 750 was too small for him so he mad the jump to a big-boy bike. He bought a nice looking Honda VTX 1300. It had a scratch in the front fender and a dent in the tank. He figured he would just have the bike painted a custom color.

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That winter, JT had his bike painted nonmetalic Eagles Green! He also added white wall tires (something that he really wanted). It now has an old school look!

So after years of having the Honda Valkyrie on his mind, he sold his Eagles green VTX1300 for what I call his Washington Redskins bike (just to bust his balls). Its real nice, and JT really loves it. No excuses now! Gotta ride, gotta ride, gotta ride!!!!!

So keeping with the family theme, My nephew Kevin got the bug in the spring of 2009. He has been sitting on my brother's bike and has been wanting to ride, so he went out and got his permit and bought my wife's bike.

The Savage was a great bike for Kevin to learn on, but it was too small for him to ride for long distances (he's 6'5"). February 2010, Kevin bought a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500. Its a real nice bike with custom flames, bags, floorboards, a Mustang seat, Cobra pipes, lightbar....