I just wanted to introduce myself and jump in here.
My name is Tom but most people call me Tomo and a few Tomason. I'm kind of an old fart in the wind and like most of you I've been messing with bikes since the 60's. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to impress you, I'm just goofy about some of this stuff.
When I was a kid one of our local motorcycle shops carried Bridgestones. They also carried Triumphs, BSA's, and Hondas. This was around 1968 or so. I really was pretty lucky because the owner kicked most of the kids out of the shop but he let me hang around because I didn't cause any damage. Like any young moron I was drawn to the BSA's and the Bridgestones because of all the chrome, I guess when you are 8 or 9 shiny things attract your attention.
In retrospect... when I get to talking to people about bikes most have never heard of Bridgestone nor do they know about any of the models they made. I remember the dual range 175 (is that right??) and I and tried to calculate how long it would take me to save up for one. Let's see, if I took my 25 cent a week allowance and never spent a cent I could buy one in 2010?
You all know how that ended.
They had a 350 GTR sitting there. Holy Crap. Way out of my league. The Flagship. I used to dream about winning world championships with that bike. Mike Hailwood had nothing on me.
Fast forward to the present day. I have a buddy who does some sales in the classic car world and bought out an estate of some poor old dude who passed away back in 1987. He had collected a few cars and a few bikes and his widow couldn't bear to part with any of them. The problem is, she didn't know how to care for them and they sat in a building with the Missouri heat and humidity for 23 years. This lot included a 1973 Susy GT750 Water Buffalo and a 1967 GTR both of which are now sitting in my basement. Both are complete with titles but both are somewhat sad, locked up and rusty. But not as bad as some I've seen on this site, and very restorable. I know everyone wants to know how much I gave (how rude, can't you just be happy I landed one???) (Just Kidding
) $1200 I probably gave too much, I don't care, It's cool.
I noticed a few things about the GTR. This is a one owner bike (the old dude bought it new and I have the title to prove it) but it doesn't have a chain guard. The bike is complete otherwise. I've seen quite a few pics on this site of GTR's and about half don't have chain guards. Was that an extra cost option?
Also, while cleaning the bike I found a spider from about 1989. He is very large and moves very slow. If spiders don't freeze or starve, how old can they get? Him and the cat are now eyeballing each other in the garage.
I'm putting my money on the cat, he's a Maine Coon.
Sorry about all of this... I'll see ya arond the site!
Tomo
