I bought a new "old" motorcycle

I just found this board. I should have looked sooner, but it did not occur to me. Anyway, Monday we brought home my new "old" motorcycle. A bit of history is in 1984 my husband and I bought two Honda V65 Magnas (1100 cc) and did a bit of riding. As I gained weight and became diabetic I finally put my bike away and eventually sold it. Well, I am now down 75 pounds from surgery and 88 from my high weight and came across a V65 being offered in the Cycle Trader that was perfect for me. I have always had a desire to refurbish something and this bike allows me to do that AND ride it while it is a work in progress. If you are unfamiliar with the V65 it is the original muscle bike of the 1980s and one awesome machine. You can see my new 1985 V65 on my web site at acdlady.com/WLS_Dreams (just add in the www. part). The first photo shows you that it is a stunning looking machine and the subsequent photos show the work that I need to do to put it back into condition. If it cools off this weekend I will do another photo of me on it. Arizona is HOT yet so ... 109 yesterday. The bike passed its emission test easily and only has 13,000 original miles on it. My husband still has his 1984 V65 and it is in near showroom condition after being garaged and ridden all of these years. Sandra

Sandra, Congrats on the weight loss! Good to know that you are back on the bike. Enjoy your bike! Best wishes,

Hi Sandra Congrats first on you weight loss and getting back in the saddle!! I haven't checked on this site for a while and sort of forgot about it. I love to ride. I have a Honda Shadow ACE 750 and just love it. Hubby has a Goldwing. Two saturdays ago we took off from the Fort Worth Texas area where we live and rode to Tyler Texas..about 180 miles from our house. Tyler is known for growing roses and boy are they beautiful. I did find out something interesting that day...I have a tailbone now!!haha We left around 8am and didn't get home till around 8pm...lots of fun and looking around but man my hiny was unhappy. Going to have to get one of those gel pads I think.. We took our bikes on a trailor to Colorado last year and we put about 700 miles on them once we got there. One of our favorite vacations of all times. Can't wait to go back again. I'm going to try to find your web site so I can see your New baby. Fixin her up will be a labor of love. Take care and ride safe. Alfie -61

Yes, that would be quite a ride. This cool season I am spending getting into shape and developing my skills so that I feel confident enough to do the AZ mountains next season. I want to take some of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses to hone my skills and refresh my memory. Unfortunately I was not even able to take a small early a.m. ride last weekend as I have been having the dizzies. I think it is a bug or allergies. Hopefully it will pass soon. I am anxiously awaiting it to cool off here. We are 78 around 6 a.m. and it gets warmer from there rather quickly. I have a new seat coming for my bike, engine guard, have to change out one of the turn signals (my husband knocked the truck door into it) and am still looking for the Magna back rest and six pack rack for the back end. I did buy myself a nice looking set of black leather saddle bags this last weekend. I might have been grounded, but I could still spot something I wanted to buy for the bike. I hope we are ready to do the painting next spring, but it could be fall. I look forward to having the scratches gone. I haunt ebay looking for good deals. You have to be careful there as some are not good. Let's see Tyler, isn't that somewhat close to College Station/Bryan? We lived there for a year when dh was in the USAF and had to attend meteorology classes at A&M. Sandra Down 77 from surgery, 90 from my high weight. Ten pounds and I am just overweight!!!

Hi Sandra Looked at your pictures...wow you have really done a great job on your weight loss. Plus I saw the pictures of your new baby...already great but when you get it set up the way you want it will be even better. I need to take some of the riders courses too. Been riding off and on since I was 18 and am 46 now but you can never be too prepared. Hubby and I are members of the Honda Goldwing club and they offer classes too so I just need to get busy and take them. Tyler is further north east than college station I believe but it was a wonderful adventure to ride there. We want to go to Big Bend Nat park but that is really really far from us. But we will one day. We lived in the Phoenix area several years ago and I do remember the heat..haha it gets hot in Texas too as you remember but not as hot to me anyway as Arizona. I can imagine going riding there would be awesome though. Hope you are feeling better and don't have the dizzies anymore... take care Alfie

Outstanding Sandra! Both the bike-which I love- and the weight loss! You do look good on that bike! Any luck finding the parts you needed? Jim

Jim - yes, I have found some via the Honda shop and some via eBay. I will be continuing the search for other things as the budget allows so that I can get this vintage bike back into show room shape (or close). I am now down 82.5 pounds at 10.5 months out, so am slowly approaching my goal. Sandra