We have had several opportunities to enjoy our new grandson over these past few weeks. Papa even got a chance to be Aiden's first "babysitter" last week while Peggy and Stacy got out to enjoy a lunch and a couple hours of shopping. The experience for Papa went pretty much as expected. Aiden ate, he burped, he peed, he got his pants changed, and then he slept. And in between all that activity Papa explained what was expected of him in the next 20 or so years. I'm sure he will need a refresher course once in awhile -- but he got his first lesson nonetheless!
I also "finished" the Yamaha YL1 restoration project a bit over a week ago. Once all the parts were cleaned, painted, plated and reinstalled I was glad to hear the engine fire up on the first kick! There was never a reason why it shouldn't ... but when you take it all apart and put it back together gain - you just never know!
So - did you notice the big change from "stock" in the above photos? No, not the not quite original turn signals ... the two-tone white and blue gas tank! The color of the bike is original Peacock Blue but the gas tank was originally chrome with a blue stripe down the center - much like my other Yamaha (the YA-6 125 cc in these photos).
The condition of the chrome on the YL1's gas tank was way beyond a simple cleaning and polishing -- so I opted for a two-tone paint job instead of a rechroming the tank. Getting parts rechromed is way expensive and hard to arrange ... not to mention -- I like the two tone look! Yamaha used this white and main color two-tone scheme on several of their models back in "the day" - but not on this model. If anybody complains that it's not "correct" I'll give them my standard line -- "This is way they should have made it!"
After completing the project last Thursday I posted a couple of pictures on a Maine based antique motorcycle page on Facebook. One of the commenters suggested I bring the bike to a Rally being held on Saturday for Scooters, Mopeds, and small displacement motorcycles. The Rally included a ride on local back roads from Topsham to Richmond and back - about 40 miles round trip. The commenter also had a YL1 and wanted to see another one. "Why not" says I ... so I did.
The Rally included about 60 bikes - mostly scooters of all types. I enjoyed seeing all the old restored Vespa's, and a few unique machines like this '50s Cushman and the 1968 Sears Allstate.
I love seeing old machines brought back to life ... and most of all ... being ridden! I was a little apprehensive about riding the little YL1 that far only 2 days from putting it back together ... but what the heck ... it ought to run fine ... right?
It was a lovely 80 degree day and a nice day for a ride on the back roads of Maine. The trip to Richmond was a leisurely ride at about 40 mph or so. The Yamaha ran fine all the way to Richmond where I left the group and rode over to Stacy and Kaj's house to stretch out my lower back and have a little refreshment ... and then it was back on the road again for the trip back. The trip back was even more fun. I was on my own. Free to speed along at my own pace. Now the speed limit on the roads I took back was mostly 45 mph but I was probably doing closer to 55 in some places as I decided to "test" the engine at wide-open throttle. Considering that little bike had to haul my big body it did quite well and I arrived home safe, sound, a bit sore, and with a big smile on my face.
Since that ride was so much fun and after the soreness faded, I decided to take another ride later that same week. But this time I would take my "big" bike ... the 1974 Honda CB350F. It was a much cooler day. Probably nearer to 70 degrees than 80 degrees and it got cooler as I rode towards the ocean - heading to Harpswell. The Honda ran great also and was much more comfortable to ride than the little YL1 ... but I still enjoyed the stretch once I arrived at Dolphin Marina out in Harpswell. By the time I arrived back home I calculated that I had ridden about 80 miles on a motorcycle this week. I think it's safe to say I hadn't done that in about 35 or so years!
So that was pretty much July 2017 for me. Now it's on to August. Time to wake up WTT get her home, cleaned up, and ready to head out for a short adventure. Stay tuned to find out where these Maineiacs may roll this month!
