Come on, come on take a little ride with me
You just might trip over some of your own memories, eventually?
I had moved out of my parents' house 2 days after HS graduation, my 1st place was this studio in Lowell, then I decided to move up in the world and got this 2-room place in the center of Fitchburg MA
It was the summer of 1985.
One night I discovered this little door in the ceiling of a closet in the bedroom. It contained drop downstairs to the roof. As far as I could tell it was the only access to the flat roof. The building is still there, it's now part of the Fitchburg Art Museum, corner of Elm and Academy streets. Back in the 80s Elm Street in "the burg" was not the best place to live, my friends at the time nicknamed my place Nightmare on Elm.
Across the street was the Post office and bank parking lot. That's where I would park my 1960 Ford F100 Pick-up and my 1980 Suzuki GS450S. I couldn't see the lot from the two windows I had but if I went up to the roof, I could see all around the building. I spent many nights up there. I don't remember being worried that someone would steal my truck or bike, but I would often go up at night just to check out the lot, and then lay on a folding beach chair my mom gave me, many nights just lying there looking up at the stars enjoying the cool night air.
That little twin cylinder Suzuki was my 2nd motorcycle, my 1st one that I purchased myself. Bike number one was given to me as payment for helping my brother-in-law work one summer. The Suzuki was black with gold mag wheel and a little bikini fairing over the headlight. Even though it was the same size as my 1st bike (450) it felt like a completely bike, my first introduction to a cafe racer style bike.
I was 18-year-old, living on my own and riding my motorcycle as much as possible. I had a few buddies at the time that also rode, but they were also into playing golf and other activities. Slowly as the summer months went on I found myself riding more solo trips then with my buddies. Now keep in mind this was 1985, way before cell phones, gps devices and other gadgets that make exploring so much easier today.
I had paper maps and motorcycle/travel magazines and books. I also had this strong desire to just get out and find places, it's been something I've expressed in my stories in the past, its just who I am. I would load up my backpack with a bologna sandwich some Wachusett chips and a coke, strap it to the back seat and click that little black Suzuki in gear and go. It was a new way to discover and explore. I spent many days riding around central and Western MA finding roads like Mohawk Trail, Route 116 and even took that black and gold bike up Route 100 in Vermont. Then I would wander back to Fitchburg and sit up on the roof on Elm Street and fall asleep under the bright stars.
It was such an amazing summer.
Fast forward to this past weekend and the Old School is Cool 1st Sunday of the month ride to eat in West Boylston. Seeing some cool old bikes and chatting with riding buddies has become such a fun way to spend a few hours once a month. There was a 1991 CBR250RR there, a nice clean RZ350 and several Honda CB's.
Then I saw it, a postcard from my past! A 1980 GS450S, and S! You see the S version of Suzuki's GS line was pretty rare, even back in 1980 it was rare. Most GS were the Standard L models. This one wasn't the black model but that didn't matter. Somehow, I didn't see it pull in, so I wasn't sure who rode it in. I found this table of gentlemen around my age and went up and said, "who's on that GS450?" Probably a little too enthusiastically too, because the owner said, its mine and it's for sale! Want to take it for a ride was his next comment!
Talk about a time machine!
You might be wondering, Jim did you buy from him?
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