I’d been working on deal with a friend to do some bike trading for a while now and we got things settled this Friday. As fortune would have it I got to take a nice long drive, scratch a BIG item off my “must see” list, get a TON of material for the site and come home with a bike I’ve always wanted. It only took 19 hours and 1000 miles of driving but I’d do it again anytime.
So… it started at 4 AM with my RD350LC in the back of my truck ready to go.
I then drove 7 hours northwest to our agreed meeting place which as it just so happens is one of the all time great motorcycling Meccas…
As luck (and my bad geography skills) would have it I had forgotten about the fact that Birmingham Alabama is in the Central time zone which bought me an extra hour to go exploring! It gave me time to go in and see stuff like this…
and this..
and this..
That’s juuust a taste.
I then met up with my friend and we made what I feel was a very fair trade. Loaded her up..
and drove another 7 hours back home…
Where this morning after a 1000 mile day and a restless nights sleep I finally unloaded my ridiculously nice ~3000 mile RZ350. I Am Stoked!
So sorry if posting was a little lame but it will be improving shortly. There will be a LOT more on all of this but for now I’m tired from the drive (and the heat is brutal here too) and I’m still sorting out the additions to the photo library. Please stay tuned!
Motorcycle Photo Of The Day 
both bikes are looking good, but i can’t understand that you drove 1000miles for a bike, wouldnt it had been easier to sell yours and buy anotherone in your area?
whatever, really like your blog
greetings from germany
leon
Lame? Your blog is one of the best! Keep up the great work!
Ah,so jealous. I love Barber. My wife has agreed to renew vows there. Leon, life is about the journey.
Best of luck with the new machine.
Never rode an RZ, but I did have an RD350LC back in the day. It was the scariest bike I ever owned (in a good way of course). The front wheel seemed to have an aversion to the ground as it would lift up on every opportunity or gear shift. And it would track through corners (once I put decent tires and a steering damper on it) at ridiculous lean angles. The only negative was that it was so light it would take a beating on the highway with any side wind or whenever I passed anything bigger then a VW beetle. It was a fun ride!
Good goin’ , Steve. Man, you just have to love road trips like that. The expectation,the ‘dawn patrol’ roll-out…..
I have to get my sorry self down to Barber one of these days.
BTW that rear mono is what I grafted onto my mighty SR. I also made a fiberglass copy of your belly pan.
I know you love 2-strokes….while sitting around St. Johnsbury VT. yesterday some guy screamed past on a Kawi triple….Oh Man !
Best of luck with your new acquisition.
My buddy bought one of these new back in the early 1980’s . Same color. I believe it to be a Kenny Roberts replica. Most were the yellow and black. This was the lesser known.
Cool find!
Back then we were all Yamaha freaks. Bob Hannah, Kenny Roberts, etc. We grew up on JT2 GT 80’s, and moved up to worn out RD 350’s. When this bike came along, he had to have it. This is a GREAT find! I would still love to get my hands on one. I wasn’t crazy about the two-stroke fog, but other than that- it really held it’s own. You will enjoy the gas mileage it gets.
Thanks for the post!
Randy