Classic Japanese Motorcycles

These cute little things were never considered to be “real” motorcycles by most enthusiasts at the time. However, for a kid, there was no better diversion than two wheels and some speed. Do you remember how it made you feel?

Have you ever noticed that at the very top of many unrestored small bore vintage gas tanks have lots of little, tiny scratches? Ever wonder why? Well, I am sure that my experience riding my friend Jimmy Brandt’s Honda Super 90 may tell the story. At the time, nothing was more important than trying for the land speed record– watching the speedometer creep up: 59, 60, 61, maybe even 62 if there was a tail wind that day. All those tanks were scratched from buttons, zippers, and crosses because their riders were lying prostrate on the tank trying for just a couple of more miles per hour! Ah yes, those were certainly the days and I love to share the memories with you.

As District Sales Manager for both US Suzuki Motor Corporation and Steyr Daimler Puch in the 1980’s, I sold motorcycles and mopeds in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. I had a wonderful time working with products that I used personally and met a lot of wonderful people. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do that stuff!

So that I could stay closer to home with my sons that were growing up so quickly I switched careers in the late 1980’s to recruiting information technology professionals. However, I never lost my love for two wheels. My sons and I had a blast riding dirt bikes. I have kept up with off road motorcycling taking over ten off road adventures to the heights of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico. I still own a Suzuki DRZ 400 set up for high-speed western trails, and a Honda CRF230F for the tight trails of Wayne National Forest in Southern Ohio.

Today, I live in the Columbus, Ohio area. I spend most of my free time tinkering around with old Japanese motorcycles. I have owned several hundred of them, most of which I bought simply because I couldn’t afford them when I was younger. I travel hundreds of miles often rescuing them from dark, dank garages in far-away locations. I must get some sort of perverse satisfaction out of busting my knuckles cleaning impossibly blocked pilot jet passages on Keihin or Mikuni carburetors to get these bikes back on the road.

I learned some time ago that you can only collect so many, and then they get neglected and never ridden. Now it is my passion to reunite people with the motorcycles they owned in the past. I keep my eyes out for good examples of the motorcycles I grew up with. I will buy them on speculation, get them 100% road worthy and offer them on my website. It is a great feeling to connect someone with the motorcycle they had as a younger person, but never thought they could be lucky enough to find one again.

Realizing how difficult it is to get these old bikes back on the road, I also have thousands of hard-to-find used OEM Japanese motorcycle parts that you can order quickly and easily online. I also offer a FAQ page offering step by step advice to get your old motorcycle running again.

On my website, I have put together what I hope is a good mix of motorcycle memories, motorcycles for sale, parts for sale, and nostalgia pictures/information. If you are one of the people that I have met along the way, please send me an email to re-connect.