A Go Anywhere motorcycle

I have always been interested in owning a go anywhere motorcycle since I was little. Though I had my own 2 1/2 horsepower Wren by Bird Minibike(metallic blue with centrifugal clutch and metal to tire brakes) by the time I was 10 or 12 years old and even though this little minibike was no more than 2 1/2 or so feet tall it was my first experience in driving a motorized 2 wheel vehicle. It could go 30 mph on the level or faster downhill and I kept it for at least 20 years and let all my kids and cousins and all their friends ride on it over the years on my fathers 2 1/2 acres in the hi desert above Yucca Valley, California up on Yucca Mesa until about 1985. I purchased it around 1960.

But my search for a go anywhere motorcycle continued as I own a Matchless Hillclimber with a wide knobby tire in back and a straight exhaust pipe that blew blue fire at night as I rode it across the desert back in the late 1960s. Obviously, it wasn't street legal but I wasn't riding it on any paved roads either. I had to be very careful because in at least the first 2 or 3 gears it could throw me on my back with the bike on top of me if I wasn't very careful with the clutch. It had a very big sprocket in the back and since it was 600cc approximately it had an extreme amount of torque. If you wanted to do a long wheelie on your back tire though it was perfect for that if you could survive it. One day I got angry at my girlfriend and blew the bike up by accident by driving it over its 45 mph top speed with that low of gearing. The oil burnt my leg when the crankcase exploded but luckily the chain when the engine froze didn't cut my leg off but instead mostly just wrapped itself around the front sprocket coming out of the engine. I traded it for a BSA 500 from North AFrica World War II. It was the most reliable motorcycle I have ever own and I could literally kick start it or push start it in ANY weather, even if it was snowing. It was built like a tank and mostly indestructible and though it was heavy was very fun to ride. If you ever watched Indiana Jones and his Dad ride motorcycles it looked a lot like those(all army green with an extremely thick metal plate under the bike to protect the engine from rocks trees or anything else you had to go over where the engine is in the country or desert. It was a really great bike but very heavy. It was hard to pick it up if you dropped it and you didn't want it to fall on your leg. But other than that It was maybe the most reliable go anywhere motorcycle I've ever seen. But it had no rear suspension other than the two coil springs under the seat. I kept that also at my father's 2 1/2 acres in the desert until about 1985 and it never failed to start.

In 1975 I bought a 1974 Honda 250 XL. It was street legal but I could literally go anywhere with it and did. It was kind of light for the freeway passing trucks and in winds but off road it was incredible. It could cruise at 65 to 75 okay but at that speed there was some vibration so I wouldn't want to ride hundreds of miles that way. But it was wonderful for dirt road, off road and camping. One time 10 miles from the nearest small town on a dirt road we got 3 kids(5 to 10 years old) my wife and I and when the dog got tired we put her on the handle bars. We rode about 10 miles up onto Mt. Shasta on dirt roads that way. We were so remote we didn't even see anyone that day. We kept the motorcycle about 10 mph to 25 mph to keep it safe and upright but slow enough to be safe for all of us. We were fine until we hit a patch of snow and stopped at about 9000 feet or 10,000 feet. This was around 1980. Even when we hit the snow patch no one got hurt we just laughed at the fun adventure we all were having in the alpine amazingness of that area then. I kept that motorcycle until 1989 or so when my oldest child traded it for a stereo and speakers when he was about 18.

I haven't owned a motorcycle until now since then. About 1 or 2 months ago I bought a Kawasaki KLR 650. I needed the extra power as I weigh a little more now than I had with a 250. With this bike I obviously won't be doing jumps as it is kind of big and unforgiving doing jumps because the weight 370 pounds is too high. But since I'm 6 foot 5 inches tall I like a tall dualsport bike. But if you aren't used to them it takes a few feet more to get your balance as you take off because of the high center of gravity. However, you need the shock action and extra height if you hit bumps or rocks or dips off road or off highway. So it is a go anywhere bike but I don't plan to be jumping it 8 feet into the air like I could with my 1974 Honda 250 XL that I bought in 1975.

If you live in California like I do and want to ride a motorcycle again or for the first time you need a motorcycle license now that you can add to your standard driver's license. However, the easiest way is to take a motorcycle rider's course at a community college. They are offered at many colleges over the state. In this way you avoid having to take a driving test at the DMV as these can be very hard on some motorcycles. The colleges usually provide you a street motorcycle under 250cc to ride and it cost me about 250 dollars. The one I went to was two thursday nights and to Saturday Morning or afternoons(your choice) of riding the motorcycle they provide and doing what they tell you until you are proficient. IF you an old "Let's jump on a motorcycle and see if I can ride it" then there is a lot of new stuff to learn about riding these days. For example, on bikes today there are no kick starters except on antiques and the kick stand is a part of the ignition system.(Both these things were new for me to deal with. Even though I am primarily an off road rider if you are going to be riding a dualsport(a two wheeled jeep) that is street legal you still need to learn how to ride on the road. Or if you want to learn to ride off road they have courses at the colleges for this as well. Except that this isn't a part of your licensing for motorcycles.

For example, if you are riding off road and apply a front brake don't expect to survive this if you are going very fast because off road your bike will just lay down right there at any speed. So, if you are off road riding you must only use your rear brake except when you are holding your bike stationary on a hill or incline with it. So, when you move from pavement which is 90% front brake to off road which is 90% to 99% back brake you must do an internal switch to survive it just like one must use different skills when cross country skiing or downhill skiing.(I do these too!)

Though I find off road riding much more fun than riding on the pavement, dirt roads aren't available a lot of places that people live so unless you own a trailer to haul your bike or want to ride a long way on the street to get to the country dirt roads on your bike it can be problematic. So, each of us have to find our own ways in this. Happy riding!

Note: Also regarding the BSA 500 World War II motorcycle: It had no battery, only a magneto. So, you only had electricity for a spark for the motor when you either jumped on the kick starter or you ran with it and jump started it in 2nd gear like we did in the old days. However, once it started (and it always did even in the snow) it was an amazingly reliable bike in that it ALWAYS started within about 5 minutes even if the kick starter just caused the engine to backfire and catupaulted you over the handlebars and onto the ground. I only put up with this once. AFter that I only push started it that day in 2nd gear and it usually always started. It started every time from about 1969 until 1985 when I sold it because my Dad passed away and my mother was moving to Palm Springs and letting the 2 1/2 acres go which for me was kind of sad after all the work the whole family had been putting into this acrerage since 1968 even though it was then 1985 and my Dad was now gone. My mother lasted until she was 90 in 2008. I think moving away kept her sane so she didn't have to live in a place she shared with Dad and just miss him all the time until she pined away like many widows do within a few years of their husbands passing.