Nice ride.....coulda done a lap at Watkins Glen...

I don't usually go in organized rides or poker runs. But a friend of mine that I ride with, and who lives 42 miles from me, talked me into going on a poker run today. It started about 20 miles from my house. It was supposed to be a 150 mile ride. It ended at Watkins Glen International Raceway. The ride actually ended up being more than 150, but it was great.

The weather was gorgeous...mid 70's and lots of sun, a few clouds. We started at a Harley shop, our next stop was a Yamaha dealer (I've bought bikes at both places), then a bar, then another bar, then the track. I was pretty much lost most of the time. When I came out of the Yamaha dealer one of the mechanics had brought one of the owners out and they were looking at my bike pretty intently. I asked 'em, "Do you know what it is?" Them: "A 750?" "1100"? When I told 'em it's an '81 650 Maxim they thought it was pretty cool. It probably didn't hurt that I was wearing one of their shop t-shirts.

We fell in with some folks that my friend knew through work. There were probably about 12 bikes in our group. We went on beautiful roads up and down some really cool hills, along rivers and railroad tracks and through some amazing country side.

There was a party at the track with a band and stuff and you could ride a paced lap of the track at 6:00, but we took off. It was a long day and I still had about 40 miles to go to get home.

I rode this:



I learned that I hit reserve at....um....about 115 miles I think? I flipped it to reserve just after leaving the track (thought it was going to die on me as soon as I was alone....wouldn't that be the stuff?) and stopped a few miles later at a gas station. 2.4 gallons to fill it from where it hit reserve. Guess I have to find out how many gallons I have so I know how far I can get on reserve.

The seat and leg position are a bit tough on my old butt, but overall it was pretty comfortable. The bike ran great all day and I had fun.

My wife makes me hook my trailer up to her Nitro every time I take a "long" ride and, knock on wood, it's been cheap, unnecessary insurance so far. This ride, at 254 miles, was my longest so far after a 100 mile and a 150 mile ride lately.

Whodathunk this bike would end up being my daily rider? Once my son gets through a year or two of college (he starts a week from Monday), we're planning on another bike that the two of us can ride. 'Til then, this is all I have. It'll do if it keeps running like today!

Just thought I'd post up a bit about a ride on a Maxim.

EDIT: Actually this pic's a little outdated....different bars, mirror on the correct side....couple other minor things.

 

I love your bike! How much to replicate the side covers and send them to Union Springs,NY 13160? Your bike is very close to what I had envisioned for my '82 Maxim 650 bobber,but I am currently more focused on a 1973 Honda CB/CL 450 rat scrambler build. Very nice looking scoot you have there!

 

Thanks. But it wouldn't be easy to just make another set and send them to you. I made these out of cheap aluminum diamond plate. That's easy. But I also welded brackets and threaded studs, etc. to the frame behind the plate for mounting them. It's really a one-off kind of thing. No measurements or anything. I just eye-balled it, cut, grinded, welded....then used cardboard to make a template for the diamond plate, cut it, filed the edges and bent it by hand to fit the contours of the frame.