
Here is my current favorite pastime, cruising on a nice
bike. I had always wanted a V65 Magna and finally got in a position
where I could get one. The pictures above are of the
bike as it was listed on Ebay when I bought it. I won this one one
Ebay in January 2003, drove to Columbus Ohio to get it
and was really disappointed when I got it home 1200 miles later and got to look
at it in the daylight. It needed a lot of attention. Shortly
after picking it up, I blew out both my knees and found myself with tons of time
on my hands. I stripped the Magna and went to town fixing it back as nice
as I could. I found most of what was needed online on Ebay. I now
have aver $4000 invested in this magna. It should be worth about $3200 -
$3500 on the open market. I spared no expense with the new parts... new
gas tank, new side cover, new Dunlop D205 Radial tires, new battery, new
turnsignal mounts and light assemblies, new headlight, new grips, new front
fender, new Jardine muflers, and a Oil Mod that re-routes the oil supply to the
camshafts. I buffed, polished and clearcoated all the aluminum parts
making them look like new. I put over 100 hours in restoring this bike.
There are still several things that need attention but they are all minor, the
right side cover needs a new sticker, some of the bolt heads need buffing, the
rear valve cover seeps a little, the temp gauge intermittantly works (was
working fine before my disassembly of the instrument cluster for cleaning and
polishing).






This has to be the fastest bike I have ever been on.
The 125 horsepower at the rear tire along with a 580 lb weight and a 6 speed
transmission really make for a terrific horsepower to weight ratio that scares
me. I am a sport touring rider. I don't care about reving the motor
out running wide open from stop light to stop light. I prefer a nice
smooth winding road that I can comfortably keep a 45 - 60 mph pace on. It
has rarely seen more than 5000 rpm but is super strong all the way to the red
zone on the tach. The previous owner installed the headers.
They really help this bike breath. I recently bought another
bike, a new 2003 Honda ST1300 ABS. The Magna is for sale. I have parts that I bought for this bike that never made it
on it. A KG Slider driver's backrest in 90% condition, and a pair of front
rotors also go with it. The backrest goes for $275 on Ebay when you
can find one and new rotors from Honda are $700 each , after market rotors are
$350 each. I have a nice pair of used rotors that I intended to use to fix
the slight brake vibration from the current front rotors. It is a
blast to ride and has been stone reliable. I have driven it to work every
day the sun is shining since getting it together. I hate to see it go but
since getting the ST1300, I have found myself ignoring the Magna. I can
only ride one at a time anyway. It needs a good home with someone who will
appreciate what it is, a really good example of a classic muscle cruiser.
See this bike listed on Ebay soon.
Update, I sold this bike and all the extras I had for it on
Ebay to a really lucky guy from KY. I rode it to Huntsville to meet him in
24 degree weather in February. Yes, I really wanted one last ride before
handing it over to the new owner.
I bought this bike in Aug 03 from a lawyer
in Marrietta GA. He had the bike listed on Biketrader.com. The top
box was included with the deal. He had ordered it from england but had not
installed it yet. One word describes this bike... SWEET. Smooth
torque from the V4 comes on at idle and pulls to redline. I added a Cee
Bailey windshield that was 2 inches wider and 4 inches taller than stock then
sold the old one on ebay. I also added the factory fairing and mirror wind
deflectors which made the pocket of quiet air a little bigger for both me and
Vicki. We toured the mountains around Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge several
times on this bike. As far as I am concerned, this is the perfect
motorcycle. We were in the planning stages of a Key West ride and Vicki
gave me an ultimatum... buy a Goldwing or buy me a Tahoe for this trip. I
put out the word that this bike was on the block for sale and one of the guys I
work with jumped on it. He now has added blue strobes and a siren and
escorts funerals on it. I am now the proud owner of a 2005 30th edition
Pearl Yellow Goldwing.
Yep, had 236 miles on the clock when we left out for Key
West. We averaged about 300 miles a day, taking only the beach roads and
state hwy's down the west side of Florida and back up USA1A up the east coast.
Got home 10 days later with 2700 more miles on the bike. The Goldwing has
to be the most comfortable motorcycle there is to ride. It still will haul
ass with 0-60 of 3.8 seconds. The St1300 was faster at 0-60 with 3.4
seconds. I added a tall Tulsa windshield, the CB, and a trunk organizer
right off. I recently installed a luggage rack to give us a little more
room for necessities. I do miss my ST1300 but not so much as to want to go
back to it.

Just got back from doing the Tail of the Dragon, the
Cherohala Skyway, and a chunk of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was great.
I still get to visit the ST1300 at work everyday....
Info to follow soon...