Motorcycle Classics – September-October 2019

way though, I really got into Brit bikes.

I’ve had four Bonnevilles including my

Bobber. The one I wish I’d never sold

was my 1978 T140V. I kept it stock after

buying it from the original owner who

had only put 2,000 miles on it from new

until I bought it in 1993! It was always a

one- or two-kick starter and never once

gave me any mechanical or electrical

problems in the seven years I owned it,

and I put a lot of miles on it riding with

my club!

If you can believe it, I swapped it

straight up for a 1963 Bonneville chop-

per. It was the most uncomfortable

and vibratory torture machine I ever

straddled! After I came to my senses,

I got a 2003 Bonneville and eventu-

ally my current Bobber.  I sure miss

that ’78. It was a smart looking, hairy-

chested machine! I enjoy the magazine

immensely so keep up the great work!

Randy Lambert/Fort Worth, Texas

Randy,

That photo is a time capsule indeed. While

you may never find your T140, there are still

plenty of good ones around. We hope you find

one! — Ed.

Love lost

I just read your editorial regarding

the ones that got away. For me, it is a

1962 BMW R60/2. Not only was it a very

clean original, low-mileage example,

but it sported a perfect Heinrich tour-

ing tank. It also had fitted hard bags

and, the best part, a BMW badged,

boat-nosed sidecar with folding wind-

screen and trunk with spare tire. In

1978, after two years of ownership I

sold it to a party in the Chicago area

for a sum I will not share for the public

shame it would cause me. I miss it,

but at least I had it. Yes, there is love

requited, and then love lost.

Mark Steinman/Port Orange, Florida

The bike I wish I’d never sold

Reading the latest Motorcycle Classics

you asked about significant bikes from

our past. Here’s a story about my X

Hustler. 

I was 17 and my mother remarried.

My stepfather was a lead hand with Air

Canada and we moved to Montreal. I

went from a hick in the sticks to Expo

’67 and a whole new world. I bought a

1968 X6 Hustler new for $800. I rode the

wheels off of that machine all over the

West Island of Montreal. I got a part-

time job at a Suzuki dealer and stupidly

bought a new T250. It was not a patch

on the X6 but a hard lesson learned. 

Fifty-plus years later, I bought two

carcasses that were destined for the

landfill and poured my heart and soul

into the project. This was to be the bike

to recreate my wild youth. The frame

was media blasted and powder coated

along with all of the other black parts.

The top end was re-bored with new pistons and rings. Not one

single detail was overlooked. When I got the main carcass, the

guy had paid for an extremely crappy red paint job. My ’68 was

blue and that is what this one was

going to be. My paint guy looked

at the article on the X6 in Motorcycle

Classics and said “IROC blue and my

wife’s Lexus’ silver.” Fine by me. 

When all was ready I switched on

the ignition, seeing that familiar green

neutral light and kicked it over. I put

the choke on and it fired right up.

I was 18 again on the lakeshore in

Montreal.

I retired shortly after. I looked at the

X6 and thought, “I already license and

insure two bikes,” (a ’69 Norton, and

an ’01 Ducati) and so I sold it. I wish I

hadn’t. I contacted the buyer to see if

he would sell it back to me, expecting

the answer to be “no.” After thinking it

over, he decided to let me buy it back.

I’m so pleased.

Cam Norris/Battersea, Ontario

Cam,

What a story! To have loved and to have lost two X6’s — good grief.

Congrats on the Suzuki’s humble return, and may you ride the wheels off of

this one also. — Ed.

10 MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS September/October 2019

Remembering a Z-

The bike I wish I’d never sold? My

1973 Kawasaki Z-1. I bought it used

in July 1978 while on leave from the

Army. I rode it for those 30 days, then

parked it and went back to Germany for

15 months. I retrieved it in September

1979 and rode the heck out of it for a

few years, then sold it off and bought

a Z-1R. Here’s a photo with my 1975

Yamaha RD350 in the background. I

bought it new in June 1976, shortly

after high school graduation. I wish I

still had it, too.

Ray Womack/St. Louis, Missouri

READERS AND

RIDERS

Randy Lambert’s 1978 T140 (left) and 1963 Bonneville chopper (right).

Two X6 carcasses (top) became one stunner.