If
you knew me in the 1970s' as Moto-Dude, you can still call me
that. I retired that name in the '80s. I now go by the moniker
Scorch.The MOTO-DUDE DOMAIN
If
you knew me in the 1970s' as Moto-Dude, you can still call me
that. I retired that name in the '80s. I now go by the moniker
Scorch.
Here's one more personal
homepage, old school-style, on the Web. I'm a motorcycle rider (not a biker)
from the 1970's. My preferred brand of two-wheeler is SUZUKI. In fact, the only
bikes I have owned are Suzukis. When your brand has exceptional performance,
reliability, value, and world class engineering from the finest Japanese
engineers--why settle for something less?
I'm currently riding a '08 V-Strom 650. I learned to ride on a mini-bike bought from a Bottom Dollar store in Clute, in the early '70s. My first Suzook was the trail bike known as the TC90. In high school I worked part time to move up to a Suzuki GT380 2-stroke triple and later the first RM250 to race MX.
The big thing for me as a teenager was becoming a daredevil. This was in the hey day of Evel Knievel. He was tackling 18 car jumps on a regular basis and I felt I could work my way up to that distance with relative ease on a long-travel dirt bike as opposed to a 350 pound Harley flat-tracker. With meager resources and support, I built a take-off ramp 32 feet long and 7 feet high, and jumped six cars, twice. Alas, I never made it to the Astrodome. Today's X-gamers make six car jumps (or 18 for that matter) look pretty tame!
After high school, I bought new bikes with alarming regularity: all Suzukis, of course. I've always been impressed with the brand's engineering, value, performance, and reliability. I owned a GS1000, GS 450S, TS 250, a couple more RM 250s and a 125, DR500, GS650L--all in the span of 5 years (I had my mid-life crisis too early). After 5 years without a motorcycle (identity crisis?), I bought a second-hand Madura 1200 (fantastic motor, this one), and a couple years later my 1991 GSX1100G, which I enjoyed for 17 years. In 2006 I picked up a running '75 GT380 as a hobby bike.
Over the last few years, I have been
increasingly aware that I have not bought a new bike since 1992. Raising kids is
expensive. The last three years saw me looking at V-Stroms, I even have the
brochures for the '05, '06, and '07 models. Finally, I
decided that was enough--I probably won't live
forever--and bought an '08 V-Strom 650. Great bike!
First new bike since 1992! The 2008 V-Strom DL650.
BIKES OWNED
I probably win the prize for most loyal Suzuki owner. Not that I have anything
against Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Honda, they make great bikes, but I guess I'm
unusually brand loyal. My first bike was a Suzuki TC90, and my next one was the
venerable GT380. Those bikes were so solid and reliable, they were so
well-engineered, that anytime I went looking at bikes, I always found a Suzuki
that suited me best. There were several non-Suzukis I looked long and hard at:
Honda's Sabre, V-Max, Kawasaki 500 Mach III and Z1 900. Even the Harley Super
Glide 1200 (back when I was a kid and the Glide was the biggest bike available,
plus H-D had not turned into a Yuppie brand). But I'm wed to the big 'S'. Also,
I have an aversion to spending $15,000 on a slow, retro-tech
motorcycle just for the name or because it was made in Italy.
5HP mini-bike from Bottom Dollar store
1973 Suzuki TC90 - first real motorcycle, had a dual range tranny
1974 Suzuki GT380 - Wow! The coolest for a 15 year old boy. Cost me my license.
1976 Suzuki RM250 - first year for the mighty RM, allowed me to race MX and jump
cars
1975 Suzuki GT750 - bought it used, kept it a week, returned it to the owner, it
had compression problems
1979 Suzuki GS1000 - great bike, handled well, fast! Made a trip to the Grand
Canyon on this bike.
1980 Suzuki TS250 - nice trail bike for my gf
1981 Suzuki RM125 - more racing
1982 Suzuki DR500 - Made this bike street legal, I could ride a wheelie at 60mph
for miles
1983 Suzuki GS650L - Decent bike, but my least favorite.
1984 - 1989 - years in the wilderness, no motorcycle.
1985 Suzuki Madura V4 1200 - bought used, best motor ever. Did a lot of work
restoring and polishing it. Was rear-ended, welded the frame back in shape, then
pretty much killed it in Mexico with tar. Wish I still had this one.
1988 Suzuki RM250 - The last round of racing, and in the
fabled "Over 30" class at last!
1991 Suzuki GSX1100G- went into the dealer to
buy the VX800 but my buddy talked me into a bigger bike. Great machine, kept
this bike for 17 years. Sold to a good guy in Jan 2009.
1975 Suzuki GT380 - my second 380, I'm the only guy in town with a 2-stroke
bike, still own today (I also have a 3rd 380, for parts)
2008 Suzuki V-Strom 650 - just bought, first new bike since the 1991 G. 320
miles and counting, riding every day!
1990 Suzuki DR250S - picked up a nice dirt bike off of Craigslist to teach my daughters to ride (and to sneak out on trails alone on).
GALLERY
 Aug. 1972, my first motorcycle...well, mini-bike. It came from Bottom Dollar in Clute, my grandparents Hazel and Oscar Boyd paid half of the $180 to help me get it. This road monster had a 5hp engine, suspension on both ends (not sure they really did much, though), and a variable-speed belt transmission, which meant no shifting (gears? What are gears?). I was 12 years old. |
 1974 - My first real motorcycle, for real. 1974 Suzuki TC90. It took me a day to master the extremely complex affair of a clutch and gear shifter, not to mention separate brakes! 
But imagine my surprise when, after a week or so, I discovered my bike had a dual range tranny and my father had set up the bike in Low Range (max speed, 22 mph). Suddenly the little trail bike could go 50 mph! Wheee! |
|
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  Moto-Dude was born. Bars in the "Cafe Racer" position, also known as "I was too poor to buy clip-ons, narrow bars, or much else".
|
   Some guy in town had a strange habit of parking his Mustang next to a tractor supply offloading ramp. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what happens next... |
   The summer before I turned 16 I bought a 1975 GT380. This, to me at the time, was a big, powerful, road-going motorcycle. Two-stroke! Three cylinders! Four exhausts! (huh?) Yeah, this was one sweet ride. It didn't take long before Johnny Law took notice, either. What else do small town cops have to do? |
  Banned from public roads, Moto-Dude took to the air. In Dec 1977, on my trusty RM250, I jumped six cars, twice. Yes, that's my Starsky & Hutch Gran Torino on the end. |
  Motocross racing in Danbury, TX and Rio Bravo, Houston |
 1979 GS1000, 1980 TS250 |
 1985 Madura V-4 1200cc Madura restoration & crash page (coming) |
 1991 GSX1100G - Restoration page |
 2008 V-Strom DL650 |
 My Suzuki Stable |
 GT380 #2 |
 Newest edition to our Suzuki stable: Natasha and DR250S |
SUZUKI & MOTORCYCLE LINKS
| All Suzukis Ever Built | webBikeWorld - great product reviews | Bike Bandit - great source for OEM parts | Moto-Campers - Bikes + Tents! |
| Neal's Starsky & Hutch Gran Torino |
SUZUKI & MOTORCYCLE FORUMS
| GSX1100G Owners Group forum | Strom Troopers - V-Strom forum | Two Wheeled Texans | Adventure Rider |
| Suzuki Two-Stroke Message Board | Suzuki-Forums.com for autos & trucks, great forum |
Last revved up: 01/29/2009
