Greetings from Montpelier, VA (outside of Richmond)

[Syke]

Guess the first order of business is to introduce myself:

Name's George Paczolt, but no one besides check writers, the IRS, police and my sister know me by that name. To the rest of the world, my name's Syke, which comes from an English Civil War re-enactment sutlery I owned back in the '90's. I live in Montpelier, VA which is a small wide spot in US33 about thirty miles northwest of Richmond, VA. I'm 58 years old and have been riding for 33 years.

First bike was a '75 Kawasaki G3-SS (100cc 2-stroke street, that's what was considered a beginner's bike in the '70's). Outgrew it in a couple of months and replaced it with a '72 Honda CB350. My first cafe racer, although back then it consisted of drag, later clubman, bars and riding with my feet on the passenger pegs. In 1980 I made the big step: A brand new 1979 T140E Bonneville. Caffed, of course. And life was never the same.

While I've ridden quite a bit of everything from cafe racers to choppers to trailies, I always seem to come back to the cafe racers. Over the past 33 years, I've caffed: 1969 T120R Bonneville (still have it, the most precious bike in the garage), 1974 T140V Bonneville, 1969 BSA A50R Royal Star, 1976 Yamaha XS500, 1972 T150V Trident, 1970 Bridgestone 350, 1995 Triumph Super III (cut down to Speed Triple specs), 1972 TR6R Trophy 650.

Oh yeah, also streetfightered a 1997 Kawasaki ZX-6R.

I'm employed in the parts department of Honda House Marine, Richmond's largest Honda motorcycle dealer, and yes I speak Honda parts. Also fairly conversant in Ducati and airhead and brick BMW, as I was previously the parts manager of Ducati Richmond/Moto Europa (long gone, I'm afraid).

Have flown colors in three motorcycle (colors wearing) clubs: The Brotherhood of Veterans M/C (went down in a fight with the Allegheny Count Pagans) and the Phoenix Riders M/C (now a chapter of the Outlaws M/C - 1%ers) when I lived in western Pennsylvania, and spent three years flying the colors of the Deranged Few M/C in the Richmond area. Have recently (had to) put that part of my life behind me, so the old obsession of cafe racers keeps me going.

Only club activity going on now is my long-term involvement in the Virginia British Motorcycle Club, a real hotbed of vintage Brit iron. Two chapters, Richmond and Leesburg, and an annual vintage show in Leesburg the first Sunday of October. You can usually find me at Butler's Orchard, MD in May, too.

The garage consists of: my '69 Bonnie, a 1995 Triumph Trident (my long haul tourer - turned over 100k last fall), 1998 Harley Springer Softail (not sure what's going to happen to it this summer, I'd still love to have a Thruxton), 1969 Honda Super 90 (my wife's bike from college). 1930 Indian 101 Scout, and a 150cc Qingqi scooter which I use for commuting to and from work. Hate to admit it, but those damned hair dryers are way more convenient in rush hour traffic than a motorcycle.

Oh yeah, what room remains is taken up with 12 bicycles. My other passion in life is restoring vintage racing bicycles. I used to race before I got my motorcycle license, and got back into it four years ago. Put myself through college as a mechanic for a Schwinn/Raleigh dealer.

I'm a Rocker. Have been since I first discovered them (1964-on) during my junior high/high school days, pouring over the pages of Time and Newsweek, and listening to the BBC World Service news broadcasts to catch all those over-hyped horror reports of Brighton, et. al. during the summer bank holidays. First saw "The Leather Boys" in 1969. Got a few stories of some nice drinking sessions with some aging Rockers during my two visits to England (1979 and 1994). Went by the Ace the second visit, but it hadn't been restored yet.

Spent most of today's workday digging around the site. Looks real interesting.

 

[BigBSBusa]

You could almost say that motorcycling is in your blood! Welcome and very glad to have you here. How about some pics of those bikes in the stable?

 

[Syke]

Here's a couple that I've got sitting in my Photobucket account - I've got a few of the Bonnie and a couple of the others, but they were taken ten years ago on a Sony Mavica in a 640x480 format. Detail is REALLY lousy.

First off, a self portrait. No, the Thurxton isn't mine - yet:

Next, Pidge, my beloved Bonnie (better pictures to follow). It's a stock Canadian issue 1969 with clubman bars and Norman Hyde rearsets:

The ZX-6R streetfighter I built in 1999 after I was hit-and-run rear-ended on the stock bike. To this day I have no memories of the accident. Out of it I got this bike and my current wife:

Kennedy, the T150V Trident from back in the days when I was riding for the Phoenix Riders:

And finally, the 101 Scout. This is a real bear to ride. Manual spark advance, total loss oiling with a manual oil pump, foot clutch, hand shift, and other than the brakes, I seriously doubt that anyone here could figure out the controls the first time you sat on the bike. Having ridden a pre-WWII Harley won't help much. Everything here is deliberately opposite from Harley Davidson convention:

Give me a chance and I'll scan some of the other pictures I've taken over the years - I've got an album with every bike I've ever owned, other than the first four.

 

[brewtown16]

i would love to see that '70 bridgestone 350 caf..... must have been a ball to ride!

 

[Syke]

i would love to see that '70 bridgestone 350 caf..... must have been a ball to ride!

That one wasn't a lot to talk about, and I've only got one picture of it - I keep an album with a minimum of one picture of every motorcycle I've ever owned, missing only the first four. It was a stock 350 with clubman bars, and I hadn't even started to get around to cobbling up something in the way of rear sets, much less changing pipes, etc. I've never been much of a two-stroke guy. Only had that one and a '70 Yamaha 200cc twin street scrambler - abysmal handling.

I'd kill for a nice Elsie or RD400 though.

Biggest memory of that Bridgestone was the transmission. Depending on how the lever was flipped, it was either a standard 5-speed (1-N-2-3-4-5) or a 4-speed rotary shift (N-1-2-3-4-N-1-2-3-4-N-1-2-3-4-ad nauseum). Extremely useful for urban street drags, and a complete pain in the ass everywhere else. There were more than a few times that I went up from fourth, throught I'd hit a false neutral, so I'd stab the lever up one more time . . . . . . . dropping me into first gear at a speed that would immediately start the back end sliding all over the road.

I think that was part of the reason I never warmed to that bike, put the stock bars back on it, and sold it.

 

[Syke]

Big correction to that Bridgestone story . . . it wasn't a 350, it was a 200.

Duh!

This is what happens to your memory as you approach 60. It sucks. Sorry if I got anyone's fantasies up. Not that the 200 was slow . . . . . . . . . . . .