Competent Tourer Now that I had lost the horsepower wars, I turned my attention to making the bike more comfortable and practical. And if there was one thing I had learned through the years, it was the value of a good fairing. I purchased I rode the Yamaha everywhere and have a lot of good memories of the good times I had on it. Here are a few that always come to mind. I did my regular pilgrimage to Montreal with each change in bikes to catch up with my old friends and remember blasting up the Laurentian autoroute at about 125mph. It was particularly enjoyable as I was sitting bolt upright, one hand casually draped on the handlebar all the while passing an expensive looking caddy also in the triple digits. And I did this with a passenger on the back. I have yet to go faster on two wheels, or four for that matter. I remember riding homeward after some heavy partying with a female companion on the back. It was after midnight and we were in the collector lanes of the 401. Traffic was very light and I was doing about 80mph when suddenly I felt a strong pull on the bike that took me from the middle lane to almost the shoulder in what seemed like the blink of an eye. I turned around and to my horror found her leaning almost to the point of falling off. I grabbed her just in time and pulled her back up right at which point she started to wake up. Talk about an adrenaline rush! One time I had my brother-in-law on the back and I decided at a red light to demonstrate the shaft effect on the bike. I would rev the engine and partially engage the clutch while holding the front brake and the torque reaction would lift the rear end up. I continued to do this a number of times not realizing that sitting next to me was a patrol car; at least, not until the officer asked me what I was up to. Oops! And then my brother-in-law decided to be funny and make smart ass remarks. How I avoided a ticket that day is still a mystery. But I do remember how I avoided one on another occasion. A bunch of us from the York Wings MC were heading on the 401 east out of Toronto for a ride one sunny Saturday morning. Unfortunately, most of Toronto was in the process of doing the same and the pace was barely above a crawl. Our group became split up from all the jockeying we were all doing around the congestion, but progress was still painfully slow. I started to get extremely hot from the mostly idling engine and decided to get some air by taking to the shoulder and passing all the stalled traffic. That went very well until I rounded a bend and saw an OPP cruiser with flashing lights and at least 15 cars already lined for a marathon ticket session. Quickly I darted into the fast lane but one of the officers was not to be fooled. He jumped into my lane and motioned for me to pull over. I was caught! Not only was I getting a ticket, but it might take hours before I would be processed and released. I immediately went into my humble routine and tried to make myself look as chastised and repentant as possible. After twenty minutes sitting in the back of the cruiser I noticed that much of the bike club had caught up and would soon be passing by me. At this point I pulled out all the stops and gave my finest performance. I slunk down in the seat and mumbled something about how I was part of an upstanding club and that I didn't want them to see me in all my humiliation. I must have said something right because after the group passed, I was given a stern warning and released. I'm sure there is a moral in this story. Changes I met my soon to be wife while owning the Yamaha, and we spent many hours together traveling on the bike. I learned that she always had had an interest in motorcycles and one of her dreams was to ride one of her own someday. Well, hearing that, plus her willingness to do my laundry convinced me to propose and before I knew what had happened, I was married. As part of all the changes that were happening during this period of my life, I decided to re-evaluate my - I mean, our - motorcycling requirements. The xs11 would soon become history. Take a look at an old advert for this bike
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a used Krauser Cockpit fairing from a friend who had removed it from his Gold Wing. Although it was designed for a round headlight, it adapted very well to my rectangular one. All the mounting hardware also worked with a little bit of persuasion and the entire package suited the bike very well. I then scored a set of Krauser bags from someone else and they too installed without major surgery. I threw on the CB radio from my previous bike, a Hang Two saddle (which I still have), a luggage rack, and I was done. I never touched the engine, and I didn't even upgrade the exhaust. The bike looked sexy and the power was adequate - I was happy again.