tellhimfred.com

On Saturday, I made my foray back into the world of motor vehicles, by purchasing “Sookie” - a 1982 Suzuki GS850G from a guy up in Chelmsford. No, the name came with the bike, and if you’re ever wondering about what happens when you change the name of a vehicle, just ask me or Loki sometime what happened to the lobster boat we used to have.

Anyway.

I’d wanted a motorcycle for a while, but never really had a place to start or a fire under me about it, until last Thursday. The Blue Line stopped running, due to a power struggle, or a power failure, or something to do with the abuse of power. Cabs couldn’t be found because of a horrible accident on the pike combined with the shutdown of an entire arm of the MBTA. I was lucky enough that opposite was on his way to work WITH his car (since you can’t get out of Beastie without some kind of transportation) and was able to come get me. It was then I decided it was time to stop relying on the drunken 5-year olds that run the Mass Bay Transit Authority for my ride to work every day.

I was a little worried about buying a vehicle off Craigslist to begin with, doubly so for a motorcycle, since I currently have absolutely no clue how to drive, operate, repair or talk about motorcycles. I figured that I’d poke around for a while and read some reviews, etc. But I happened across an ad for a bike I happen to know is a quality piece of machinery - because my friend Loki owns one. Same year and everything. Price was absolutely right, and was reasonably local.

Took the trip up to Chelmsford Saturday morning - if you’re wondering where Chelmsford is, it’s just west of Relevant. The guy, Jim, was SUPER nice. Spent a good hour showing me various ins and outs of the bike. How to change the oil. How to check the spark plugs. How to replace the exhaust. On and on. I found myself actually understanding some of it, too! He had the owner’s manual, several printed booklets on different specific jobs - boot rings (?) re-jetting carbs (?) etc. etc.

Two brand new oil filters, a new speedometer/tachometer/fuel gauge (the old one is broken, so he gave me the new one without installing it and reduced the price), two DOT approved SHOEI helmets, a set of leather saddlebags, and a bunch of miscellaneous parts.

So how do we get the bike back to Boston? Easy. He takes a plate off his new bike, bolts it to Sookie, and follows me back on the bike. No better operating test for a bike than driving 40 miles! Cutty and I gave him a lift back to Chelmsford, and bam, the bike is all mine, waiting in Cutty’s driveway for me to take the MSF safety course, bolt on the new tach, and then hit the road!

Cutty and I are taking the course the first weekend in May. Can’t wait. I feel like I’m 8 years old waiting for Christmas to come.