Dave and his brother Danny bought a 1966 BMW 650 motorcycle. Both were car hops at a drive-in Hickies on Columbia Avenue east of the Golden Arches McDonald's at Columbia Ave. It was torn down years later like a lot of places.
Dave and I had just graduated high school. Danny was a year later. Dave just sold his Honda, it was brought from Japan by private import, it had kilometers on speedometer instead of miles per hour. BMW bikes were a lot more expensive than other bikes. Dave and Danny's new BMW was bought cash, no payments. This was close after the day we got out of school.
I said to Dave the first time he rode the new bike to my house, let's hit Wildwood. Of course he said Lets Go! That Friday after work, a shower and some grub we were headed east on US 30 again. I said earlier I went to Wildwood since I was 8 years old. I knew the way by heart. There was a new shortcut that shaved about 1/2 of an hour off the drive.
Dave's bike had less than 500 miles on it, it was not broke in. The BMW was geared high, RPM,s were low, so we could run pretty fast without harming the new engine.
We left about 8:00 PM. It was usually about 4 hours. The short cut and high speed cut it down to a little over 3 hours. We stopped for gas for my smaller tank. Dave's tank was big enough to not stop, but since I had to, he filled up too.
On the short cut, we could run close to 100 MPH. You know in your teens, nothing can hurt you! We ran around on the boardwalk a couple hours. At 17, 18 years old, you can get away on little sleep.
When we first got there we stopped at Marge's trailer, she said, yes, you can sleep on our porch. Lloyd and I pulled his first trailer down from PA. His second trailer too, a lot bigger and newer, has a screened in porch built on to it. Friday and Saturday night we slept there.
Dave and I rode about 60 miles south along the beach highway Saturday. The toll bridges were 50 cents for cars, 25 cents for bikes. Delaware Memorial Bridge was $1.00 for cars, 50 cents for bikes. Yes, the same bridge Vicki and I rubbed our legs against the tractor trailer's tire years later.
Tractor trailers were tempting. If you rode very close to the back of the trailer, you are sucked along in the vacuum the trailer creates. You just give the bike enough gas so the bike engine does not hold back, and you're doing 80 miles per hour on 1/8th throttle. You are drifting from the vehicle in front just like Nascar. You can save a lot of gas.
As long as the rig does not lock up all the wheels. But like I said, at that age nothing can hurt you! That attitude is why I lost a lot of friends.
Sunday morning Marge, Links wife made us breakfast. We thanked them and left. We were in town in Wildwood, and we had our swim trunks under our clothes. Link, his wife and kids we saw at the beach later. Marge took a picture of Dave and me laying on a blanket with one of their girls between us. It's hard to believe the two girls are close to 70 years old now, too!
When we left the beach, looking for souvenirs. We stopped in Scoops Surf and Cycle. I found a chrome front fender that fit my bike. I had not stripped my black bike with gray fenders and painted everything corvette blue yet. I am looking for pictures now.
I got a decal for my new fender that said, Scoops Surf and Cycle, Wildwood, NJ. At home everyone asked you ride there. I happily said, many times. I bought the bike in middle of February 1966, August 20th I lost my license. I had 10,822 miles on the odometer. Yes, I love to ride.
Dave and I had just graduated high school. Danny was a year later. Dave just sold his Honda, it was brought from Japan by private import, it had kilometers on speedometer instead of miles per hour. BMW bikes were a lot more expensive than other bikes. Dave and Danny's new BMW was bought cash, no payments. This was close after the day we got out of school.
I said to Dave the first time he rode the new bike to my house, let's hit Wildwood. Of course he said Lets Go! That Friday after work, a shower and some grub we were headed east on US 30 again. I said earlier I went to Wildwood since I was 8 years old. I knew the way by heart. There was a new shortcut that shaved about 1/2 of an hour off the drive.
Dave's bike had less than 500 miles on it, it was not broke in. The BMW was geared high, RPM,s were low, so we could run pretty fast without harming the new engine.
We left about 8:00 PM. It was usually about 4 hours. The short cut and high speed cut it down to a little over 3 hours. We stopped for gas for my smaller tank. Dave's tank was big enough to not stop, but since I had to, he filled up too.
On the short cut, we could run close to 100 MPH. You know in your teens, nothing can hurt you! We ran around on the boardwalk a couple hours. At 17, 18 years old, you can get away on little sleep.
When we first got there we stopped at Marge's trailer, she said, yes, you can sleep on our porch. Lloyd and I pulled his first trailer down from PA. His second trailer too, a lot bigger and newer, has a screened in porch built on to it. Friday and Saturday night we slept there.
Dave and I rode about 60 miles south along the beach highway Saturday. The toll bridges were 50 cents for cars, 25 cents for bikes. Delaware Memorial Bridge was $1.00 for cars, 50 cents for bikes. Yes, the same bridge Vicki and I rubbed our legs against the tractor trailer's tire years later.
Tractor trailers were tempting. If you rode very close to the back of the trailer, you are sucked along in the vacuum the trailer creates. You just give the bike enough gas so the bike engine does not hold back, and you're doing 80 miles per hour on 1/8th throttle. You are drifting from the vehicle in front just like Nascar. You can save a lot of gas.
As long as the rig does not lock up all the wheels. But like I said, at that age nothing can hurt you! That attitude is why I lost a lot of friends.
Sunday morning Marge, Links wife made us breakfast. We thanked them and left. We were in town in Wildwood, and we had our swim trunks under our clothes. Link, his wife and kids we saw at the beach later. Marge took a picture of Dave and me laying on a blanket with one of their girls between us. It's hard to believe the two girls are close to 70 years old now, too!
When we left the beach, looking for souvenirs. We stopped in Scoops Surf and Cycle. I found a chrome front fender that fit my bike. I had not stripped my black bike with gray fenders and painted everything corvette blue yet. I am looking for pictures now.
I got a decal for my new fender that said, Scoops Surf and Cycle, Wildwood, NJ. At home everyone asked you ride there. I happily said, many times. I bought the bike in middle of February 1966, August 20th I lost my license. I had 10,822 miles on the odometer. Yes, I love to ride.
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