Wow, nice looking Sturgis. Rear sissy bar bag as well and period correct cone cover.
Wish it was for sale over here in Australia.

 

Thanks. Took me years to find one and lots of $$ to restore mechanically but asthetically it was near perfect.

 

I have a winter project on my list to do the same thing with the later luggage rack, tour pak and wide *** Mustang seat. I have the standard width seat from Mustang and it sucks after about an hour. Questions:

1- Is the wide **** seat comfortable for a long ride, two hours or better? And how about for your significant other?

2- Can you post some pics or info on your luggage rack/tour pak install?

Thanks in advance.

 

Very nice... I like the blacked out motor...

 

Me too. They came like that.

 

my sister had a '82 sturgis way back in '82.... it was a great bike for her i really dont know why she sold it

 

That's a sweet bike! Always loved that colour scheme.

 

So, a little back story. The year, 1978. I am 12 years old, living on a farm in rural Virginia. Never ridden a motorcycle, or thought about them at all. I'm a typical, long-haired, country kid baling hay, playing guitar, hating school, and reading books, wishing I was in Led Zeppelin and skipping school.

My dad was abusive, which meant that his business trips were awesome (for me) and also that I could spend more time hiking the Blue Ridge, reading my books, writing excruciatingly bad poetry and wishing I was somewhere else.

In retrospect, dad aside, this was the most amazing time of my childhood, though I didn't see it at the time through the haze of bloodletting at school and at home.

So, one day, late summer, we get a call form a stranger with a heavy, German accent asking for our address and explaining that a mutual family friend had recommended he come and stay with us.

My dummy sister gave him our address and, with my mom at her 2nd job waitressing an hour away, this guy on a Harley-Davidson rolls up in a brown leather jacket and moustache, looking like a modern-day Teutonic Knight, cursing and smiling and joking and bearing gifts.

My mom came home, fast, and met Walter, and, after dinner, invited him to stay for the weekend. He quickly endeared himself to our family, and ended up staying for 3 months, helping out on the farm building fences, taking care of the cattle, shelling peas, shucking corn, and generally making himself useful.

During this time, he gave me a ride into town on the back of his Harley, a 1975 FXE Superglide. I fell in love with motorcycles that day, and from that day until I got my first bike 12 years later, I knew that riding bikes was a dream and that it would be something I was going to do and love forever.

After that summer, Walter went back to travelling the world on that HD, riding to the southernmost tip of South America, traverssing Europe and America several times each, riding Australia, and Mexico, the Far East and the Mediterranean.

Flash forward 39 years and I find him on Facebook. He's living in Thailand, having adopted several children there and starting a non-profit dedicated to bettering the lives of Thai children who live in near perpetual need of the most basic amenities.

I get a Facebook message asking me to call him on a Virginia area code. He asks me, in the FB message, if I have room in my garage.

I call, and am immediately transported back in time 39 years and I'm talking to a childhood hero, who is asking me, "Maaaan, my Harley is in storage in a garage in Virginia, and is going to go to hell if someone doesn't ride her. I live in Thailand and can't take care of the bike. All I want you to do is ride it, take care of it, and when you die, leave it to your son. Just don't sell it. Can you do that for me, man?"

My head's been spinning for days now. I just was given a bike by the dude that made me fall in love with riding, and she's in great, running condition! It turns out that the bike that my 11 year old self is sitting on, was totaled the year after this pic was taken, and Walter then bought the bike in picture #1, (the same as the one on the trailer that my dorky *** is standing next to). He's been all over the world on that one also!

I'm beyond amazed. I feel like John Wayne just showed up and gave me his horse. Like King Arthur just asked me to keep Excalibur sharp and shiny.

So after all that... here are the pics of my "new to me" ride.

 

Dude..... That's an awesome story with a magnificent ending... Congrats.....

 

Went for ride turkey day before all the festivities. Up Sierra,s top slide mountain.