So yeah, today being Valentine's Day, me and the girlfriend are wandering back down from the top of One Tree Hill after a picnic dinner. As I come back down, I notice something that catches my eye even more than my girlfriend's cute bum -- and that's a GB500.
Now the GB500 is a pretty bike. The most beautiful tank I can recall off the top of my head. But this was a special GB.
The clipons, and what looked like the triple clamp, had been lowered practically halfway down the forks. The standard headlight replaced by a much smaller, very pretty item which was also positioned very low on the bike. Dash unit replaced by a tiny speedo. Brake reservoir repositioned into a less conspicuous place. Front guard replaced by a beautiful minimalist aluminium job.
What really got me excited though was the rear end. Like my recent thread on `Ditching the Battery', this guy had done the aforementioned ditching, and added a pod filter sticking out of the carb. Empty space underneath the seat, apart from a curious round `Veloce' badge clamped to the frame. The seat -- whilst pretty anyway -- had been replaced by an almost completely flat board-type leather seat, with minimum padding. God it looked good, though! Rear guard gone, replaced by aluminium job with a pretty little tail-light and tiny indicators. 2-into-1 headers, beautifully made, into what looked like one of the standard exhausts, but still pretty.
So yeah, after a while of gawking at this bike, the girlfriend wanted to leave so we carried on walking -- turning back to look over my shoulder every few seconds, hoping to see it thumping down the hill. A little while later, while we were queuing at Ollie's, I heard a distinctive thump and looked out to see rider with pudding-basin helmet, goggles, and girlfriend on the back with a proper helmet punting along the road. Felt like waving but realised how stupid I'd look.
Am I in love? Well, let's call it just lust. I wanted to talk to the owner about the modifications he did to his bike, as I had almost the exact same mental picture of his bike when I was dreaming about what I want to do to my CB250RS. The bike just looks stunning... absolutely gorgeous. I'd buy it for twice it's real value.
Bleh I'll stop rambling now. Time to do the dishes.
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