Photos circa 1981

I mentioned in an earlier post that this trip is a redux of the first trip Ron and I took together, 25 years ago in June of 1981. Here's a shot from that tour, with Ron sportin' a very sexy pair of 'ski glasses', as we called them at the time. This was taken high above the north shore of Lake Tahoe, I think on the Mount Rose highway. The bikes? Ron rode his impeccably reliable 1978 Suzuki GS750ES (right), which by the time of this shot had already been accessorized with a GS1000S fairing, RC Engineering pipe, oil cooler, single air filters, upgraded shocks, 'case savers', and so on. The luggage rack came and went as necessary. The silver bike is my 1977 Laverda 1000 Jota, an odd 'touring' bike to be sure, but that's what I had. I bought it new in November of 1977 ( at the tender age of 19) for the then-princely sum of $4900.52 out the door. By contrast, I think at the time I figured I could have bought two new GS750s for the same money. I'm happy to report that I make similarly rational choices today. I loved that motorcycle, sacrificed a lot to own it, and I still have it to this day.

At left is yours truly, posing in a very manly fashion with his mighty Italian Stallion. The photo was taken near a lake on California Hwy 4 (in the Sierras) whose name has escaped me. I still have these leathers, though they have suffered the same fate as all of my clothes from that era - chronic shrinkage. I guess clothing technology has come a long way since 1981. In those days (maybe today too - we'll see in a month or so) you could smell the scent of evergreens as you rose out of the central valley and the foothills. It was always the first real sensory reminder that you were in the mountains. As you can see, we traveled light in those days - tank bag, sleeping bag, tent. End of story. I briefly considered riding the Laverda on this trip until Ron politely reminded me that it was .... how you say? Uncomfortable. Actually, he said that in another couple of years I'll hurt myself just sitting on it in the garage. Nice.