Growing up I was always around motor cylces or some sort of atv. My dad always had some type of dirt bike that he would buy, ride, fix up, and sell. When I was 4 he thought I would be ready for a go cart... During our first ride I remember flying around our 8 acre field just having a blast. He, for some reason, was wearing flip flops. During our ride one of these things flew off. He then pulled over and hopped off the get it. When he stood up he says, "Take over for me." I, being 4 years of age, instantly assumed it was my turn at the wheel. I slid over in the seat and stabbed the throttle. Now my dad was just like me, why build something unless it was fast. He had put this go cart together out of an old frame he bought cheap and a tiller motor. It was a 5hp motor and from what he says was geared pretty crazy on this frame. In typical Vaughn fashion, Im sure not every bug had been worked out of the system. Because when I planted my foot to the floor of this contraption, the throttle stuck wide open. Now keep in mind that I am 4 years old and weigh close to nothing. I am speeding across the field wide open, bouncing up and down in the seat, totally unaware of what will happen next. My dad can see what is happening and is helpless to the situation. Mom mom is standing on the back porch watching the entire event unfold. As she watches her son fly across the field, she notices where I am headed. I am on course to run head on into my father's parked truck. As I speed directly at it, her and my dad are screaming for me to hit the kill switch. I was so small that I was being bounced all over the place. I just could not reach it. Then all of the sudden, the cart ran out of gas and I coasted to a stop right in front of the truck.
From that moment on I have always been on motorcycles. Growing up my dad and I would get home in the afternoons and go riding for hours. As I got older I learned a lot of my mechanical skills from having to work on my bikes. I didn't have money to buy a good bike so we would buy $100 stuff and get them going. I never learned how to take it easy on those bike though. No matter what I would still just beat the hell out of them and have to replace a bunch of stuff. My dad would take me down to the Honda shop and have me tell the old guy at the counter what all I needed. There was just something about the whole process that still appeals to me. Even now that I have the money to buy a newer bike I still seek out the old fixer-uppers.
For the past year or so I have been wanting to build a little bobber to ride around town. I looked all over craigslist and ebay for a good deal on a Yamaha XS650. I like them so much because they closely resemble an old Triumph. I know there are tons of people out there that hate metric bobbers, and I get it. I'll just say this, show me a Harley, Triumph, etc that you can put together for $1000 and have as much fun. Reliably. I went to look at what was listed as an XS650 for $750. When I got there it was really an XS400. The difference is that they have smaller frames, shorter wheelbase, obviously less power, and most importantly not as much support from the aftermarket. To make a long story short, the owner could not get it started so I left paying $350 for the bike. I came home, charged the batter, and she fired right up. After a few "spirited" rides up and down the street I realized that I had a good bike to start with.
