Riverglades on a Baonr an Find
I’d just returned from a great ride in Nova Scotia when I sat down to check my Facebook account. The first thing I saw was a post made by my old buddy Lloyd that asked if anyone would like to join him on a ride to Moncton, N.B., to watch his grandson Ryder race at Riverglade MX Park. Always eager for an adventure and recently retired, I said yes – of course. After all, the bike was washed and ready, so why not?
The only hitch to all of this was Lloyd’s bike. It was a recent barn find. He’d had his eye on a 1982 Gold Wing covered in pigeon droppings and straw and sitting in the haymow in a barn in Gooderham, Ont. The asking price was $1,800. However, the licence plate sticker was 14 years old so, with a bit of dickering, the bike was Lloyd’s for the princely sum of $500. Ambitious Lloyd used his elbow grease and a few miscellaneous parts, and soon after we were off to the Maritimes with Lloyd proudly astride his reincarnated antique.
A trip of any distance requires carrying various necessities of comfort, and with no saddlebags that can be a challenge. Lloyd’s bike looked like it was being held together with bungie cords as he lashed down all his belongings for the trip. The first and only casualty of the trip didn’t take long to happen. Somewhere along Ontario’s Highway 401 lies a battery side