Been lurking for a while, decided it was finally time to introduce myself. My name is Charlie and I'm a self-employed motorcycle mechanic from western Maryland, not far from Hagerstown.
I've had Italian motorcycles for nearly as long as I've been riding, starting with a Benelli Fireball 50 that was given to me when I was 12. That planted the seed that grew into a love of Moto Guzzis when I bought my first in '83. Owned a bunch of them since, along with more Benellis, two Morinis, almost a Laverda and three Cagivas. Then there's all of the non-Italian stuff...
My present fleet includes lots of unusual stuff - '91 ATK 604, '95 CCM C25 350 and '94 MZ Silver Star Classic. Plus two old Guzzi Ambassadors, a Yamaha XT500 and more recently my first Ducatis. Don't know why it took me so long - perhaps the occasional ride on my brother's 907ie was enough. In any case, this past Summer an '88 750 Paso project popped up on Craigslist and I bought that for $500, then in November an '85 Cagiva 650 Elefant appeared in Fairfax, VA for $1000 and I bought that too.
The Paso is still in storage awaiting resurrection, but I have the Elefant "freshened up" and ready to ride. If only I could get the previous owner to send me the title like he promised he would.
Seemed like a good guy, had a garage full of other Ducz. On the day I bought the bike, he said his wife lost it, that he'd get a duplicate and send it to me. Here I am four months later, still trying to get him to do the right thing. Probably should have just walked away from the deal...
Anyway, an early Monster is on my "hit list" now and if the right one comes along, I'll buy it. Trying to talk my friend Keith out of one of his three has proved fruitless.
The day I brought the Paso home:
Elefant ready to ride:
