are you sure that engine is in right?

[dean owens]

well, here it goes. the starting of my blog. it's so hard to come up with a name for it. top contenders were... (and maybe still are

he's a hoss for a chihuahua
fat guy in a little coat
ain't nobody want your raggedy no zippin' up k-mart jacket
dean

alas, i settled on the title before you. i have a love for the transverse v-twins that honda put out from 78-83. they look a little off - with their engines sitting sideways and all. and that has lead to me liking the moto guzi (i know they were out before the hondas - but not in my world and even beemers.

the other difficult thing... do i write for me or you? well, i guess i've already started writing for you so i'll stick with that format for now.

i have an 83 GL650 Interstate Silverwing. it was given to me a little over a year ago and that's what i've learned on. it had about 32,000 miles on it at the time. i've only got it up to about 36,000.

i've thought about getting rid of it but the more i have it the more i love it. and i have this other problem. i try to think of another bike that would be able to replace my silverwing. it would have to be a practical bike... a moderate size... able to carry a decent amount of clothing for a week of camp... easy to work on... not to complicated... nothing seems to fill all those categories like my silverwing. at least not yet. so it looks like we'll be together for a while. the only changes i plan on making is giving it a fresh coat of paint and putting a GL1100 trunk on the back to haul more stuff i'll post a picture when i get a chance.

well that's all for this addition.

[dean owens]

i know it's soon but here is post number two....

my love for these twisted twins had led to me taking a chance. i either got a fun project or i'll be parting out a bike. i'm the proud winner or this auction. i went and picked it up today.

here's the story i was given. as he says, his step grandfather bought the bike new and after paying it off the paper work was sent to him. he never got the title put in his name. then he lost the paper work. when he gave it to the guy i bought it from he went to dmv to get a new title. they said he would have to contact the original loan office and get them to re-release a title to him. he couldn't remeber the loan office. so the bike has sat.

i'm going to check into it and if i can get a title then i have a project. if i can't, then i'll be parting the bike out and get my $44.00 back.

somewhat good... it doesn't have an ignition switch (key) in it. i didn't ask him to do this, but the seller wired up a toggle switch in it's place and put a little gas in the carbs. it fired right up. and sounded pretty good too. so it has a working engine.

it ain't the prettiest thing. and i'm even wondering if i do get a title and i want to take this on... i might be taking this down to the frame. there are parts of it that could use a great cleaning and a new paint job. btw, do you paint frames?

anyway, wish me luck. i might not have time to do anything with it for a few weeks but i'll keep y'all up-to-date with the happenings.

[dean owens]

here's a picture of my bike.


pretty basic. i have a GL1100 trunk that i plan on putting on it. the plan was to do it this winter and paint everything up. plans might have changed with the acquisition of my cx500 project bike. we'll see. oh, and as you can see there is no windshield on there. i really don't like it. i only put it on when it is really cold. other than that i like to feel the wind.

[edit]: i was tired when i posted this last night. i thought this morning that i should have put a pic of the bike when i first got it. not that there have really been any changes... it was just really dirty. so here are a few pics from last year when i got it.





this was actually stored for the winter under a carport. i picked the bike up in mid may. we get a little pollen in this area

[dean owens]

well, i got the cx500 unloaded and parked in my backyard. here's the side views of the bike.




if you're interested in seeing more pics of the bike feel free to look here

a few little developments.

usually my wife isn't too keen on my "projects". and when i was going to pick this bike up she was telling me that i needed to just go ahead and part it out because i don't need two bikes. on the way home with the bike (she stayed home with our two daughters - that's a future blog) her dad called me. we got talking about the bike and i told him it was a 500. he said "that would be a good bike for alison" (my wife).

a little context... i have wanted to ride for a while, but it wasn't until last year (may 2007) that i took a class and started riding. i tried to get her to take the class with me but she wasn't that interested. i keep joking with her about riding someday. she always says she's not that interested. well, recently her dad and brother both got bikes. i noticed her spending a little time on craigslist and looking through my 08 buyers guide talking about bikes she liked. but she's still not interested

sooo, going back to the conversation with my father-in-law... i got the bike home sunday night. monday morning we had to take our van in to the shop. i hadn't had time to get the bike out of the truck. she sees the bike and i tell her what her dad told me. she said, "well, i do like the look of that bike better than yours." [thanks a lot] when we get home i start showing her what people have done with these bikes and what they can look like - either stock, chopper, bobber, cafe, etc.

well, today we (that would be me) start talking about colors to paint the bike. she starts mentioning colors. and says, "well if it's going to be my bike..." I GOT HER. so now it's her bike. this project is official and has the approval of the boss. and because she won't be able to ride (realistically for a few years because her watching our girls) for a while i can take my time on this project.

this one is getting kinda long so i'll call it quits for now. more on this bike later.

[dean owens]

no developments with the CX so far. just working on getting a title. that's turning out to be fun.

tomorrow i go for the longest single ride to date. we're going to the outerbanks for vacation with my in-laws. since my father-in-law and brother-in-law are now riding my f-i-l suggested i bring my bike so we could ride around. who was i to turn him down this means my wife has to drive the van with the two little ones while i follow behind on the bike. total trip is just a little over 300 miles. it won't be so bad. we're going to have to stop pretty regularly for my wife to feed our youngest.

i'll let y'all know how it goes when i get back.

[dean owens]

i'm back. vacation was nice. getting there.... maybe not so nice. the trip to the beach was about 250 miles - 4.5 hours by mapquest. my wife drove the van with the kids and i followed/lead on the bike. here's the route

starting at about rocky mount it started raining. i was ok for a while ducked behind my fairing. but by the time i got to plymouth (around roper on the map) i was soaked. i think my boots are supposed to be waterproof. which just meant that they held the water that ran down my legs. by the time i got off the bike in plymouth for lunch i was walking around with the indian ocean in my left boot and the atlantic in my right.

the rain really wasn't so bad. it wasn't a fun ride though. more of something i was going to conquer. all was going good until about 45 minutes into the rain there was an accident. i was going along at about 75 and thinking there was a car a little ways up in the lane next to mine. there was... but there was also one right in front of me (about 100+ feet) that i didn't know was there. that is until he spun around... faced my direction and then slid into the guardrail in the median.

obviously i stopped to see if he was ok. by the time i got off my bike and ran back there, the car behind me had already stopped and asked him if he was ok. he was on his cell phone and said he was fine. they gave me the thumbs up so i got back on the bike. all the while my family is nice and dry. and my wife is a little freaked that this car spun out in front of me. she told me at lunch that she was wondering if i was going to have time to stop.

well, that ruined a lot of the ride from there on out. the rain kinda stunk... but the fear that the next water puddle could be for me to hydroplane was not a fun thought. and it didn't leave. i took it a little slower after that.

but, we finally pulled into the camp ground and unloaded our stuff into the extra camper the in-laws had set up for us. i then spent times here and there driving up and down hatteras island with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. one day we took a fairy over to ocracoke and road around and had lunch. it was some really nice riding.

the ride home was better. my bike was trailered to the in-laws house (stayed a night there after "camping" at the beach). i then had a slightly shorter ride (200 miles - 3.5 hours) with no rain. wasn't a "fun" ride because most of it was on the highway at 70+mph. here's the route home.


all in all... it was a great trip and a great vacation. i'd do it again. even if i knew in advance that the 30% rain in the evening translated to down pour in the middle of the day. it was nice to know i could do it and that my bike could do it. i hope to add many more long trips in the future.

when it was all said and done i did 632 miles in the week. not too bad... at least i don't think so

[dean owens]

trying to track down a title for my project cx500 has been a journey. it started the day before i went on vacation (july 10).

july 10th...
first i started with calling the local dmv title/license plate office. i told them the story i was given when i bought the bike and they said it sounded like an abandoned bike and i had two options. the first was to call my local law enforcement and they would request a title from dmv for me. the other was to go to the court house and get a title there. but if neither of those worked out then there was nothing they could do for me.

figuring that dmv knew what they were talking about i called the local sheriff's office right around the corner and told them the story and what dmv told me. their response... "we've never heard of anything like that. the only thing we can do is look up the VIN and tell you the history of the bike." this was a nice answer since dmv said they were my best hope.

with the help i was getting i put in a call to someone i may or may not know who might know a few things about law enforcement and what they can do. i was hoping would be able to help me out. and he did.

july 11th...
i get word from my source that he ran the VIN. i was able to get the name of the title holder and found out that the bike has .... are you ready .... a lean. this person told me to contact my local highway patrol dmv inspection officer for further help.

july 18th...
so i'm back from vacation and started trying to find out who my local inspection officer was so i could talk to him and find out where i needed to go from here. looked on-line and got a highway patrol inspection officer who only dealt with big rigs. he said i needed to call the drivers license dmv office.

i call them up and find out that one does work there but won't be in until later. i tell the dmv guy my story and he gives me a number for the inspection officer. but he said that he thought i needed to contact the .... get this .... title/license plate dmv office. THE STINKIN' PLACE I STARTED WITH!

i tried to call the inspection officer first. i got no answer.... not even a machine. so i figured i'd give the title/plate office another try. got ahold of a nice woman who told me to come in and get some forms. she gave me the name of the lean holder and gave me the form to get the title holders name (which i already have).

now i have to contact the lean holder (which i'm in the process of doing) and see about getting it released. then i have to get in touch with the original title holder and get them to apply for a lost title. if i can't do either one of those things then the frame is worthless in the state of NC. there is an option of getting a bonded title but it'll cost $360.00 + titling fees + inspection fees + who knows what. and it has to be in operational order to even start the bonded title process. that ain't happenin'. i'm not sinkin' a dime into this unless i know it has a title.

so wish me luck. hope i can get up with the lean holder and title holder and that they'll be helpful. if not, then i'll either be looking for a titled frame or parting her out.

[dean owens]

well, i haven't had any riding time since vacation. i've been working from home and helping out with the kids. we had our second daughter (and child) june 6th so i have been the one doing everything for our two year old. it's been fun and frustrating but it's meant no riding time. but that'll change soon. the school year starts in a few weeks and i'll be back on campus and won't be able to work from home.

guess now would be good for a little bit of background info. at the time of writing this i'm 31. i'm a campus minister at the university of north carolina at chapel hill ( this is our website - be kind because it needs to be updated). i'm entering my 5th year there. i've been married for 8 years to my beautiful wife alison and we have two girls - charlotte and ivy. my wife was an elementary school teach until having charlotte. since then she's been a stay home mom and doing a great job at it.

the only other thing to mention here is an update on my wife's bike. i found out from dmv that if i send a certified letter to the lien holder and get a non-acceptance letter then the lien will be released. and i have found the original title holder. keep your fingers crossed. hopefully in a few weeks i'll have the title for this bike.

well, until next time...

[MZ33]

You are a patient soul, dean! And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with a less-than-clean bike. I don't have the excuses of a 2 yr old and a newborn, though.

I'm with your wife when it comes to the look of your bike. At least the luggage on the back balances out friggin' fairing on the front. Kinda looks like the Batcycle.