Levi Retterer’s 1976 Suzuki GT250
“A few years back when I was about 18, the vintage motorcycle bug, in the form of a 1976 Suzuki GT250 bit me hard. The bike was out for sale a few miles from my house, and man was she sexy. Running and in very nice shape for its age, she was begging to be mine. I spoke with the guy and swapped him a paltry $75 bucks for my soon to be freedom machine. In my then blissful ignorance, before I bought it, he told me ‘it doesn’t have a title, but you can just go get one.’ HA! To this day I wish it were that easy.”
“I spent many an afternoon (to my poor mother’s dismay) riding that thing up and down the back roads near my house. Of course I had no motorcycle license; the bike had no tags, no insurance, and was riding on what were probably the original tires and brake pads… Despite all the evidence of my teenage invincibility, I did wear a helmet though.”
“A few years later, I ended up buying a rough but titled GT250 to do a frame swap. However, after purchase (for way too much money) I got it home and realized that the frame was rusted far beyond repair. Many of the mounting nuts on the frame were rusted into oblivion. At that point I lost interest in the bike, started chasing women and my career, and sadly the bike sat apart at in dad’s barn for the next 6 years patiently awaiting its return to the limelight. ”
“A while back I was thinking about parting the ol’ girl out. But first, I decided to check out craigslist to see if anything comparable was selling as a baseline. During my search I found a clean, complete, and titled 1975 frame about 2-1/2 hours north of me for a reasonable sum. A couple emails later and my wonderful wife and I picked it up the following Saturday.”
“The bike was nice for its age, and the more time I spend around vintage bikes, the more I realize how lucky I was to find such a sturdy old horse. My plan at this point was to fix her back up into a solid vintage rider. No modifications planned, except perhaps a set of expansion chambers, otherwise just a clean old stocker. I may ride it for a bit and put her back on the market to fund my other rides. But I already told my wife that I may have a real hard time selling my first vintage bike. Especially a sweet little dinger like this. Gotta plant the seeds of collecting early ”
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(via Dime City Cycles)
