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Speaking of trains...Doesn't Amtrak have a run along the Pacific they call the Coast Starliner?



Yep! I rode that sucker back in '78, from Oakland to L.A.

There are some great vistas to be seen, especially along parts of it that hug the Pacific surf.

The service was pretty nice, but it took over 12 hours to cover that distance, where you could drive or ride the same in under 8.

Re: the Roadliner....

I agree that the boys in Japan know how to make a pretty nice bike, but mass-produced copies of anything just seem a little light in character, to me. And they definately know how to push their product lines and eventually succeed in grabbing the market-share that they're after.

I don't know, I kind'a like the bike I guess, but once again the name of the side of the tank pretty much for me seems to over-shadow my thoughts in purchases most of the time, nowdays. I guess you could say I(and maybe most of us Triumph owners) have a sort of unreasonable fixation on our brand, similarly to the dyed-in-the-wool Harley owners, due to that "heritage thing", but I doubt the resale value of any Star motorcycle is going to be near the percentage of the brand that they are attempting(and in many regards succeeding) in copying.

That Yamaha V-Twin is a clean design with those thick single pushrod tubes. It's always kind'a reminded me of a slice off an old Pratt and Whitney radial aircraft engine.

But as I've said, if you're going for a historical perspective, I think you better have some history to back it up.(other that pianos, TZ750s and RD350s.(though...cool bikes, them)

Cheers,
Dwight

Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)