Dave's collection

Dave, a friend from the shop, let me check out his collection the other day. I forgot his address but remembered a relative location (side street by the river, first red house). Pulling up to the first red house on the street, I was skeptical to find Dave's stellar collection at a house with an unassuming 1-door garage.

An older woman cautiously answered the door. I asked if she knew Dave. A moment later and Dave appeared. He led me out back to the garage and threw open the door, where I was met by the cold stare of an original, unrestored Parilla at front. Behind the Italian stood a Katana, Rokon, and Indian. Quite the mix of ethnicities.

The Parilla is in fantastic condition. An exotic racer with a interesting valve train. It carries its chain-driven camshaft up high at cylinder level and operates two short pushrods that open the valves. More info here. I can't remember the details on this specific bike-I was weak at the knees in the presence of such exotic and sweet machines.

1934 Indian Sport Scout that Dave restored 20 years ago. She fired right up!

The reason I visited: Suzuki Katana. I knew the guy who was originally selling it in the area-he was asking too much for a bike that needed too much work. Dave picked it up and began restoring it, starting with a proper paint job. He tracked down the original exhaust to replace the rusty V&H headers, reupholstered the seat, fixed the carburetion issues, and sorted the electricals. He had the bike dyno'd and she now runs proper.

Rokon automatic. Check out the webbed wheels.

a view of his two-stroke outboard race motors

Johnson PR, alcohol

Piston Port Yamato with neat, adjustable exhaust towers

Mikuni flat slides

XF51. These are such outlandish engines to me. I got lost Googling their histories. A couple hours later, I found myself watching videos of antique boat races in Ecuadorian swamps. cool.

Dave lives a good life. He's quite knowledgeable about the machines he's owned over the years. It's people like him that make hanging around the shop such an experience. You learn more in ten minutes shooting the shit at your local motorcycle shop than you would an hour on an online forum.