Bob Kinney

Bob Kinney: South Bend IN, Mem# 232

I've been into motorcycles since I was about 14. My dad got the bug and it overcame any objections that my mother may have had at the time. My first bike was an old Honda 150 Dream. Growing up on a farm in Indiana, I did a lot of my learning in the fields. After 2 years and about 10,000 miles, my folks consented to let me buy a '72 CB-350. I rode that until a front end wobble put us both in the hospital about 12 years later. That kept me out of biking for the next 10 years. The bike may have been gone, but every spring, the
blood quickened with the sound of motorcycles in the air. Finally, I had to get back into the game and set up a goal with my brother-in-law that we would both ride from my home in South Bend, Indiana to California via Route 66 by the year 2000. Since neither of us had bikes at the time, that was the first step. I found a red '76 wing about 6 months later for about $700. It ran well enough to get home and after putting another $2100 into her, she runs pretty good. My current project is to replace the water pump on the old girl and get it ready to ride to WingDing in '99.