AAAhhh! My Valentine. There is a story behind this sweet bikes name. I wrecked her in the southbound Aurora Battery Street tunnel in Seattle on Valentine's Day when I was 21 years old. Tunnels, oil, rain and motorcycles do not mix. She lit on fire when the bungee cord holding the battery didn't do its job and the battery slid sideways in the frame, arcing and lighting the gas draining out of the carbs. Flames were geysering to the roof of the tunnel within a few minutes. Pretty graphic. Go figure, Battery Street Tunnel...must be bad ley lines there. I know of several people that have wrecked on bikes in that tunnel and of one gal that died. I slid about 30-40 feet on my wallet, saving my right cheek. Miraculously I was unscathed. The police officer didn't think that I would be able to put her back together. I had her back on the road in about six months thanks to Bob Nolan of the Washington State Moto Guzzi Owners Club.
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bard@murkworks.net