When I was a little kid, my friends and I all rode minibikes. We thought we were the coolest thing since sliced bread. And every chance we got we would try to hang around the big kids and their big bikes.

One such big kid named Asa had a BS GTR, and he was considered to be the epitome of the teen age life style. All of the teens rode street bikes of small displacements and a variety of brand names, but the BS always stuck in my mind. 

The GTR was considered by the locals as the bike to have. Expensive, flashy, and very fast (compared to the bikes the other kids were riding). I often dreamt of owning one when I grew up, and of being held in the same high esteem as Asa. I imagined girls begging to be the one who rode with me, though I would never say that out loud.  Girls had "cooties" in those days.

Well, the years rolled on and the BS had lost it's charm. The new cool bike to have was the Kawasaki 500 triple. But the BS would forever be locked in my mind. No longer the fastest in the neighborhood, Asa sold his BS to another kid and bought a Kaw. The BS changed hands several times, and then disappeared. So did the company. 

As I grew, I rode Yamaha's, then Honda's, and others. But I never forgot the BS and the way I felt standing next to it.

Fast forward to 1991. I was restoring a `67 Honda 305 Dream. And in my search for parts, I came across an add for a `69 BS GTR for $75.00!  Original owner, low miles, but it had been wrecked in the mid `70's and stored in a dirt floor shed all those years. I had to have it!

I dragged it home (literally) and commenced to restore it from the ground up. Didn't have much choice, really. It was a puss case. My buddies thought I was crazy for wasting my time on such an odd old bike that nobody ever heard of,except me. They assured me that I would never find parts for it, let alone get it running. 

A year (and a pile of money) later came the day to assemble and test this nearly new old classic. It was gorgeous! Perfect in every way. Better than new! I dumped in some pre-mix, filled the oil tank and bled the pump. Fired her up on the second kick. 

I couldn't resist the temptation to take her on the road. No license plate or insurance. But that didn't stop me. And so about two blocks from the house I was pulled over by the local police and given a warning. The officer was snake fascinated by the gleaming GTR. I spent nearly half an hour talking to that cop about the bike before turning around and heading for home.

To this day, I believe that if I had been on an `80 something Suzuki I would have been cited. What do you guys think?

Harry