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COPYRIGHT 2003 Ehlert Publishing Group
My friend, Tony Capriotti, has nine and a half fingers and an insatiable need to know how things work. A machinist and the son of a machinist, he sacrificed half a digit to chain and sprocket research as a junior scientist.
When I first met Tony he rode a Honda FT500 Ascot thumper--a dog's-breath motorcycle if ever there was one...except that Tony's was one of the best sorted motorcycles I'd ever seen. He'd done nothing to the engine, which still put out a pathetic 25 horsepower or so. In fact, the Ascot had received no performance-enhancing modifications beyond the addition of a premium aftermarket shock. I remember that it had a slightly customized Corbin seat and a set of adjustable handlebars from a Honda Nighthawk which he'd further customized to get the perfect bend and reach. Tony's a rather small fellow--5 feet, 5 inches--and I remember thinking that I'd never seen a street bike with such attention to personal fit.
One day I loaned Tony my Honda TransAlp, and the next thing I knew, he'd purchased an identical white, blue and red '89 model, Within days he'd fitted it with Givi luggage (customized for a slimmer profile), lowered it slightly and added a few other creative touches which made...
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