Welcome to my blog. Is that a simple enough start to putting words to paper, I mean to the ether…

Well here goes…


No!
Did you hear that???

No, I’m not a doctor, so don’t be asking me to for information on your latest malady. No,
I’m not a mechanic either, so any advice I give… look out. So why, do you ask, is my screen
name dr_bar? Well there is a small story to go with the moniker that I have used on and off over the
last 10 years or so, and I guess I’ll have to cough it up eventually, so now is as good a time as any…

Way back in 1986 I had the opportunity to change employers. At the time I was working in the lumber
industry at a local non-union cedar reman mill. Grading lumber isn’t really a hard job but it can be stressful
when the pace picks up. I had decided to look for something that paid a bit more than the paltry wages I
was getting at the mill. I heard from a friend that Canada Post was hiring. I figured that if I could get on
there, it would do until something better came along, (I’m still waiting for something better. )

To make a long story short, I applied, did the public service tests and got hired as a part-time casual MSC,
that means I drive trucks. To make my wages a bit better, I decided to transfer to the letter carrier section.
In doing so, I was able to advance to a fulltime permanent employee, so life goes on.

I was working in the Kitsalano area of Vancouver, and because of the huge mail volume, I was putting
in a fair bit of overtime helping other people complete their duties. Well at Canada Post (CPC) we got paid
our overtime on a monthly basis on the 15th of the month following the acrued overtime. One day I got
my overtime cheque and it was short about 15 hours of OT, I was, needless to say, more than a
little bit peed off. I complained to my supervisor and put in a payroll inquirery hoping that it would
be an easy fix.

Well as it turned out, I was sent out of my office that day to work in Richmond, (for those of you
not from this area, Richmond is another city that borders on Vancouver to the south, and is situated on a
nice and fertile river delta.) When I was in the office reporting to the supervisor to find out what I was
doing that day, a fellow lettercarrier came into the office questioning his OT cheque. It appeared that he
was being paid for 15 hours of OT he never worked. As a matter of fact, this guy never worked OT
as he didn’t like doing it. I jokingly said it must be the 15 hours that I didn’t get… Well, it really was my
15 hours. You see his name was Don, mine is Doug, and we share the same last name, Barton. Well our
payroll people apparently screwed up and saw the OT for D Barton and gave it to the wrong, D Barton. So
to alleviate this issue, I decided that from then on, I would get my payroll name changed to include my
middle initial, R.

Well, when I got my first paycheque with both of my initials on it, it read as follows;

DR Barton

with no space between the two initials. Strange but true. Well, with an extensive background in Health
and Safety and Industrial First Aid, my co-workers quickly started calling me “Doc”, (thank God the name
never stuck.) When the time came to pick an email address when I first got online, dr_bar was a natural.
And I’ve used it ever since, along with several others

So there it is, okay, I know that this one wasn’t about motorcycles in any way, but I thought that I’d start
with my identity, and we all need one of those…

So next, I’ll talk about how and when I got hooked on biking…

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

Wild Willie (WW), what can I say… he was a man that just happened to live next door to me when I was a child of tender (1-17) years. He was also my Godfather. Now WW had a long history with motorcycles, starting in the 30’s and included everything from just riding, to stunts, and racing Indians on and at Daytona beach in the 50’s. He crashed his bike through burning walls of flame at local fairs in BC and the Pacific Northwest, WW also trained motorcycle dispatch riders for WWII in the rough unlogged suburban areas of Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops.

His best friend and racing buddy was none other than the local icon, Trev Deeley, whose family eventually became the exclusive distributors for Harley Davidson in Canada. Trev and Willie were the best of friends, they raced together, Willie’s son was even named after Trev. The two of them along with Trev's father, Fred Deeley, were founding members of the Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club. Willie was the club president through a part of the 40’s.

WW at one time lived on Vancouver’s North Shore, in Deep Cove, when he moved to the house that was next to my parents, (actually before we lived there,) he did almost the whole move via motorcycle. His wife, Marie, rode a side-valve K model Harley, (this bike eventually evolved into the Sportster) and he rode a Hydra-Glide. Now Marie couldn't flat foot her bike, nor could she even hold the bike straight and put a foot down, she was a whopping 4’11” tall. With boxes and small bits of furniture tied to the bikes, Willie had to hold two bikes up at every stop to prevent goods from falling off or Marie from dropping her bike. They moved everything, except the larger pieces of furniture… quite the feat.

I came along in 1955 and my parents moved into the house next to Willie’s in the spring of ’56. It would be two and a bit more years before my brother Terry was born and we were both Christened later that summer, Willie becoming my Godfather.

A few more years rolled by and now it’s the summer 1960. Willie’s best friend Trev calls him up and tells him the new Harley’s are in, would he like a loaner for the summer… Well how could he say no? Me, I’m the lucky little guy that lives next door to his Godfather and gets asked if he wants to go along for the ride to pick up the bike. When we got to Deeley’s shop, Marie took the car and went home, leaving me to climb up in front of my Godfather and wrap my little arms around the tank for an exhilarating ride back home, (that was the days before helmets were law.) Well I’m telling you, I was hooked, for the next three to four years, it was the same trip every summer, down to 606 East Broadway, pick up the new ride and go for a short jaunt before heading back home. How could a kid be so lucky???

It wasn’t for several more years, in 1971 to be exact, that I got my motorcycle license, and another year later (’72) that I got my first bike, a used, 1971 Kawasaki H1, (a 500cc Mach III) Thank God I only owned it for two years, before selling it to my friend, that was one killer of a bike. The Mach III was a two-stroke, w/electronic ignition, a rocket on two wheels. It was the worst handling bike I’ve ever ridden, mushy brakes, cornered like a semi, and just an over-all strange ride. Several years after I sold it, I got a 1976 Honda 550 SuperSport, Ive ridden many different bikes over the years, but it was that first ride with my Godfather, Wild Willie, that set the hook, and kept me coming back several times before buying my current ride two years ago.

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

I had been looking for a bike for several years, waiting on one I could afford as well as meet my needs. Trying to save for a bike while paying child support isn't the easiest thing, but in the summer of 2003, I finally managed to get enough together to buy a re-entry sized bike. It had been 25 to 30 years since I last owned or rode a street bike and getting on two wheels again was like a dream come true.

The bike I bought, (still my current one) was a 1995 XV1100 Virago. Now this isn't the nicest ride on the street but for the time being, it's mine and I love it. Between the begining of August and the end of October, I had put well over 6000 kms on it and was regretting putting it away for the winter. The only reason that I parked it is because I couldn't afford insurance on both the bike and cage, and I really needed the cage for driving to work on the graveyard shift. I kinda like my cage as well, it's an '89 240SX it's still in decend shape and it gets me from point A to point B so that's what matters.

March rolls around and the weather here on the south coast of BC is finally looking like spring. I won't go into all the details right now, but 2004 saw a quick 15000+ kms roll over on the Virago's odometer. I rode alot and enjoyed a trip to see my daughters in Calgary, I also did several trips to the Okanagan, as well as doing the Duffy Lake loop. Spring and summer came and went, and the fall was okay right up until late November, when I tucked the bike away for another few months.

2005 was also a fun year of riding, I have been lucky to have a riding partner that enjoys the laid back riding style I'm used to. She was also a new rider so that probably accounts for her putting up with me. I would recount a ton of our short and medium lengthed rides, but it's already been done in her blog...

That riding season also saw over 10,000 kms and for a person working fulltime, that's still pretty good. Well, it's now 2006 and another riding season has started. I've already put over 500 kms on the bike, and hopefully, I will put a whole lot more on before the end of the year. This season will probably be the last one for the Virago, I'm planning on selling it and moving up to a fully loaded tourer. Well that might be putting the cart before the horse so I will stick to stories of this season's rides and see what happens in January when it gets here...


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“Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle.”

“You start the game with a full pot o’ luck and an empty pot o’ experience...
The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck.”

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

What constitutes a ride? Is it a long trip to a distant destination, or is it as simple as that short trip to the corner store. I’ve always needed little or no excuse to jump on the bike and go. It’s one of the reasons I got a kick out of watching my good friend Blues2cruise develop as a rider. If you read her blog, it’s a very accurate account of a lot of our “learning” trips around this great part of the world in which we live. I watched her develop from the pillion rider with the biker from hell LOL; to the safe and conscientious rider she is today. I take no credit for her skills she learnt those from an incredible instructor, I just had the pleasure of watching them develop over the last year and a bit. As far as actual road smarts, Blues had those down pat before ever getting on a bike. I think maybe her several years as a professional driver helped in that area . It was her riding skills that she was able to concentrate on instead of getting hung up on the road signs, regulations, laws etc… and those skills developed quite fast. I would have to say that I’m thoroughly impressed with how far she’s come in so short a time. I know people that think 2-6 months and they’re a pro, but most of us know it’s an on going process that may never end. I don’t know if she’s aware of it, but I used those trips to get my riding skills back. With a 20 – 30 year absence from riding, I needed a bit of time to get back into “shape” so to speak. (If you’ve seen any pictures of me, “shape” I have plenty of.)

Blues also needs no excuse to jump on the bike and ride. It’s raining out and who do you see pulling into the coffee shop for a warm up??? You guessed it, Blues’. Mom only lives a short ride, (1.5 hours) and a ferry trip away; off she goes with her trusty blue crate and a smile on her face. It’s that telling smile that lets you know she’s found something that she loves. I look forward to many more trips with Blues, around the neighbourhood, or off on a 600+ kilometre road trip for a couple of pounds of fruit. A new riding season awaits…





“Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...”
– Hunter Thompson

“Keep thy eye on the tach, thine ears on the engine, least thy whirlybits seek communion with the sun”
– John 4:50

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

Does she know yer talkin' 'bout her here? Yer gonna embarrass her......

As for me, I'm in awe of her willingness to ride in the rain. I'm a total wimp on the bike when it comes to rain!!

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2005 Triumph Bonneville
2005 Suzuki V-Strom 1000
2003 Triumph Trophy 1200
2009 BMW F650GS (wife's)
1990 HD Sportster XL883 (for sale; wanna buy a Sportster??)

Dear dr_bar....You are long overdue for an entry into your blog. I believe you have something to tell/show the fine folks here at TMW, don't you?

We rode, we scrubbed, we detoured, blah,blah, blah.......

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1st motorcycle 2004 Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic.

Okay, so I’ve been told I need to make an entry into the ol’ blog, so here goes…

Over the past couple of months, my bike has been going through a major battle with an on going case of idenditiy crisis. You see, the previous owner thought that the slogan, “Live To Ride – Ride To Live” was quite cool. Cool enough to put on after market chrome that carried that sentiment, three times on each side of the bike. So my trusty Virago started to believe it was one of those classic old Harley’s and started to mark it’s territory…

I guess I’ll have to admit eventually that my bike developed a leak in the rear bottom gasket, I figure 134,000 kms can do that to a bike. Now I’d love to be able to wrench the bike myself, but I live in an apartment and I don’t have the space or tools to get it done. So off I go to the dealer, and I’m informed that I’m looking at a 10 hour re and re. Add to that the fact that it was likely that I needed new cam chains, again, 134,000 kms can do that. So here I’m looking at about $2000 worth of parts and labour to keep my bike road worthy, not a good feeling…

Then comes the crazy idea that I shouldn’t be throwing good money out the window, and instead, grab my 4 grand of savings and get a small loan to make up about $10,000 for a new, or near new bike. As it happens, I got approved and went looking for a bike Sept 11/06, I didn’t see much I was interested in so I went home then back out looking the next day after work. I ended up at “Pacific Yamaha BMW” in Richmond.

As I drive down the street past the dealership, I notice a beautiful Honda sitting out amongst the used bikes; I thought that I would love to take that beast home, and strangely enough, that’s exactly what I did. I put an offer in on it subject to my personal financing and that the bike got new rubber on the back and fork seals replaced. That was Tuesday, Thursday I picked up my “new to me” 1500cc ‘97 Honda Valkyrie.



So I’ve had it a week now and let me tell you, it’s one heck of a beast on the road. Power to spare heavy, yet nimble enough to hold some pretty tight corners. I’m still in learning mode with this one.

I don’t know if I look pleased with my purchase…





Sitting next to Blues' cruiser...

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

Very nice bike Dr Bar, I really like the yellow and black combo. You mentioned it was heavy, just out of curiosity how much does it weigh?

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2006 VTX 1300 R


Life looks alot better through a set of handlebars!!

Engine: Liquid-cooled, horizontally opposed six-cylinder
Bore x Stroke: 71mm x 64mm
Displacement: 1520cc
Carburetion: Six 28mm CV
Transmission: 5-speed, shaft final drive
Wheelbase: 66.5 in.
Seat height: 29.1 in.
Fuel capacity: 5.3 gallons
Claimed dry weight: 682 lbs.

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"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul!"

Ok, not too bad, I only asked because it's the same engine they use in the Gold Wing and I was wondering the diffrence in weight.

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2006 VTX 1300 R


Life looks alot better through a set of handlebars!!