text: In the Spring of 1983, I was a 75-lb 6th grader with a love for motorcycles. I didn't have one, but my dad
  and older brother did and I wanted a dirt bike in the worst way. At that time my motorcycling experience
  business. It was far from a serious dirt bike and much bigger and heavier than anything I should have
  been riding at that point in my life, but I didn't care. All I had to was pay for half the cost of the bike, which
  Suzuki's TS line in 1981 was the last of the full-size 2-stroke dual sport motorcycles sold in the U.S.
  market. With a 100cc engine, the TS100 was the smallest in the lineup, which also included a 125, 185
  ridden. These were popular bikes where I grew up, probably because of their moderate cost, relatively
  light weight and decent 2-stroke power. The engine was oil-injected, which was great when filling up with
  gas but not so good if you forgot to keep the 2-cycle oil reservoir full (the oil site gauge is visible next to
  "TS100" on the side panel). Like many of Suzuki's dual sport bikes in the 1980's, the seat was mounted
  These bikes did not like to get wet - the front wheel would kick up water and throw it directly onto the
  spark plug. I'd sometimes ride my TS in the barn lot in the wintertime and do endless power slides in the
  snow, but the only way to keep the bike running was to wrap a towel around the top of the engine. My
  always thought it was cool that our license plates were only one digit apart) and even my cousin Dan had
  one for awhile. Dan's TS was later owned by my childhood friend Mark Langellier, who suffered the same
  occasionally rides at least one of them to look at crops and scout for tile holes. The engines were durable
  - I'm not sure if the transmission oil has ever been changed in either one of them, and the most extensive
  What a great little bike for a high school kid. This was the first motorcycle I bought with entirely my own
  money, and the first several years of its life were spent riding the back roads of Illinois and Indiana. I
  point. It saw a fair amount of dirt, too, up and down the ditches beside the Kankakee, Beaverville &
  Southern (KBS) shortline railroad. Actually, any railroad sufficed for exploration. I was a big fan of railroad
  Donovan, Illinois. The suspension was not entirely suitable for jumping, which I discovered while launching
  it endlessly over an old, abandoned field crossing that at one time linked two land parcels on the home
  In high school, I so loathed taking the bus to school that I'd ride the SP into town (9 miles) on any day the
  morning temperature was above 40 degrees. If I was lucky, I'd find a semi-truck to draft behind. The
  engine was just large enough to cruise comfortably at 55 mph, but with no wind protection whatsoever,
  Apparently this was a relatively warm morning (Fall 1988), preparing to ride to school. I hadn't yet
  The band geek that I was, some days I would strap a saxophone case to the seat. If you're wondering why
  Suzuki built these bikes with a European flavor (exhaust on the left; drive chain on the right), note the
  pictures were taken in the old days, when we waited patiently for photos to be developed, only to discover
  The top photo was taken in 1997 during a trip to Montana, where my faithful SP200 saw the last of its
  best riding days. The bike was perfect for the wide open spaces of Eastern Montana, as its range on a
  single tank of gas was over 200 miles. Later in that same trip I took the SP to the Black Hills region of
  South Dakota, where its lean street jetting and stifled airbox were no match for the thin air at 6,000 feet
  above sea level. The small blue tool bag on the rear fender was the perfect size to store the airbox and
  the mild-toned exhaust note suddenly became a roar heard all throughout the mountains (those 4-strokes
  The next Spring I sold the SP to Dennis Richard, one of my farm customers where I was employed, during
  the end of my time in Kankakee, Illinois. I had plans to return to the Black Hills and do some dual sporting
  in Wyoming the following summer and knew the SP wouldn't cut it. Plus, the bike had traveled more than
  Throughout most of high school and college, I had my mind set on eventually trying my hand at racing
  hare scrambles and enduros. To do this, two things had to happen: 1) I needed to be living on my own,
  away from my disapproving mother; 2) I needed a race-worthy motorcycle. In the early 1990's Suzuki had
  modifications, mostly to the exhaust and airbox, could turn them in to very capable racers. My Suzuki
  The RMX was a great bike on which to learn the art of woods riding. As a rider's abilities grew, so could
  restricting airbox cover and snorkel, which channeled a very small path for air to enter the carburetor.
  Next came an aftermarket pipe and silencer to shed some weight and uncork the exhaust flow. From there
  it was a few minor jetting changes and, like magic, the RMX could be competitive in any woods racing
  environment. All it took was a decent rider, which I was not. I was also not a good mechanic, so the bike
  served as a learning tool for basic repairs and maintenance of a dirt bike. As shown in the photo above, I
  My first hare scramble was on this bike in 1994, as was my first trip to Michigan and my first attempt at an
  Turkey Creek Enduro with no damping whatsoever. Naturally, I had no idea. My focus was on keeping the
  wheels connected with the trail - what went on with the motorcycle underneath me was very secondary at
  conventional forks. The rest of the chassis was mostly unchanged, but the engine was given a few minor
  updates that resulted in a bit more power out of the crate. Even so, it was still under-powered and needed
  the same exhaust, airbox and jetting modifications. The suspension was a huge improvement, front and
  rear, with the forks super plush and the rear end stiffened somewhat. One thing I always enjoyed about
  the RMX's was grease zerks on the shock linkage and a buttery-smooth clutch. To this day, I've never
  owned a bike with a cable-operated clutch that had a lighter pull than either of those two bikes. The
  The '96 RMX was another good "learner" bike, especially when I seized up the engine at a mud race in
  Canton, Illinois early in 1996. The local Suzuki dealer sent the engine to be re-sleeved with an iron bore,
  which I later discovered is not the preferred method for fixing an electro-plated cylinder. Even after
  sending the engine away a second time to install an aluminum bore and new electro-plating, I never could
  I picked up this bike in 1998 after selling the SP200. What a large, heavy motorcycle. The dual sport
  version of the KLX was apparently supposed to be a more dirt-worthy version of Kawasaki's KRL650, as it
  was loosely based on the dirt-only KLX650R. With a 650cc single cylinder engine, it made decent power
  for street and dirt road use. Despite its long-travel suspension, you didn't want to let the wheels leave the
  ground. Fully loaded, this was a 375-lb motorcycle with very soft springs - especially the rear. And despite
  its appearance, the shock was not adjustable. Kawasaki engineers devised a creative use for the empty
  space left where the nitrogen reservoir was located on the dirt-only KLX650R: a fake plastic nitrogen
  beat in the altitude and the smooth ride was good for dirt and gravel roads. I probably would have kept
  this bike longer, but city living was less than suitable for a dual sport motorcycle. Bikes like this deserve to
  In 1998, I'd moved to St. Louis and was experiencing the offroad scene in Missouri. With that, I stepped
  into the serious world of racing with the KTM 300EXC. And within 6 months of owning it, I'd broken about
  everything on it except the engine, transmission and suspension. You name it, I broke it. Notice the
  difference between the above photo, on the day I brought it home, and the picture below when I sold it:
  Let see, where do I begin...bent both brake rotors, cracked the rear hub (note the shiny gold Talon hub),
  bent both triple clamps, bent handlebars, smashed pipe, and that horrible lower shock bearing.... Once all
  those parts were replaced with aftermarket equivalents (except the lower shock bearing), I had very few
  additional breakages. The engine never let me down, the power delivery was exceptional and the massive
  50mm WP forks were the plushest on earth. The linkage-less shock wasn't quite as good as the Suzuki's
  The 2003 KX250 was a host of "firsts" for me: first pure-motocross bike, first bike ever received in a crate,
  first conversion of a motocross bike into a woods bike. The latter "first" was the most challenging, but
  absolutely necessary, for a motocross bike in the woods is not my version of nirvana. By this time in my
  done, but it was still a bit of an adventure and plenty of work. The aftermarket is full of everything needed
  to make a motocross bike work well in the woods, but it seemed that every modification required some
  massaging to fit and/or work correctly. Once it was all done, the KX worked pretty well in the woods.
  extra flywheel weight, a motocross bike still has a different powerband. I had to learn to ride more
  aggressively, keep the rear wheel spinning and charge into the trails. After W.E.R. Racing reworked the
  suspension, it was as good as anything I've owned. After 2 years of hard riding, I sold the '03 KX250 and
  Here's the motorcycle responsible for my passion: my dad's mid-1950's Cushman scooter. This photo was
  taken in the early 1980's. At the time, it still ran, albeit without its original engine. The passenger seat was
  Myers in Denver, with help from eBay. I was living in St. Louis at the time and made the long drive across
  I-70 to pick up the bike in July 2002. Thanks in part to smaller forks, the 300MXC lost some weight in
  transmission gearing, which I came to prefer for woods riding. Top speed was a bit lower and I often had
  difficulty in keeping up with bikes having wide-ratio transmissions, but overall the bike was a pretty good
  The Gas Gas came to me in the form of a too-good-to-pass-up offer from an old Missouri riding buddy,
  who gave me a chance to own a bike I planned to use exclusively for enduros. At the time, I still had my
  Plus, the 'Gassers were always intriguing to me, with their high quality parts and smooth power bands.
  This remains the only racing dirt bike I've ever been able to obtain a street license plate for. Having that
  plate made it a little easier to pass enduro inspections. Oddly enough, the front forks were the same WP
  forks so harshly, I'll never understand. I sold this bike after my 2009 KTM 250XC proved to be the ultimate
  all-around machine. I no longer felt the need to have specific bikes for hare scrambles and enduros.
  could thus be bought fairly reasonably. I picked up this '04 version of the KX250 by way of eBay, from a
  dealer in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The bike was a new, leftover on the showroom floor in 2005. The conversion
  from MX to off-road was a lot easier this time, since the '03 and '04 models shared mostly the same parts.
  Other than a different rear wheel, different cable routing to the front brake caliper, and some minor
  This bike saw probably the largest diversity in racing geography and terrain, with trips to New York,
  John Cassidy International, Inc. (JCI) began in 1977 as the idea of John Cassidy Sr. For the last thirty three years JCI has served the South Florida community as a family owned and operated freight forwarding company. The original concept for the company was to service the import and export trade as a safe and secure facility to handle and aid in the import and export of cargo.
  JCI now in it’s second generation is still providing excellent service that only a family oriented business can provide.
  JCI is centrally located in Miami, Florida within thirty minutes of the Port of Miami, Miami International Airport and Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
  Lebanon man sentenced to prison for threatening grandmother and niece, 6 - Lebanon Daily News — Lebanon man sentenced to prison for threatening grandmother and niece, 6 Lebanon Daily News Bartolo Dennis, 50, of 1026 Guilford St., Lebanon, was sentenced to one year of intermediate punishment, with the first 60 days on house arrest, for accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property. • Daniel Fogleman , 55, of 1536 Old Forge ...