Barb & Jaelith

by Barbara
(Skagit County, Washington, USA)

Hi,

Jaelith is my 1977 Yamaha XS650D. I've had her since February of 1978, and have logged over 63,000 miles on her, about half of which include lugging a sidecar.

She and I have been all over the western United States and British Columbia, Canada, and she also was my everyday commuter when I was working down in Seattle.

In my younger and more foolish days, she and I once went through a barbed-wire fence at 80 mph, resulting in new handlebars for her and 79 stitches for me, so we don't do that anymore, both of us being older and (hopefully) wiser now.

I do all the work on her myself, and have a spare engine on the bench, just in case.

I've had probably over 50 bikes and have ridden for around 40 years, but this little Yamaha is the bike I will always keep. She's my baby! She is dirty, road-weary after a Summer of riding, and I don't really expect to win a Bike of the Month---but I couldn't pass up the chance to show her off.

Barb