Californing Dreamin Harleys

I sold the Triumph when I joined the Air Force in 1972. Too my good fortune I got stationed at George AFB, California, near Victorville in the Mohave Desert. I was 37 miles from San Bernadino and just another short hop to LA. I loved it there....the desert, the mountains, the bikes, it was all good. Shortly after arriving in my new 1972 Pinto Runabout, I went to the Harley Davidson dealer in San Bernadino. I had seen the 1973 FX 1200 and fell in love with it. The pic in a mag of the black one setting on an empty street at night was just too much for me to pass up, I had to have one.
I showed up at the dealer, and there it sat, black and chrome with that huge motor sitting under the ribbed seat. I Pintoed back to the High Desert Credit Union, got approved and the early the next day at the San Berdoo Harley dealer. I forked out my $2600.00 and rode off into the San Berdoo smog and it never smelled better, I was one happy young man. I did all the things a young man might do, I speed shifted, burned rubber, stood up on the seat going down the interstate, rode backwards, you name it I did it (and I paid for it). I learned after 1500 miles that you don't treat a Harley like a Triumph or a Honda without problems. I destroyed the transmission and got it replaced on warranty (they then gave me a crash course on what not to do with a Harley transmission).
I was riding to LA one day and saw this red light bouncing around in my rear view mirror. I looked over my shoulder and it was the California Highway Patrol. He asked me if I knew how fast I as going and not being much of a lier, I told him around 90 mph, he informed me I was doing 105 mph when I passed a car a ways back. To my luck though, he said he really just wanted to look at my new bike :). I was one of the first in the valley to buy one of the new ones with the peanut tank. I did'nt get a ticket, and he even helped me push it to get it started. It had vapor locked after my quick stop and I was still learning the ropes on kick starting a hog.
I loved that bike, went many miles on it up and down the Ca. coast and over Southern Ca.