The bad thing was filing for a title. Come to find out, a kid that had died owed the bike and his father sold it to the renter. The bike was dumped on the right side and was inoperable. This guy started fixing it up and got it running (took about 8 years of tinkering). When this guy went to title the bike he had the old title and all the paper work except he didn’t get a death certificate. He tried to find the father, but he was recently deceased too. By the time he was going to move (1 year later) still no title. After I got the bike in July 2001 and a lot more work than I though. I got it running, titled and out on the open road.

My first one was bought in Franklin, Tennessee in December 1986 with 2500 or so miles (first owner was intimidated by the size, traded it pretty quickly). Sold it to finance my second year of art school in May of 1989 by my brother Jim (at my request of course) with 32,000 + on the clock. It still looked and rode GREAT and if the cop in Largo, Florida who bought it reads this, give me an e-mail... I'd love to know what happened to her.

It is the exclusive charcoal grey colour (see, I'm a quick study, I spelled color in Canadian!) and has a kilo's only speedometer. It's in mint condition, never even grazed a moose, and has 15,000 kilometers at delivery. I plan to drive it only 1000 miles or so a year, I want to make this one last!

Anyway, great site to visit, enjoy the Maduras, long may they reign supreme.

A memorable experience I had was in Newfoundland. I was travelling the Viking Trail in 1998 heading back south to the town of Cow Head from Saint Anthony up on the northern tip of Newfoundland. Cow Head is where my dad now lives (He's retired there from Ontario), it's very near to Gros Morne National Park. Anyway, everybody knows not to drive past dusk on the roads in Newfoundland because of the moose that hang out by the side of, and on the road. It's pretty deserted out there. To make a long story short, I was about an hour from Cow Head and it was starting to get dark. My girlfriend was fast asleep on the back of my bike; she was tired from the day and could sleep through anything. All I could think of was thank goodness for the high back rest on the Madura! Just to let you know I did keep trying to wake her but she'd just fall asleep again, talk about a smooth ride...Well I'm still driving and sure enough don't the moose start to come out; I counted 19 of them in a 40 km stretch on that road. By the time I got near Cow Head my nerves were pretty rattled, dodging moose and keeping my girlfriend on the back of the bike. I pulled over and got as close to one of those huge moose as was safely possible and nudged my girlfriend to wake her up. She screamed, the moose took off and I could ride in peace now because she wasn't sleeping anymore. We made it safe and pretty much sound back to Cow Head with a story to share.

Hello, recently decided to restore my ole girl as opposed to buying a new rocket. Curious, I stumbled onto this site. This is great!

My Maddy has been setting up for over three years now and this spring she gets her re-birth. She has all of 68xx miles on her.

I look forward to getting to know other owners of the Madura and learning what there is to know. (Heck, I've never seen another Madura in real life)!

2001 is gonna be a good year!

The plan is to build the carbs, change all of the fluids and do a general tune up. The only area of concern is the condition on the spokes. They are intact but all of the chrome is gone. How do I recondition them? The wheels are brushed aluminum and should clean up to a shine with wire brushes, steel wool and elbow grease.... editor

The major down fall is the small gas tank, which only holds 3.2 gallons including reserve [that's the California model. The 'normal' models hold 3.4 gallons - editor]. It makes gas station stops a must every 150 miles. I can tell you that the attention to detail on this bike is what surprised me the most. Gear selection display among the gauges for temperature, rpm, speed and other idiot lights, such as side stand down and etc. Every time I ride it, I can understand what's to own a Cadillac with the northstar V8 system. A motorcycle packed with luxury, comfort, and lots of grip-twisting instigation.

Red line does not start until it reaches eleven thousand, five hundred rpm. A surprising, delightful ride, especially if you are not used to V engines.

The rides we've taken throughout the Alberta Foothills have been stupendous, I have been able to enjoy some of the most beautiful sights and smells offered anywhere, and even with my meagre 700 cc's, I've managed to outpace just about anyone that I've ridden with. Anybody out there have any problems with it running rough at about 3500-4000 RPM, I know of three maduras in this are, 1-1200 & 2-700's, and they all seem to have the same problem.

P.S. Now that the clutch is fixed, I was able to to find out how she goes. I'm 225lbs. and this big heavy bike, stayed right with a friend of mine on his 94' VFR750 from a 50mph roll..Quite impressive, don't you think?

Also wanted to let you know that I just purchased a factory service manual for my 85' Madura and anyone who has a question or problem with they're bike can feel free to E- mail me with any questions. Also, in response to Bill Rollo's inquiry about rough running at 3 to 4,000rpm, mine also does that under very light throttle esp. in the lower gears when there is little load on the engine. I will be researching this with my bike and will be reporting any findings in regard to this quirk. I seem to think that it might have to do with the pilot circuit in the carbs since they are preset at the factory and sealed. They are probably set lean for emissions reasons. I'll let you know my findings. One other thing, does anyone even MAKE a 110/80-19 59H tire anymore?