16 Reasons to Stay Home.

It's a good thing I don't live in England; for numerous reasons. One, I don't like rain. Garbage may only be happy when it rains but I'm not. Secondly, cost-of-living is astronomical. The third reason is a limited access to hockey. I must have hockey.

The fourth and best reason is companies like Venture Classics and Made in Italy Motorcycles. Venture Classics sells only classic motorcycles and Made In Italy Motorcycles sells only Italian motorcycles. Talk about heaven on Earth! If I lived close to these places I would be totally broke, no lie.

Here is Venture Classics' website: http://www.ventureclassics.com/. I'd like to point out some of their stock:

'56 BSA A7SS scrambler. This is a serious, race-ready scrambles (motocross to us Yanks) machine with some real race history. Alloy tank, alloy fenders, alloy wheels and high pipes. Gorgeous.

'56 BSA Goldstar. In the 50's, this was THE machine to have. It was as close to a pure-bred race bike as you could get. It has a 500cc single cylinder engine making around 34 horsepower. That was heady stuff back then. This one has been modified extensively and don't think that will bring its value down. This particular machine is around $22,000. Wow.

'71 BSA Rocket 3. The triple cylinder bikes from BSA and Triumph are some of my favorite bikes and this one here is just stunning. Everything is perfect on it. These bikes got to enjoy a scant six month reign as the leading superbike before the Honda CB750 debuted and made them, and everything else from Britain, obsolete overnight.

'59 Matchless G12CSR. Matchless is one of the unsung British brands. It's not for lack of an interesting product. The CSR models were Matchless' way of offering high-performance machines that would compete with the Triumphs and the Nortons of the day. Real CSRs like this one can be quite expensive.

'53 Norton Manx. Before the Goldstar, the bike to have if you were serious about performance was the Norton Manx. This machine combined the stiff Featherbed frame with a 350cc overhead cam engine. It was even named for the most grueling motorcycle race in the world, the Isle of Man TT. Oh yeah, price? $35,867.

'73 Norton Commando Roadster 750. I will confess, Commandos are my favorite motorcycles. Not only are they bigger and faster than their contemporaries, but they also had a primitive rubber mounting system for the drivetrain, which meant next-to-no vibration. This one here is perfect. It's a roadster, which means small tank and lower handlebars, and it's black with gold pinstriping. It just looks the business!

'56 Triumph Thunderbird 650. This was Triumph's first machine that was designed to cater to American tastes, since America was its biggest market. The T-bird was designed as touring bike that could blitz through America's highways. It also happened to be really fast for its time. Marlon Brando rode a T-bird in the movie "The Wild One".

'66 Triumph Bonneville. Here it is, the holy grail of classic Triumphs. In the 60's, Triumphs were everywhere and if you wanted to go fast, you bought a Bonneville. Nothing else at the time combined looks, performance and practicality like the Bonneville. This model here is white with an orange stripe running down the fenders and the tank and I can't help but gush over it.

'66 Velocette Thruxton. Like the Goldstar and the Manx, the Thruxton was a race bike for the street. Velocette took the already potent Venom and worked over its 500cc single to create the Thruxton. It has all of the standard 60's sport bike items: clip-on handlebars, rear set pegs and a big honkin' carb to suck in lots of un-filtered air.

Here is some of the stock on http://www.madeinitalymotorcycles.com/.

Moto Guzzi V7 Sport. This is Guzzi's first true sport bike and showcases everything that is right about Italian design. This machine is long, low, lean and if you stare at the picture long enough, you can almost hear the booming sounds from those two big cylinders.

Ducati 750GT. This was Ducati's first twin cylinder machine and it basically saved the company. This machine formed the basis of the famous 750SS and 900SS machines of the late 70's and it's L-twin engine design has become a Ducati trademark.

Moto Guzzi 850T3 California. This was the most American bike never made by an American company. They were so solid and reliable that the California Highway Patrol used them as police bikes for years, hence the "California" name. Guzzi still makes a California model and it's designed to look exactly like this one. It's just so elegant.

Ducati 900SSD. The SS Darmah models were the final evolution of the 750 twin. They finally added an electric start mechanism and a kck-stand on some models but by the time the Darmah debuted (late 70's), they were obsolete. They were mostly a stop-gap until the Pantah models could be built.

Ducati 500SL Pantah. The Pantah was the first new Ducati twin. They retained the overhead cam design of their predecessors but used a belt to drive the cam instead of a bevel gear. While an improvement, the Pantah models still suffered many of the ills of past Italian bikes such as no kick-stand, high seat height, awkward riding position and a stiff clutch.

Laverda 1200 Mirage. Not quite as famous as the 1,000cc Jota but it's a more comfortable ride. These three cylinder Laverdas are amazing machines. They are fast and well built and definitely the premier multi-cylinder Italian superbike.

'80 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport. I love these bikes and would love to own one someday. They are stripped down, lightweight sport bikes built for cheap speed. They are very simple machines and there is very little to go wrong. It sure beats owning a Ducati desmo single and adjusting the valves every 1,500 miles.

So there ya go, 16 reasons why I should stay right here in the good ol' USA. My wallet sure is thankful.