The Copperopolis Sportster

     I have been searching for a bike for this years Stampede.  I've been haunting Craig's Lists all over the west, and I finally found the bike I was looking for in Copperopolis, California.  Kieth had an '02 Sportster 1200 with very low mileage at a good price.  I called and arranged to meet Kieth and see the bike.  

     Kieth built the sculpture above that sits on the highway near his home.  He says bikers often stop for photos, I'm no different, I had to snap a few shots too.    

   
     Here's Kieth with the bike the first time I saw it.  I really like the red.  I think red is the new black.

     I really like the name Copperopolis.  Copperopolis is located smack in the middle of the California Gold Country.  For those who don't know much of California history, gold was discovered in 1848 and by 1849 people were streaming into California in search of gold. They were called 49ers.  The San Francisco football team, the 49'ers, is named after those gold seekers.  
     
     In 1860 they found copper, not gold, and they named the place Copperopolis. The copper miners are not called 61'ers and have no football team named after them.  They did remove 72,598,883 pounds of copper before the mines closed.  Some say 72,598,882 pounds, but I'm going with the U.S. Bureau of Mines statistics on this.  

     So that just about covers the entire history of California between 1848 and the present.  

     I made a deal and bought the bike.  The tires were pretty badly checked so I had to trailer the bike home.  The first order of business, get new tires.