Hello fellow SOHC'ers. I'd like to introduce myself to the forum. I'm Tom, live in Worcester, MA, and own a beautiful '74 SOHC. I've owned it for several years now have been riding it regularly, along with my other nice old Hondas. I bought this from the "widow" (never married, but they were together for many years) of the previous owner, who took meticulous care of it. I wish he were alive to tell me what he did to the bike, because based on the condition of the tank, seat, and side covers, I think he spend some serious money on NOS parts. Diana, his girlfriend told me that it was in rough shape when he got it.
It all came about through a "Project Bike Wanted" ad that I posted on CL. Diana answered the ad with a picture of the bike and said that it wasn't really a project, but to come see it if I'd like. Of course as soon as I saw it, I wanted it. Over the course of a week or two of negotiations, we settled on a very reasonable price and home it came. It needed the usual stuff, such as carb cleaning, new battery, rear tire, front brake line flushing, etc. It runs great and is very enjoyable to ride.
I know some of you may not like the non-original sissy bar/backrest, but it comes in very handy for toting my backpack to work and on the rare occasions when my girlfriend rides it with me, she feels a lot safer with that backrest behind her.
You may notice the dual front calipers - it was set up that way when I got the bike and the brakes are AWESOME. A couple years ago I powder coated and rebuilt the entire front brake system, replaced the lines, and switched to DOT5 fluid. I couldn't be happier with how well they work - they rival the excellent brakes in my'83 CB1100F.
This year I may pull the forks off and rebuild them. I imagine that the seals are quite old and the fluid is undoubtedly beyond it's service life.
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I hope to be a regular participant here.
Tom
