Recently there was an episode in LAW & ORDER in which doctor was killed while riding the classic Honda CB750. Since the show is not on my regular list of must watchs, (like FAMILY GUY) I saw it only briefly but even from that, I noted many inaccuracies.
First, the female investigator, who's supposed to be an expert in classic bikes, declared that the CB750 is a 1970 model, but even from a quick glance, you can tell that it's either a 1975 or 1976 CB750K5 or K6 model, with K7 or K8 type front fender and forks, same model 17" rear tire, non standard headlight ears, GL1000 type master cylinder, GB500 style rear seat and aftermarket flat black 4 into 1 exhaust system and case guards, not to mention that the two main instruments seemed to be further apart than stock. It's definately a hybrid, probably built-up using cheaper non-stock parts like many of us do. Interestingly the 1975 or 1976 K5 or K6 type gas tank (you can tell by the location of the fuel tap, which is on the left side rather than right on earlier model,. unfortunately it is difficult to tell if it had black or green instrument panels from a glance of partial scene you can catch) did have a 1969 or 1970 type bottom tank chrome strip but it looked too new to be NOS so I suspect it was just a chrome door strip you can buy at J.C. Whitney or Pep Boys.
The investigators indicated that the engine locked (it also had no chain guard so you can see the accident more graphicly) due to someone putting a battery acid in an oil tank (?) and the rider was thrown over (also had no rear view mirrors to block the rider) and died by being stabbed on a spiked metal fence. But if the engine locked, the rider shouldn't have flown over the bike since the front wheel is still free and I don't buy that battery acid in the oil tank explanation, especially since she said that it's easy to unplug the cap and get the acid when you can only get into that from top with the seat open and the seat automaticly locks when it's down, though the real 1969-1971 models have seats without a lock. I guess the script was written for 1970 model (which should've been the candy gold model since red and blue color can be mistaked for 1969 model) if it can be quickly identified by sight alone but they probably couldn't find one that could be sacrificed for a crash scene. Oh well.
