Topic: Your "how I got my bike" story

[Don R]

 I've been on here for years talking about finding piles of Honda (or any brand) motorcycle goodness. Would anyone like to share the story of how you got any of your bikes?  If I had filmed my buying trips, I could have been a youtube star.

[HondaMan]

I'll start with an odd one: I got my [current] 750K2 from Honda, for free. It was their apology for how badly they made my K1 that I had bought the previous summer.

I got my first {Candy Gold} 750K1 in July 1971 after standing in line at no less than 3 motorcycle shops in late 1970 and thru 1971: they were that hard to get, then. I worked in that 3rd shop from April until the August when I got the bike from a competitor's shop, because the owner of my shop kept selling the few 750s they were allocated to other people, while I had already given him 50% down for the "next one coming in" - the owner was charging those guys up to 50% over list price to get them, and pocketing that difference (we'd already had a "talk" about that...). When I rode it in to Spring Honda where I worked, having bought it from competitor Mannheim Honda, the head mechanic (a "loyalist" to Spring) decided that while I was working, he would steal the shifter arm off my bike and stash it in the Parts Room (fortunately, in correct Parts Order) where it might get sold. So, when I went to go home that night, I couldn't ride the bike. The owner was still there and I made him open up the whole place and help me find the shifter arm: he kinda thought that if the head wrench had taken it, it would be in the Parts Room so his toolbox wouldn't become "inspected" for it. So, a hour later I rode home, and next day quit Spring Honda.

Then I tried to roadrace it: when going deep into a left turn, the bike would not "come up" for beans at the end of the turn, and going deep into a right turn was a wrestling match. I put up with it that season, but around Hallowe'en took it to my Honda mentor in Peoria, IL to see if he could figure out what was wrong: he was a CB750 expert like none other I've ever met. About 2 weeks later he called me to ask "How did you EVER race that thing?", as he had discovered the front-rear wheel track had the rear wheel almost 3/4" off to the right side of the bike centerline(!). He called in the Honda rep, and by December they discovered that the frame was made wrong: This particular rep had been to Honda's facility where the bikes were made, and he noted that the frames were tacked together in a jig that held the pieces, then craned up and across the entire building to outside where the final welding occurred. This one had fallen off that hoist, as evidenced by the flat spot on the bottom of the frame under the right-side front lower engine bolster, and popped the cradle welds. The final-weld guys just welded things up as normal and it went to Production. There, when the engine we going in, they discovered the bolt hole on the right side was 1/2 bolt diameter forward, so they reamed the hole oval to get the bolt in, then touched up the paint (plainly visible when looked at closely). The result was a rhomboid frame that pulled the right side of the swingarm forward and the rear wheel (which already had a bare tire at 3500 miles) sideways. Honda was REAL embarrassed, and swapped me straight-across for the brand-new K2 I still ride today, more than 150k miles later.

[Don R]

  Mark, you probably crossed paths in Peoria back in the day with Steve Egli, he was riding and racing new 71 and 72 bikes, he worked at Cat and lived in Metamora. That's who I got the Rat Race from.

[carnivorous chicken]

First deal:
I bought my 1975 CB550K for $250 in 1991. I had a bike -- a little CB150 -- about 6 years prior but had borrowed it from a friend for a few months. I still had the itch, and friends of friends had bought this bike for $250 but didn't know how to ride, so they sold it to me. Had that bike until the summer of 2023, when I sold it and bought the orange 550F with the money. It was in Seattle, and I didn't always have a car so it became my daily rider, rain or no (but I always kept it covered). It had a Kerker 4-1 and pods, but that was done by the original owner, who used the bike to go across the mountains to eastern Washington, or so he told the guys I bought it from. I parked it for 6 months or so in 1996-1997 during my first trip to Southeast Asia, then left it at my dad's from the Fall of 1997, when I started grad school, until I sold it. Would come home for the whole summer from 1998-2002, then just a few weeks at summer and a week or two at Christmas. Thing fired right up every time, and I'd ride it to Portland or Eugene or wherever with no issues.

Great deal:
Got a 1969 CB160 for $100 around 2009 with a title just because I was the first person to show up (he said his phone had been ringing constantly). Exhaust was rotted but the rest was all there. I cafe'd it, something I definitely wouldn't do now, and the thing was a great little get around town bike. Sold it for $2k when I moved to Mexico City.

Had a quite a few other good deals over the years, including 3 750s for $250, $500, and $600, a few 550s, and a bunch of 350Fs and 400Fs for as little as $200.

[Ichiban 4]

I've been on here for years talking about finding piles of Honda (or any brand) motorcycle goodness. Would anyone like to share the story of how you got any of your bikes?  If I had filmed my buying trips, I could have been a youtube star.

_______

Bump

[HondaMan]

  Mark, you probably crossed paths in Peoria back in the day with Steve Egli, he was riding and racing new 71 and 72 bikes, he worked at Cat and lived in Metamora. That's who I got the Rat Race from.

Well, that name actually does ring a bell: I'll have to ponder on it to remember 'why', though? Egli...do you know if he ran on the small-town circuits, which were frequently go-kart tracks rearranged? They were tight suckers to run with the 750.

[BenelliSEI]

I had a few small Hondas when I was a kid. They were all truly abused and mistreated…… eventually I had a few British “twins”, ending up with a 1970 Triumph 100S. My future wife started riding an ‘84 Honda CM250 ($250) and one day I stumbled on a 1977 cb400F($600). She just loved it.

Meantime I noticed that I seemed to work on my Triumph more than I rode it and never touched the Honda. One afternoon we went for a short ride. When we returned I discovered I’d destroyed a new pair of boots! The side cover had cracked at the oil pressure sending unit boss and sprayed my right boot for the entire afternoon.

Not long after I spotted a 1978 ch550K in the newspaper “Auto Trader” (anybody remember when we had to buy the print?). I went to see it and loved the look. It had its perfect original 4-4 exhaust and only needed some tuning and tidying up. I paid $700 for it and sold the Triumph two weeks later for $1200!

Not long afterwards, when my son started riding with us, I picked up a 1978 cb750K. The 400F had a Parakeet Yellow tank with the black side covers. I found an extra tank and painted it to match the other two. We had a lot of fun together. We only rode on weekends, from our farm N.E. Of Toronto, and the trio of bikes generally created a crowd whenever we stopped. I bet I’ve restored +15 SOHC Hondas since then!

[ofreen]

I have one of those stories I wrote years ago on how my ‘75 750F and I met up.  It is here-

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,23731.msg1226771.html#msg1226771

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

After seeing he many articles on the new 750 Super Sport I had to have one. They were just arriving at the dealerships. I went to my local shop, Evan's Honda in Paducah, KY, and asked if he would take $1800. "No, $1900. I have one but we won't put it together until next week". I reminded him he had hounded me to buy a new bike rather than work on my 68 CB350T and I was there to do just that. I showed him 18 one hundred dollar bills and he still refused. I tried again telling him I could buy one today at Pug Vickers in Huntingdon, TN for $1800. He still refused. I made the 75 mile or so trip to TN. Pug Vickers was advertised as the largest Honda dealer at that time. When I got there, they were quickly assembling a truck load. Both orange and blue. l didn't go for the orange because the paint finish wasn't as smooth as the blue. They would not let me test ride. As I pulled out I was taken back by the power and smoothness as I had never ridden any 750. He warned me that it is quick and rapidly reaches speeding ticket speeds and to be careful. It hit that red spot at 70 much quicker than anticipated. As I pulled into town with the first Super Sport, I rode past Evan's to give him a salute. I guess he realized I wasn't BS'ing as he had one assembled in his window.

And there she still sits in my avatar. I'll be home in a week to play with her.

[ofreen]

After seeing he many articles on the new 750 Super Sport I had to have one.... As I pulled out I was taken back by the power and smoothness as I had never ridden any 750.

It sounds like we had similar impressions.  The first CB750 I rode belonged a friend's cousin.  It was new and probably was a K3. I had the Duo Glide at the time and an SL350 and was used to them, so the 750 seemed like it was from another galaxy. By 1977 I had gotten fed up with the Harley and sold it.  I knew I wanted a CB750 to replace it.  My appreciation for the K bikes has increased over the years, but I only considered an F bike at the time.  I mentioned in my story I was looking at new 1977 F bikes, but ended up with the like new  '75.  In retrospect, that turned out great because I wouldn't have gotten the current 172,000 miles and counting I have on my '75 out of a 1977 model without major work needing to be done, at least on the head.

[Mikerts_Garage]

Most "how I got my bike" stories are pretty formulaic for me. Find a bike, look at it, point out every thing that is wrong, offer less, meet in the middle.

However, there are some exceptions, this one is my favorite. I apologize that it's not SOHC related, but it is a Honda.

Back in high-school, when I was 15, our auto-shop had a handful of motorcycles sitting outside in a yard-area. These included 5-7 CB125s from the 90's(donated by a riding school), a 1975 XL250 which had been fairly parted out, and a 1977 XL350.

It was the last week of school for the year, my auto-shop teacher had mentally checked out, and the students were left to roam the shop freely. That's when I decided to wade through the sea of broken lawnmowers and dig out the XL350. It looked like it hadn't been touched in 5+ years. After getting it into the shop I started assaulting the poor old bike with starting fluid to see if it would cough. After 100 kicks or so it was showing some signs of life on starting fluid. It would give me the occasional back-fire, and the motor would catch for a second or two. With that rush of adrenaline and hope I decided it was a good idea to tear into the carb. Up until this point in my life the most complicated carburetor I had ever touched was from a lawn mower. I knew the theory of cleaning a carb, but not much more than that. I sprayed the #$%* out of every hole I could find on that big ole PD carb. Got it back on the bike, kicked it with all I had, still no dice.

It was after this first day I had a hair-brained scheme. I asked my auto-shop teacher the Monday of that last week of school: "If I can get this bike running, can I have it?". After a hardy chuckle, he said in a doubtful tone "Sure, if you can get that bike running by the end of the week, you can have it". I was ecstatic, this bike was the only thing I could think about. I skipped class to come in and fiddle with the bike more. My right leg was so sore by the end of the day I had a limp. I couldn't sleep at night, the chase of getting that bike to run had consumed me. What I lacked in knowledge, I made up for in sheer determination. I must have kicked that bike over at least 2,000 times that week, when my leg was too tired I recruited classmates to help me bump start it. Spraying starting fluid, turning screws on the carb, asking around for any information on what could be wrong.

Friday rolled around and the bike was still just coughing on starting fluid. I decided it was time to dig into the carb again, maybe I had missed something. I wrestled the carb out of the rubber boots once more, after opening up the bowl something immediately didn't look right. I had put the float back in upside down! A rush of optimism coursed though me. I had just a few hours until the year was over and I was going to give it my all. I got the carb back on, turned on the fuel tap, and started kicking feverishly. More coughs, this time without starting fluid, It started to catch, different throttle position, running for longer and longer each attempt. The bike finally fired to life and kept running; the smoke show was phenomenal. I didn't even bother to put the seat back on, I hopped on the bike and dropped it into first with a clunk. Took off and cruised around the driving range with the biggest, stupidest smile on my face. The bike wouldn't rev up past 4k rpm, and my ass hurt sitting on the frame rails, but I didn't care, I was on top of the world.

I anxiously awaited for my auto-shop teacher to return from lunch, I was worried the bike wouldn't stay running long enough for him to see it. But alas, it did, he pulled up, I emphatically showed him, he gave me a big grin and congratulated me. I asked if it had a title: it didn't. Any paperwork? : No.

School was over, I rode the bike home 4,000rpm at a time. Thankfully I didn't get pulled over, as I was 15, on a bike that hadn't be registered in 30 years, without any paperwork.

Some interesting points in retrospect:
-I had never cleaned out the tank, it was impressive I got it to run on whatever varnish was in there, mixed of course with whatever gas was laying around the shop.
-Later I figure out the rpm issue was due to the ignition timing being extremely re-tarted. I'm talking 15 degrees possibly more. I didn't have a clue what points or ignition timing was back then.
-Lucky for me this was a 77' model with the A/C ignition system. Had it been 76' or earlier that required a battery, I would have been screwed!

I still have the bike to this day, It's a bit worse for wear, but I'm sure it still fire right up if I gave it some gas. Ultimately I'd like to so some sort of engine swap on it, as the 350 single is an vibey mess of an engine imo. I must have learned 50% of all my mechanical knowledge on that bike, I will always be grateful to my shop teacher for that.

[gotorx7]

Not as cool as the other stories here, but a bit funny I think..

At 16 I had ridden a bunch of friends bikes (mainly 350 Honda Trails, couple of Honda twins) and was firmly hooked..
So off to a local car dealer (older South Aussies might remember Peter Page Holden in Elizabeth?) where I knew the salesman really well.  They had just started selling Honda bikes, and he was keen to make a sale (I think it was his first).

This was 1972, and I think the new price was $1800 (Australian) plus change..
I had nothing to trade in, so he sent me across the road to buy a trade-in.
I bought a (I think 20 cent) plastic finger ring, for which he happily gave me $200 as a trade-in!
Happy Dave

The K2 was the beautiful Candy Red, and some 50 years after selling my original, inspired my latest purchase... chasing my youth

Cheers, Dave

[Kelly E]

My first bike story is kinda plain. I broke my leg when I was 20yo and while healing I was reading motorcycle magazines. That was the summer of 79'. After I got the cast off I got a job working construction to build my leg back up and saved my money. In May 1980 I bought a new 1980 CB 650 Custom. I put 38k miles on it. During that time I swapped the shocks, handlebar and added air caps to the forks and went through a bunch of sets of tires. Two years later I traded it for a new 1982 Honda VF 750 Sabre. The Sabre was a completely different bike. It was smooth, fast and I put over 150k miles on it in 9 years before I sold it.
I had a lot of fun in the 80's.

[dhall57]

Like most all of us here we have numerous bike purchasing stories. My first Honda buy however after being away from these bikes for around 30 years was in 2009 when I got my first CB750 a 1976. Ran across it had a Honda dealership in Winston Salem, NC and has since went out of business some years ago. It was mostly original, the 341's had been replaced with a Mac 4 to 1, it had a Harley rear tire, and the seat had been changed. I still have it but have put 341's on it and a factory seat. Here are some pics of it before I rode it home from the dealer.

[72 yellow]

After learning to ride on a 1964 305 Super Hawk in 1966 I had to wait till 1970 to buy a CB450. After owning a 73 Sportster, a 75 cb550, a 77 Superglide, a 69 BSA Lightning, a 1978 CB750F Through a friend I found my 72 CB750. It was chained to a clothes pole next door to a drug house. I trailered it home and put some money into it and I still have it.

[Don R]

 Here's one I may have told, but it's the start of my current 750 ownership. My brother was a Honda parts guy and later a Kawasaki mechanic. When there were a lot of CB750's sitting behind garages and not running, he would buy them cheap to make running bikes from the pieces to re-sell.
 He had 3 or 4 leftover bikes sitting behind his garage and got a nastygram from the city. Clean it up, or we will. I went over to help, and he talked me into taking most of the parts, one was an F1 with no engine discreetly hidden under weeds, tarps and old floor mats, and a K0 with an open engine case and a K3 incorrectly reported to have a big bore kit. "You can build a bike for free" and I wanted to believe it.
 I started building the F with a K engine and as it began to go together some things didn't look right. I called him and asked why he would have taken the engine out of the F and sold it in a K frame. Then he remembered, oh yeah, the F was wrecked, it went end over end and wasn't right after it was fixed, maybe you shouldn't use that one.
 I began working on the K3 that had leaned on a clothesline pole for a few years. While searching for good rims, I found my K0 with Lester mags on Craigs list. $650 and he thought he really got the best of me. "Ran when parked" was a lie. It got the K3 engine so we could go for a ride that fall. 
 Eventually it came back apart for a full resto and was a Bike of the Month.
 
 

[Johnie]

Started riding Honda's in 1969 then a policeman told me I had to have a license...LOL. Always had Honda's 65, 175, 350, 450, 550 and my first new CB750K7 then a 1500 Goldwing. Dated my wife in HS on a few of them. A friend had a 1980 CM400 he was going to junk as the throttle cable broke and it needed some work. He let me have it for $50 which was my first refurbish. Then I did a few more 400's and really enjoyed it. Found a local 1970 CB750KO red with 18,000 miles which was my first detailed project. Still have that bike. Since then have bought and sold probably 12 early CB750's and sold all of them except that KO and a 73 sunflake orange to make room for my 70 Chevelle SS396. Last year picked up a 76 GL1000 with 15,000 miles which needed a lot, but with the help of you guys got all the wiring and missing parts sorted. Still have that bike and will keep it for a while as the ride is so good as is the OEM paint. Now being retired I always say I'm not really looking for another, but they seem to find me as they do you guys.

[BallAquatics]

Blue came into my life like a stray dog—unexpected, but utterly loyal. It was 1976, a year of grand plans and impending vows. Marriage to my high school sweetheart meant shedding a few treasured toys, and my '62 Chevy II, a drag-strip warrior I'd practically grown into, was on the chopping block.

The Chevy, a beast of chrome and roaring potential, stubbornly refused to find a new owner. My pride, along with its price, had plummeted to a desperate $1500. Then, one sweltering afternoon, an older dude showed up to have a look—a man, seemingly ancient at his late twenties, his eyes lingering on the Chevy's lines.

He proposed a trade: a motorcycle. A Honda CB550K, pristine, practically untouched, a mere 1200 miles whispering tales of unfulfilled journeys. I scoffed internally. I was a Harley man, rough and ready, accustomed to the shudder and clatter of vintage iron. This 'little' Honda seemed tame, almost delicate.

But curiosity, that insidious whisper, urged me to swing a leg over it. One twist of the throttle, one smooth glide down the asphalt, and my world tilted on its axis. The CB550K was a revelation—a symphony of seamless power, a velvet whisper compared to the Harley's raw growl.

The deal was struck, a handshake sealing the fate of the Chevy and the beginning of my love affair with Blue. Originally cloaked in a respectable Boss Maroon, it transformed in the early '80s, a rebellious streak painted in the vibrant ‘67 Chevelle Marina Blue—a war cry for the racetrack. Those were wild days, fueled by adrenaline and the roar of the engine.

Then, Blue became my wife's steed, a testament to its reliability and gentle spirit. Years passed, and though its handling might be described as 'suggestive' rather than precise, and the brakes possessed a certain… poetic license, Blue remained a cherished companion. It’s more than just a bike; it’s a tangible memory, a feeling—the essence of what a 'real' motorbike should be.  It will fall to my daughter to decide what to do with the bike after I'm dead and gone.