Topic: Help ID This Honda To Correct A Seattle Weekly News Article!

[MoTo-BunnY]

So I was just reading this Seattle Weekly article when I see picture of the gal in the story (Roxanna Brown) on a (rather familiar) vintage Honda motorcycle. I also notice, they seem to have the photo mislabeled, as they are saying it's "Brown on a motorcycle in New York in 1968" but the bike looks to be a CB500 or maybe a CB350 - so 1968 would be impossible, right?

Soooo, I thought I would just post this here and see if we can actually pin down the exact year and model, and I could e-mail them the correct info? (assuming I'm correct, that this couldn't have been taken in 1968, from the looks of the bike?)

The article is just on an asian ceramics antiquities specialist and former Vietnam war journalist, Roxanna Brown, who died last year while in Federal custody in a fraud case and has nothing really to do with motorcycles, other than this picture: (see picture below - I had to upload the image to SOHC4.net, as Seattle Weekly is now blocking views from here?!? (i.e. direct link picture is not showing up anymore - lame-O's))

Also possibly helpful is that Ms. Brown was 5' 1", to help with the motorcycle proportions in the picture - I know it doesn't show a whole lot of the bike, sawry!




The article is here: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-10-29/news/was-roxanna-brown-an-art-world-fraud&page=1

[Hush]

CB360 not sure of the year

[MoTo-BunnY]

Oh, I guess I wasn't thinking of the Honda twins (of which I don't know a whole lot about). Did they have that kind of styling as early as '68, though? My Google-fu brings up that the CB360 was made from 1974-76.

Here's a 1976 CB360 - the color looks about right:

[MrZxp]

Certainly very similar....

[MoTo-BunnY]

Also, I was thinking that her clothes with all those brown tones, and her aviator shades were definitely more early 1970s - think Gloria Steinem:

[MoTo-BunnY]

OK - I was just checking our very own resource at http://www.sohc4.net/ and found that it couldn't be a 1971 -73 CB500, as they never came in that blue color, and the 1972 -74 CB350 didn't either. 

So, the CB360 is looking real promising - great call Hush!

[754]

It does look like the 360, must be a later pic.

 68 had 350, but they had 2 tone tank, and grey switch housings I believe.

The mirror in her pic though looks a bit like sandcast style..

Anyone know what year they started rubber tip levers?

[HondaMan]

It does look like the 360, must be a later pic.

 68 had 350, but they had 2 tone tank, and grey switch housings I believe.

The mirror in her pic though looks a bit like sandcast style..

Anyone know what year they started rubber tip levers?

It has the tank decals and oversized seat of the 360. The mirrors were sold by Rocky Cycle,  and by others. They were just Japanese-built mirrors. We carried them in our shop, because they could be tilted upward more than Honda's own ball-mount mirrors, which didn't pivot high enough for tall riders. They rusted faster than Honda's mirrors, though.

The rubber-tipped levers started in 1970, on the 750K1, the 450 and the 350. Prior to that, they were clear-dipped tips, and when the rubber-dipped tips came out, the whole grip area of the levers was also clear-dipped. We sold LOTS of these new ones (especially the clutch side), because they stopped making your hands gray from riding and shifting, and they fit the earlier bikes just fine.

[springer]

i do not think the bike is from 1968, i cant find a 68 350 or 360 or 400 in that year look here.

http://www.motorera.com/honda/index.htm                  springer

[bwaller]

Hush is right, at the very least it's a CB360 tank and 1974 was the first year for that model.

[MoTo-BunnY]

I also think maybe, that the color scheme is key to an ID, too. As I mentioned above, I looked at our own site and found that scheme to not exist on either the CB350 or CB500/550.

I think I have seen pictures of (early?) CB750s with those colors though, if I recall correctly, however given that the gal is 5' 1" in that picture, shows right away that it couldn't be a CB750 either, by size comparison. (and I'm sure by other subtle stuff you 750 peeps would recognize).

It's pretty cool that us Honda geeks can ID this bike with such little to go one, it's like our own "History's Mysteries" episode or something . . . he he he - great job, guys!   

[Ecosse]

doing a little research last night and stumbled upon a video her brother apparently made to honor her. i was looking for the same picture but cropped less to possibly unravel the mystery. the video showed her throughout the years on different  small cc Honda's.

Sorry, no luck with the blue one.

[crazypj]

Its a 360, came out in 1974, not sure what colours were available, I have red ones.
PJ

[Hush]

I had 2 of these CB360's one was green the other a white one in Police colours.
Do I win a chocolate fish?

[MoTo-BunnY]

doing a little research last night and stumbled upon a video her brother apparently made to honor her. i was looking for the same picture but cropped less to possibly unravel the mystery. the video showed her throughout the years on different  small cc Honda's.

Sorry, no luck with the blue one.

Yeah, I googled her a lot, too but couldn't find any other motorcycle pictures. Apparently, she was quite the motorcycle enthusiast, and started riding at 21 - from the article:

She grew up on an Illinois chicken farm; her family branded the finished product as Brown's Fried Chicken, which is still around today, says Fred. A high-school cheerleader and senior class president, she went on to study journalism at Columbia University in New York and graduate with a degree in philosophy. At 21 she rode cross-country on a motorcycle to California, from where in 1968 she headed to Australia, then to Vietnam to see her brother.

She also lost a leg, in a motorcycle accident - also from the article (Fred is her brother):

In 1982, when Brown was 36, she was riding her silver and red motorbike on the congested Bangkok streets when she was hit by a truck, eventually losing her leg. "The truck ran her over and was backing up to finish her off," says Fred, "when bystanders stopped the driver"—who apparently thought he could lessen his blame by eliminating Brown as a witness.

"A surgeon on lunch break happened by, and, taking a knife, cut her open and stopped the bleeding of a main artery," adds Fred. "She was probably about 60 seconds away from death."

She spent six months in a hospital, with her Illinois mother at her side. Brown later flew to Chicago and went through almost three years of rehab, says Fred. Her recovery "left her feeling she had experienced a miracle," he says.

[MoTo-BunnY]

I had 2 of these CB360's one was green the other a white one in Police colours.
Do I win a chocolate fish?

You had me wondering with that "chocolate fish" question. .  .lol. .  .had to look it up, never heard of it before!   

For those also not in the know:

The chocolate fish has become recognised tender as a "thank you", an apology, or a reward for a good idea — widely used in the corporate world and the public service, possibly because it easily fits within a standard envelope and can usually survive posting. A chocolate fish also makes a popular forfeit — among friends someone who makes a small mistake or loses a bet might expect to have to distribute such fish.

Chocolate fish have entered the New Zealand culture to the extent that any Kiwi can understand the expression, "Give that man a chocolate fish". The role of chocolate fish as cultural icon seems largely confined to New Zealand, although the confection has become available for purchase in some other countries.

I think you definitely deserve one, as you answered my question in what, like under 5 minutes???  wOw - you gotta love this forum!!!   

[Jonesy]

It's a CB360. My wife has one exactly like it (planet blue metallic paint, same mirrors and other features):

[MoTo-BunnY]

It's a CB360. My wife has one exactly like it (planet blue metallic paint, same mirrors and other features):

Kewl! - same paint and everything!

So yeah, I had a pretty good idea that that picture wasn't from 1968. Now we know, that they are WAY off since the CB360 was made from 1974 -76, and unless Ms. Brown went "back to the future" or something, there is NO way she could be riding one in New York in 1968.  .. lol.


Oh, and also. .  .. .

T H I S   I S   M Y   5 0 0 TH   P O S T ! ! !
WHOOOOO O O OO      HOO O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
                                                                                               

(and yeah, I know it's nuffin' compared to some of you old-timers, but hey, it has been a lot of fun here and everything - BEST Honda forum evah!)

[Ecosse]

Pretty cool since ya do have a CB500.

Looks like y'all have thing thing nailed down; I found another CB360 belonging to forum member SSCR.
No year though.


Be gentle about that seat!

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=40992.0

[754]

SOOooooooo...
 Chocolate Fish = Raisin Pie....for those of you who read ER magazine!

[Ecosse]

Uh, forgive my ignorance about this fish thing but, is the fish a hollow Easter Bunny kind of thing or is it a Salmon dipped in the stuff?

[heffay]

Be gentle about that seat!

so, you're saying i should probably just keep my mouth shut?    

                                     

i wonder if it was a misprint and was supposed to be 78... i know my mom carried those styles to the late 70s since i've seen them in my childhood pictures, and that started in 76.