Topic: Someone rode a CB750 round the perimeter of Austraila for a bet in the 70's

[andy750]

Shipping from Portland, Oregon to Australia is $1950 one way or $2900 return. So its doable...

[Frankenkit]

If I had a 750 or 550 instead of a 650 I'd be all over that... but parts are hard enough to find as it is.

[Retro Rocket]

Shipping from Portland, Oregon to Australia is $1950 one way or $2900 return. So its doable...

If you had them sent over by an importer, or someone with an importers license, it may work out cheaper...
Send Carpy an email, he may be able to help...

Mick

[Terry in Australia]

Hmmmnnn, that's giving me an idea, I've got a couple of CB750's here, maybe I could sell them to visiting members, then buy them back (for less than what I sold them for, obviously) on their return? They're not perfect, but should be Ok for an "around Australia" adventure? Cheers, Terry.

[andy750]

If you are serious Terry Id be interested in a deal like this....let me know what kind of prices you were thinking.

cheers
Andy

[westondc]

Hmmmnnn, that's giving me an idea, I've got a couple of CB750's here, maybe I could sell them to visiting members, then buy them back (for less than what I sold them for, obviously) on their return? They're not perfect, but should be Ok for an "around Australia" adventure? Cheers, Terry.

Hey Terry, if your serious then i might just be interested It sure would be fun to explore another country on a SOHC4!

[seaweb11]

Hmmmnnn, that's giving me an idea, I've got a couple of CB750's here, maybe I could sell them to visiting members, then buy them back (for less than what I sold them for, obviously) on their return? They're not perfect, but should be Ok for an "around Australia" adventure? Cheers, Terry.

What a great idea

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, (and sorry to hijack the thread, but it's kind of relevant) I am serious. I've currently got 4 CB750's, the F2 and K1 in the pics, plus my K0, and a K2 that I need to finish. I'd intended to sell all but the K0 to clear some space in my garage and reduce my annual registration fees, (about $400.00 per year per bike) plus insurance, maintenance etc, but this might work out better for me, and other members keen to explore Oz on their favorite mode of transport.

I don't want to start up a hire company as the cost would be prohibitive, so the easiest way to make this work would be that someone would "buy" the bike for a reasonable price, (CB750's average out at around $5,000.00 US here) I'd fill out a "transfer of registration" form to the new owner so he legally owns the bike (and is responsible for any speeding fines, accidents etc) and on the bike's safe return I'd buy it back for around 75% of the purchase price, less any obvious damage.

Also, I'd be the point of contact for any parts needed along the way if anything breaks, as most bike shops here won't have CB750 parts available "over the counter". With our mail system, I can get parts to any capital city on a "next day" basis, and depending on location, not too much longer for a country town. When I rode to my folks place in the country 200 miles East of Melbourne on my Triumph a month ago and "lost" the key (long story) my wife was able to get the spare key to me by 2pm the next day, which was a life saver. If the bike was wrecked or the engine blows up, I could probably arrange collection/exchange etc, if the "buyers" insurance (recommended) would allow it.

There's probably lots that I haven't thought about, but I know of similar schemes in Britain where friends of mine had bought cars on arrival with the guarantee that the seller will buy it back on the tourists' safe return, so I can't see why it wouldn't work here? Cheers, Terry.  

[Frankenkit]

If you are still so willing to do this in 3-4 years when I graduate, I will be there.

[mick7504]

A trip like this would be the experience of a lifetime.
And what a great way to show that Honda 4's can still do it.
We have members here in every capital city and there is absolutely no reason why a support network couldn't be set up around this great southern land if it happens.
It would also be a good opportunity to make a documentary of the trip too.
Mick

[MickeyX]

Terry, my back can't do clubmans so keep that in mind. Thanks.

We have friends in Perth that we want to visit with when Kit is done with school so this is a very big possibility for us, along with our other plans there.

[Terry in Australia]

A trip like this would be the experience of a lifetime.
And what a great way to show that Honda 4's can still do it.
We have members here in every capital city and there is absolutely no reason why a support network couldn't be set up around this great southern land if it happens.
It would also be a good opportunity to make a documentary of the trip too.
Mick

It'd be bloody fantastic Mick, I'd reckon it'd be really good if members from each capital city could meet and ride with our visitors for one leg, I'd be happy to ride from Melbourne to Sydney or to Adelaide and hand the baton over to another SOHC member to look after them, I wouldn't want to "smother" anyone or spoil their enjoyment in any way, but if they wanted some company along the way, I reckon I'd enjoy it too?

A documentary of their trip would be brilliant, while the roads are a lot better than they were in the 1970's, it'd still be a challenge to do this ride now, and I'd love a copy, it might inspire me to do it myself. I've driven all over this wide brown land in Army Land Rovers over the last 30-odd years, and many times I thought, "How good would this be on a bike?"

And yes Kit and Mickey, if this idea floats, I sure hope I've got some bikes for you guys to ride when you finally get here! Cheers, Terry.

[MickeyX]

I can't wait to see this video. I'm stoked.   

[Raul CB750K1]

Having read quite a bit about the "foreing excursions" by americans traveling Europe and the like, bringing their own bike is quite a hassle. Apart from the shipping cost, you have to clear customs, declaring you are not importing the vehicle, having to go through customs on the way back etc.

Sure thing, you trust your bike and the prospect of riding an strange machine in an strange country may prove uneasy. If you can overcome that fear, the best solution is to buy the bike in the country you arrive, ride it like you stole it, and then sell it before you return. Until you lose the 3grand that shipping your bike would cost, you have many chances of being better off. Your bike would remain safe at your home, and much better like that, because your bike may be an strange machine in the country you want to visit, so if you break down you may have difficulties finding parts or experienced mechanics.

If you can arrange the buy beforehand from somebody you either know or somebody known by somebody you know, he could arrange the paperwork and everything else. That's a much better option in my opinion than bringing your own bike.

[MickeyX]

If you want to just rent, I guess you could go that route but I'm not sure we would find some place that would rent out 40yo bikes, except Cuba. Although, I hear it's pretty there but they probably don't like americans much. Who does, though? 

[Glenn Stauffer]

Thanks for that mate.
All I can do is to do the best I can with the reel when it arrives.
Your idea about a torrent is a good one and I was thinking somewhere along those lines rather than making a stack of DVD's and then trying to distribute them from a central point.
If this site can gain some benefit from this, then I am all for it, and I feel that we can make it happen.
So just for now, (When it arrives), I would like to concentrate on getting it onto a disc or some form of file format.
Then with some input from our members here, we can work out a good way of sharing it without it becoming "global property".
If we put our heads together, we can do it.
No problem.
Mick

I could put it up on data.sohc4.net which is on Amazon's S3 service with cached servers located around the world.  It can be streamed from there which would prevent downloads and I might be able to work something out where I could throw banner ads on the streaming page and give you the ad revenue left over after the hosting costs which are not all that high.  I believe it could be password protected as well.

[Terry in Australia]

If you want to just rent, I guess you could go that route but I'm not sure we would find some place that would rent out 40yo bikes, except Cuba. Although, I hear it's pretty there but they probably don't like americans much. Who does, though? 

Ha ha, Cuba would be a great place to find old bikes and cars Mickey, but you'd have to tell them that you're Canadian, while I'm sure that the average Cuban couldn't care less where you came from, the authorities might not be as friendly? I tell you what, I'll come with you and just let me do the talking, you can be my deaf/mute Aussie sister, and our cover story will be that we're looking for 40 plus year old vehicles for our hire company in Oz, and we'll fill the trunks up with fine Cuban ceegars to sell to finance our trip!

But as I'm often wont, I digress. There are heaps of hire places here in Melbourne, most of them charge between 60 and 300 dollars per day (depending on bike type and length of hire, most don't charge extra for mileage) plus $2000-$5000 security deposit, plus $3000 - $5000 insurance excess if you have an accident, (regardless of who's in the wrong, they'll keep your money until the issue has been resolved) etc. All in all, I reckon my idea is more than competetive, particularly if you're planning on a longer visit, i.e., an around Oz Odyssey. Maybe we could set up a network worldwide, where SOHC members with an excess of good SOHC4's could provide a similar service to visiting members? Although I must admit, when I head over to the US, I'll be looking for a Harley to ride, "when in Rome", etc. Cheers, Terry.    

[mick7504]

Thanks for that mate.
All I can do is to do the best I can with the reel when it arrives.
Your idea about a torrent is a good one and I was thinking somewhere along those lines rather than making a stack of DVD's and then trying to distribute them from a central point.
If this site can gain some benefit from this, then I am all for it, and I feel that we can make it happen.
So just for now, (When it arrives), I would like to concentrate on getting it onto a disc or some form of file format.
Then with some input from our members here, we can work out a good way of sharing it without it becoming "global property".
If we put our heads together, we can do it.
No problem.
Mick

I could put it up on data.sohc4.net which is on Amazon's S3 service with cached servers located around the world.  It can be streamed from there which would prevent downloads and I might be able to work something out where I could throw banner ads on the streaming page and give you the ad revenue left over after the hosting costs which are not all that high.  I believe it could be password protected as well.

G'Day Glenn
That would be great if something along those lines could be worked out.
The initial cost to purchase the reel and then to get it converted into a different format isn't of any concern to me.
It isn't a huge outlay and I believe that there is a potential here for this site and the members to gain a small benefit from doing something like this.
It's all about working together and that's a good thing.
The information and the benefits that I have personally gained from here, outstrips any monetary cost by a country mile to get this short doco up and running.
That will be my bit done and after that, it belongs here.
As a thought, maybe some of the guys with businesses to do with SOHC's could advertise their products and services with the banner ads and any revenue gained from that goes directly into supporting this site.
It would be a win/win situation for everybody.
Also, any members who would like access, could make a small donation with those funds going directly here as well.
Just a few ideas to throw around.
Mick
 

 

[Don R]

I wouldn't need to put a lot of miles on someones vintage sohc, even renting a newer bike has it's allure. I don't know about riding on the opposite side of the road though, That might be wierd for a few miles. I read once about a  deal where you go to Europe, pick up a new BMW, ride around and then take it home.

[mick7504]

The Super 8 Tape arrived today.
11 days from London to Darwin via Royal Mail which I thought was quite good.
I've spoken with Avidtech in Melbourne, http://avidtech.com.au/index.html (Thanks for that lead Iggy) who do the conversion from Super 8 to DVD and they were really helpful and seemed confident that the final product would be of good quality.
Apparently they have the latest hi-tech equipment and the guy was suggesting a few different ideas about how to go about all of this when I explained what our goal was.
So everything is looking promising at this stage.
Glen (Our Administrator) also has some good ideas about how to get this onto the SOHC site and we'll cross that bridge when the time comes.
Mick

[Retro Rocket]

Well done Mick.

Mick.......no i don't have a stutter....

[mick7504]

You're forgiven mate. 
Mick

[andy750]

Looking good Mick! Cant wait to see this even if it is just 10 min.

[mick7504]

The Super 8 reel is at the experts now.
It's been sent down to Melbourne and when it gets back here to Darwin we can work out how to get the footage onto this site.
Should be a good one.
Mick

[ksmith0034]

Outstanding work everyone!  I love it when a plan comes together!