The 750 rolled over 155,000 miles back on June 4th a few miles north of Alturas, CA. I was returning from delivering Pimpzilla to Mooshie and Dash in Redding. The bike ran flawlessly over 1050 miles in 90+ degree heat. Gas mileage ranged from 38 MPG when pushing strong headwinds west and south of Burns, OR to 48 MPG from Alturas to Redding, which basically downhill all the way. Average was about 42 MPG. A pint and a half of oil was consumed. The oil consumption continued the pattern I've seen the last few years. Oil consumption is still very low when commuting, but increases when ridden across country 65-75 mph in high temperatures. I consider this exceptional considering the age and mileage on the bike.
I put a fair amount of money in the faithful steed over the last 5000 miles, but little of it would be considered as repair, just replacing consumables. I installed new Sunstar sprockets and an RK x-ring chain, new EBC front brake pads (they don't squeal!), Metzeler Lazertec front and ME88 rear tires, a new K&N air filter, new swingarm collars, front wheel bearings and new float valves.
According to my records, it looks like I first installed a Metzeler ME88 Marathon rear tire on the 750 back in 1991 after going through a succession of tires, including an ME99 that only went 5000 miles. After that first ME88, I never looked back. I’ve put 7 or 8 of them on there since then. As far as I am concerned it was the best bias ply rear tire made. Traction good enough to drag the hard parts on either side, good in the wet, good in snow, and will go 15,000+ miles running tubes. So of course it isn’t made any more. I’ve called Metzeler to goad them into making them again but it appears sales weren’t strong enough. That surprised me because it was a classic tire for the 4 cylinder Gold Wings. Occasionally on this forum someone would ask for tire suggestions and I’d recommend the ME88. I don’t remember any one ever following the suggestion. My buddy Fred at the best motorcycle shop in the world, Big Twin Cycles, also liked them, so when they were discontinued he got as many as he could. He kindly let me have his last one. It is on the bike now. 15 or 16,000 miles from now, I’ll be looking for another tire, damn it.
I installed the K&N air filter in 1980 when the bike had about 10,000 miles on it. The last time I cleaned it, I noticed the rubber was getting stiff and I had some difficulty reinstalling it. This time it was hard as a rock, and it would not go into place. It occurred to me that K&N is still using their million mile warranty slogan, and since the filter was about 850,000 miles short of that, I’d see if they were good for it. Google turned up their customer service number that connected me to Benjamin. Benjamin said email me a photo of the filter, the year, make and model of the bike and I’ll send you one. Two days later I had it in my hand. It was even pre-oiled. Thank you Benjamin, you guys are awesome.
Many years ago I bought a set of EBC front brake pads because they were cheaper than Honda OEM. They didn’t stay on long because they squealed like a banshee. Really painful so I went back to Honda pads. Then Honda must have changed their compound, because a new set of pads squealed just like the old EBC’s did. I heard a rumor that Honda outsourced their pads to EBC. I tried all the usual remedies to no effect. So for the last several years, I just put up with it. Then when it came time to replace the last set, I found that Honda pads are NLA. So I bought some EBCs, and I’ll be damned if they don’t squeal. They’ve been on there now for just under 5,000 miles and they remain quiet. No more painful expressions from people when I pull up alongside them at intersections.
When installing the ME88, I figured it was time to service the swing arm as it had been awhile. This model has the center grease zerk, which really doesn’t do anything. I don’t know who Honda thought they were kidding with that design. At any rate the original plastic collars were looking brittle, so I replaced them with OEM collars. Yeah, I know, bronze ones are available. But when you have a swing arm that is so wimpy that you can deflect it with hand pressure, I don’t believe the bronze bushings get you much.
The front wheel bearings were feeling a little notchy at the tire change before the PZ trip, so they were swapped out. Those were the original bearings as I recall.
So the bike soldiers on. 160K is just a hair over 4000 miles away. I am looking at retiring from my third career next year. I might do something special with it when I pull the plug. Would it make it across the country and back? It took the trip to Northern California and back occasionally in triple digit heat in stride, then went right back into its commuting drone a couple of days later, so maybe it could.
However, the bike remains for sale. Price today is $155,921. It is not getting any cheaper, so it is best to quit stalling. Quite a bargain considering all the new parts on it.
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