Hello blokes!
Just fell over this forum, and am looking forward to sharing some views and news with other members.
I hail from Melbourne, Australia, and have been riding motorcycles since I was 15. (1966)
Got my bike licence in 1969, and my first (registered) bike was a groovy little Honda CB100 single - the one with the white tank with the red and black trim. That little rocket was such a great little bike! The handbook that came with it told me that it was 'not capable' of something called a 'high speed pass'....but I regularly had the thing cranked way off the speedo...over 80mph on one occasion!
After a couple of years of this, I was bitten by the "Dirt Bike Bug" (DBB) - which is a pretty big bug....
My DBB started with a very neat and smooth SL175 twin, which was a great little goer too. We did a lot of on- and off-roading together, and I don't think I laid a spanner on her in three years. Just changed the oil, and filled up the fuel tank.
Next, was a move back to a series of 'singles'. First was the silver-tanked XL250 Motosport, and that was an even-better dirt digger than the 175. Not a bad road tourer, either.
This was followed by a short stint with a black and red XL350 - nice scooter, too.
Then came the BIG one..... I had always had a hankering desire to own a 500 single, so when Honda released their XL500s as the top of their range in 1980, I decided that I simply MUST HAVE ONE....
My one and only Brand New vehicle (including cars, trucks, and bikes) and it was the ultimate!! Once I mastered the art of kicking the beast over, without breaking an ankle, she proved easy to start, (fairly) economical to run, and a real buzz to ride.
It was about the mid 1980s that I inherited my CB750K2. She was in a pretty poor state of repair, due to years of neglect, and two or three owners who had thrashed the #$%* out of her.
I couldn't afford to run two cycles (as well as my pick up truck and my car) so I opted to shove the XL500 into storage, and move over to the 750.
Now here it is, 25 years later, and I am still riding the old girl. I have done a bit of tidying up, did a repaint, and tried to keep her out of the weather. She is my daily transport, and is looking a little worse for wear, but still starts on the first jab of the starter, and runs like a dream.
She's just old enough to attract attention wherever she goes......usually with some old bloke doing a drool from the shadows of the supermarket car park, or leaning out of the window of his car, just before I get told that "I 'ad one o' them! Bloody great bikes!" or "Whadda classic! Shouldn't a' sold mine!"
(I know that, mate.....)
I will post a pic or two, just as soon as I figure out how to post images.(Don't expect too much - I haven't restored her yet....)
Thanks, to all.
anubis
