Good evening, night, morning, and afternoon everyone!
My name is Mike from Lancaster County Pennsylvania. More specifically, Ephrata for the time being. I grew up on motorcycles as a kid as I am sure many of you have as well. My father and my grandfather were the biggest influences in my life and the motorcycle love they have rubbed off on me as far back as I can remember. My grandfather had polio and did not have the use of his legs later in life but that never stopped him from riding. After WW2 he had a handful of Harleys and Indians. Once he lost most of the use of his right leg he had nothing but sidecars. My mother told me stories of him putting chains on the one Harley that was equipped with a sidecar and would put a rope on the back of it and pull them around the back roads covered in snow with a long sled attached. My father also had a 1200 Sportster that he would take me for rides on as a kid and I would help him polish the chrome in the winter time while the bike was parked in the basement which was always toasty due to the wood stove near by.
I spent many years riding in the sidecar of my grandfathers bike or the back of my dads bike all over the place usually early on Sunday morning rides or weekend long rides One great experience was in 1993 we rode out to Cook Forrest PA for a Sidecar rally which was just awesome as a young kid. I spent many years riding dirtbikes as well from the age of five. i am still convinced that I have spent more hours on two wheels than I have four my entire life.
Ok onto more recent key points in my life.
I was actually pretty late at getting my license a few years ago at the age of 24. I loved the old Honda CB's and wanted one for a first bike. My one uncle who is a huge honda fan found an old 79 CB750 at a Suzuki dealership near New Holland PA. I checked it out and before I knew it I purchased the bike the day I got my permit. The 79 treated me good until I found an oil leak. It was coming from the center of the cylinder block. The previous owner let the timing chain go and never adjusted the tension. The steel chain chewed threw the aluminum channel for the timing chain on the front of the bike. I put a 'bandaid" on it and rode it as it was touching it up ever week. Even with this major issue of a hole in the cylinder block, It never once let me down which was amazing.
I had been modifying this bike from day one of ownership and didn't stop until i sold it. It went from a cruiser to a cafe "kinda" racer as I called it. I will post pictures in a follow up post of all these bikes I have had. The bike was a blast and always prompted questions from every other person who got within 20 feet of the bike. While It was on the back burner after a very unproductive winter after ripping it all apart and struggling to find time to peice it back together I purchased a newer bike. a 2003 Honda VFR800 Vtec.
Loved this bike! More power better handling and reliability over the CB with a hole in it's heart! I unfortunately sold the CB when i got into a crunch with bills but all things happen for a reason. The VFR was a good bike with great ergos, wind protection and respectable power. I spent quite a few rides with some buddies with some high power sport bikes and we all knew each other well and each others riding styles so we would trade up on bikes every once in a while and everyone wanted to ride my "caddy" of sport bikes to let their bodies relax a bit. I got to ride my friends CBR1000RR which was a great bike. awesome power but still smooth delivery and great handling and just awesome all around. My other friend had a 2004 Kawi ZX10R which had all the "make me faster" bolt on goodies and dynoed close to 160 at the rear wheel. Power and delivery scores a perfect WOW but the tank was a nut buster and the power was quite peaky and unusable on public roads. Either way it got me itching for a bike with less bells and whistles and more basic simple power and handling.
I sold the VFR in October and was planning on looking for a new bike in the spring. I went on craigslist to delete my classified ad, and once it was deleted I went into the classifieds to confirm it has vanished... Well top of the list newly listed was a Honda CBR929RR with 12K miles for 2800 bucks...
Well the bike was a little rough around the edges with a cheap solid black paint job since it was dropped in the past but mechanically it was a solid machine and it still is to this day with over 6000 more miles on it.
Onto the CB750. My fiance always told me about this "Honda Windjammer" he bought brand new in the 70's I got to see it for the first time and those 4 stock exhaust pipes caught my eye in a second. It is a 1978 CB750K, Garaged it's entire life when it wasn't out racking up the total of 13000 miles. He passed away and I got the CB750 seeing that he loved the fact I knew what it was and what an impact it made in the industry. All stock except for the Windjammer and the goofy aftermarket seat. I am currently looking for OEM parts to bring this bike back to original form. it is too nice to to do anything other than enjoy taking it for rides and keeping it clean.
I enjoy the power of the 929 but the CB750 is still a much more fun bike to ride!
Thank you for the welcomes in advance,
Mike from Lancaster County Pennsylvania.
