gotta love old Hondas..and other ramblings

[Iahawk]

I visited my local motorcycle dealer yesterday to pick up an oil filter and crush washer for my little Ninja...while there at the parts counter I asked if they'd happen to have a filter in stock for an '84 CB650SC (my Nighthawk)...he looked at his computer and said yes, they have one on the shelf! Now this filter is not hard to find..anywhere..but the fact that a Honda dealer still stocks this that goes on a 40 year old bike (and was used on plenty of other Hondas, too) is pretty impressive.

I also planned on going for a ride on my Ninja today (30F out, -1C)...and I hoped it would start, as I recalled checking voltage a week or 2 ago on a newly charged battery at about 12.39 volts. Well, no luck. It spun slowly and then made some high pitched noise as the battery didn't have the juice. So a new battery is on my list for the Ninja. Not totally unexpected, as the battery is 5 or 6 years old.

I ended up on the Nighthawk but came home after only 5 miles as my left mirror was swinging loose and my hands were freezing..there's always something to fix on motorcycles!

[randyo]

I have a Honda GX160 motor in my little Cricket Toe Hoe, going on 40 years old, don't have a clue how many hours. It was sitting a few years when I bought it, started right up within a couple pulls and purred like a kitten on old stale gas, it wasn't till I refilled the tank after it ran out, that the ethanol cleaned the gunk and plugged the carb, rather than waste time dismantling the carb, cleaning & rebuilding, a brand new genuine Honda carb was at the dealer overnight, for a grant total of $26,

[Stig / Major Tom]

Good posts, you two!
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

You have an eager listener here - as I have been an avid Honda fan since 1967, when I first rode an old Honda 90 out to my buddies house - past Disneyland in Downey California. A new 90 in 1968 for my wife & I to get around Mass; then a 175 and a 350 when in the Army. Then my Forza 300 and a couple of years sharing my son's CB500X ---
Well made and reliable.
I am told that Yamahas are just as good. I did love their first copies of British 650!

Hawk - who used to make the Bridgestone bikes? I think I recall that it was a 2 stroke? A buddy in medic training had one.
Japanese?
Us guys with the Asian bikes could just ride away from work after they'd sat in a Texas downpour - while the British bikes were back there getting kicked until they were tiny in our mirrors.

Stig

[Iahawk]

40 year old Honda carbs available, too, gotta love it!

Stig - I believe Bridgestone (tire mfr) made the Bridgestone bikes? .......just looked it up..made from '52 - '70, 2 strokes, good memory!

[Stig / Major Tom]

40 year old Honda carbs available, too, gotta love it!

Stig - I believe Bridgestone (tire mfr) made the Bridgestone bikes? .......just looked it up..made from '52 - '70, 2 strokes, good memory!

So Japanese, too.
I remember his bike had a lot more chrome on it than mine, and am pretty sure it was the 350.
I was interested to read today that they were priced higher than the competition!
It ran OK - just that his 2 stroke smoked and smelled and sounded funny!
A group of us qualified* for advanced medical training and then ran the dispensary in the training area for the medic-to-be's.....awaiting our orders for 'Nam.

Stig

*I'm certainly no scholastic terror - but by-dam I paid attention and studied hard during those weeks of combat medic training!
A group of us were then given the opportunity to volunteer for more medical training. Against everything I'd been advised by my brother and uncle - I 'volunteered' for something in the Army!
 It worked out OK.

[randyo]

Good posts, you two!
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

You have an eager listener here - as I have been an avid Honda fan since 1967, when I first rode an old Honda 90 out to my buddies house - past Disneyland in Downey California. A new 90 in 1968 for my wife & I to get around Mass; then a 175 and a 350 when in the Army. Then my Forza 300 and a couple of years sharing my son's CB500X ---
Well made and reliable.
I am told that Yamahas are just as good. I did love their first copies of British 650!

Hawk - who used to make the Bridgestone bikes? I think I recall that it was a 2 stroke? A buddy in medic training had one.
Japanese?
Us guys with the Asian bikes could just ride away from work after they'd sat in a Texas downpour - while the British bikes were back there getting kicked until they were tiny in our mirrors.

Stig

my first bike was a '67 Honda Super 90, a real turd, every kid in town had already owned and abused it, lasted me about 2 minnths before it got hungry and ate a valve, second bike was a CB125S