Friday, March 17, 2006

My Motorcyle History

Looking back at all the bikes I have owned there appears to be a common theme.
They have all been Honda's of early 80's vintage. And after owning nothing but Honda's I am a firm believer in Honda technology. The early bikes had crude engineering but in the early 80's they improved their technology to the point that many of these bikes are still on the road and running strong.

1975 Honda CB500T
First bike which I paid about $700 dollars for and it did not run very well as it strained to achieve a high speed of 60 MPH.

1981 Honda CB400T
Second bike I owned more up-to-date technology and a snappy little runner, more reliable, that banana seat was a butt buster.

1981 Honda CX500 Custom
I took a bare bones bike and made a small tourer out of it, adding fairing, radio, trunk and floorboards.

1980 Honda GL1100 Goldwing
The best of the bunch, added over $2,000. worth of chrome and extras and even pulled a small cargo trailer behind.

1982 Honda CB 900 Custom
What I bought after thinking the Goldwing was too big just to ride around town on.

1981 Honda GL500 Silverwing
My current ride after being out of biking for 12 years.

Not a very impressive list of bikes to be sure but all except the first were good reliable transportation. I put the most miles on the CX500 taking it cross country a couple of times without any major problems.
When I decided to get back into motorcycling a few years ago I was dismayed to find that I could not replace any of the old bikes for the same price I had disposed of them. They all had appreciated in value.
I may not be on the latest marvel of technology but at least I am out there on the road enjoying everything about the lifestyle of motorcycling.

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