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1st chilly 2022 ride

ballbearian

ballbearian

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
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Location
Hagerstown MD USA
I count on my buddy Charles (on his 73 CB350) to get me out of house and garage for saddle time. 55 degrees and we made it for an hour plus headed towards and following the Potomac river. Hot coffee and warm gloves. A good day.
 
ballbearian said:
I count on my buddy Charles (on his 73 CB350) to get me out of house and garage for saddle time. 55 degrees and we made it for an hour plus headed towards and following the Potomac river. Hot coffee and warm gloves. A good day.
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That's a fine looking pair of bikes right there, glad you got out and had a good time. Riding in the 50s isn't too bad, I've ridden in the mid to high 40s here in Florida a few times over the last 5 years but I don't make a habit of it. When we were in SC last week of October, Chris and I rode in low 50s the second day (it was 35° overnight) and with a couple layers on, once you get going and start enjoying the ride you forget about it as the day warms up (well, IF it warms up). I rode the 450 to the local bike hangout Speedway gas station yesterday around 10 am, pretty big crowd (about 70 to 80 bikes) but I didn't take a single picture. And no other vintage Hondas in sight. What the hell is wrong with people, they don't know what they're missing. :)
 
ancientdad said:
That's a fine looking pair of bikes right there, glad you got out and had a good time. Riding in the 50s isn't too bad, I've ridden in the mid to high 40s here in Florida a few times over the last 5 years but I don't make a habit of it. When we were in SC last week of October, Chris and I rode in low 50s the second day (it was 35° overnight) and with a couple layers on, once you get going and start enjoying the ride you forget about it as the day warms up (well, IF it warms up). I rode the 450 to the local bike hangout Speedway gas station yesterday around 10 am, pretty big crowd (about 70 to 80 bikes) but I didn't take a single picture. And no other vintage Hondas in sight. What the hell is wrong with people, they don't know what they're missing. :)
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Thanks, We always get waves from the few bikers out there and even from people in cars pointing and waving. I think that sometimes we get more appreciation from regular folks than from the regular biker crowd. Vintage riders on vintage Hondas must warm hearts.
 
I don't know. I stopped at a biker bar on Pine Island, here in SWFL a few days ago to catch a few songs from a band I know playing on an outdoor stage next to the water in a dirt parking lot. 80 degrees, and sunny. Bikes crowded the lot. I pull up in my full helmet, gloves, padded jacket and vintage Honda, and the looks I got! Only one of two bikes that was not a modern Harley, the other being a yellow ninja something. Only guy on a Honda, only guy wearing something other than a T-shirt and maybe a vest. Only guy with a full helmet, hell almost only guy with any kind of a helmet.

I am the amp guru around here, so I was friends with the band and a few of the in crowd, so no one said anything, but I could feel the hate when I pulled in, when it looked like I might park amongst the HDs. I didn't, I found a chill spot off to the side.
 
ballbearian said:
I bet they were secretly jealous.
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Or secretly something... that I won't mention here.

I think it depends on the region or area. I live in a Harley-popular area, the local Sunday hangout at a Speedway gas station is full of them often along with the requisite number of modern sport bikes, and all seem to get along well. My vintage 450 gets a few comments every time I ride it there, but seldom from any Harley riders much less sport bike riders. Sport bike riders only seem to care about how much horsepower they can find or buy and don't seem to care about how their bikes even came to be, which of course was because of the decades of Japanese horsepower dominance going all the way back to the bikes we ride. And I'm almost always the only guy there with a vintage bike, only the first year I started going there did I see more than one or two vintage bikes. Since then I'm about the only one except for the occasional CB750, a rare model from one of the other three Japanese brands or the even more rare appearance of a CBX, and never have I seen another DOHC 450. As many of them as there are around, you'd think someone else would show up with one.
 
ancientdad said:
Or secretly something... that I won't mention here.

I think it depends on the region or area. I live in a Harley-popular area, the local Sunday hangout at a Speedway gas station is full of them often along with the requisite number of modern sport bikes, and all seem to get along well. My vintage 450 gets a few comments every time I ride it there, but seldom from any Harley riders much less sport bike riders. Sport bike riders only seem to care about how much horsepower they can find or buy and don't seem to care about how their bikes even came to be, which of course was because of the decades of Japanese horsepower dominance going all the way back to the bikes we ride. And I'm almost always the only guy there with a vintage bike, only the first year I started going there did I see more than one or two vintage bikes. Since then I'm about the only one except for the occasional CB750, a rare model from one of the other three Japanese brands or the even more rare appearance of a CBX, and never have I seen another DOHC 450. As many of them as there are around, you'd think someone else would show up with one.
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Many analogies come to mind. I'll just say; they don't know what they're missing. We are ambassadors of inspiration and appreciation, nonetheless.
 
ballbearian said:
Many analogies come to mind. I'll just say; they don't know what they're missing. We are ambassadors of inspiration and appreciation, nonetheless.
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Completely agree on both counts. Many with those views were probably raised around Harley owner fathers who were far more loyal to their father's brand than my own father was to his Harley past. When we started working on them together after he got me my first bike, he very often talked about how much more precision the Honda manufacturing had and how much better the quality was. Imagine a former Harley owner from the late '40s and early '50s seeing how well a vertically-split crankcase on an inexpensive Honda single sealed in oil... it convinced him of Honda's quality and we went on to own many bikes of the same size and model together at the same time because of it.
 
ancientdad said:
Completely agree on both counts. Many with those views were probably raised around Harley owner fathers who were far more loyal to their father's brand than my own father was to his Harley past. When we started working on them together after he got me my first bike, he very often talked about how much more precision the Honda manufacturing had and how much better the quality was. Imagine a former Harley owner from the late '40s and early '50s seeing how well a vertically-split crankcase on an inexpensive Honda single sealed in oil... it convinced him of Honda's quality and we went on to own many bikes of the same size and model together at the same time because of it.
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You had a great dad. Preferring truth over bravado even in those post war times. I still know, between the economics and quality, we get more smiles per gallon.
 
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