Your Favourite Honda ;o)

[rocketonarail]

1993 CR500 - Nobody returns an atheist after riding a CR500.

 

[Laverda SF]

Lets face it - All us OLD Breganzie Riders have mounted a Honda at one time or another ;o)
Other than that CB 900F was worthy to compared to my 70 750 SF0 - Just kept my Breganzie and got rid of my Jap Bikes over time.
Not saying that SF0 was easy to ride as she tried to kill me; but, one of the most exciting motorcycles I've ever mounted.

Man she could fly through corners at full throttle with suspension buried and your knees scraping the asphalt passing 1100 Kawasaki's inside or outside through an apex - Sometimes 2 at a time ;o)

 

[Steve G.]

My dear departed brother left me with 25 bikes,,,,,super collectible bikes today,,,,2-79’ CBX’s, 2-72’ Kawasaki H2’s, 3 - 400-4 SS, 66 Honda S90, street legal ‘71 Honda Z50,,, goes on and on. And,,, a street legal ‘93 CR500, Acerbis street kit,,,and a jurisdiction here that didn’t quite get it! Simply insane!!!!! 20mpg,, imperial gallon,,,top
Gear roll on wheelies anywhere,,,. I had to sell it!!

 

[Ian Short]

My dear departed brother left me with 25 bikes,,,,,super collectible bikes today,,,,2-79’ CBX’s, 2-72’ Kawasaki H2’s, 3 - 400-4 SS, 66 Honda S90, street legal ‘71 Honda Z50,,, goes on and on. And,,, a street legal ‘93 CR500, Acerbis street kit,,,and a jurisdiction here that didn’t quite get it! Simply insane!!!!! 20mpg,, imperial gallon,,,top
Gear roll on wheelies anywhere,,,. I had to sell it!!

Steve if you ever get the chance to ride a modern 450MX bike my advice is DON'T........ They make a CR500 seem reasonable. They hit like the 500 right off of idle and don't stop pulling.

I have the XR650R for fire roads and supermoto, it's street legal but it's geared a little tall for any serious single track. Bearing that in mind when it came time to get a proper enduro I knew a 450 was out of the equation so I went with a 300 four stroke from TM Racing..... another magnificent Italian marque.

When you're on the wrong side of 50yrs old even a 300 enduro feels like a CR500.

 

[Laverda SF]

Hell I liked my 69 Triumph 250 Trophy - Great Enduro - Limited Suspension and lucky you did not spin the babbit rod bearing before you found the PLUGGED Oil Filter in the frame - Would do 80mph+ on asphalt carrying 2 24's to a hidden Party in the Bush ;o(

 

[Shajota]

CR500!! Sometime around the mid '90's a mate used to have one that he raced, supplied to him by the Honda dealer he worked for including any good bits required. One of the races was the annual beach races where he was always in the top 3 vying for King of the beach title.
Holy hell, that bike was an absolute beast (I had an old DR600 as my dirt play bike at the time and happy to stick with that thank you very much!!!).
A nearby town used to have a drag strip and when a meet was on he'd put appropriate tyres and sprockets on and enter usually blowing away the sport bikes. (He used to also change his carby jetting and run it on methanol whenever he could!)
Predictably there has been mention on this thread about (edit:-the nebulous concept of) character. I am sure a CR would provide plenty of that!!

 

[MotoJouni]

...excitement of riding a Breganzie...

Exactly Ron. Cool thread again.

It is very clear to me that you have found the condition in where the rev meter strangely just suddenly maximizes and a grey smoke bursts out from the silencers. Correctly adjusted - this is exactly how the Laverda engine is intended to work.

Have you ever scratched your head with the following ones?
-If the above happens on a small gear, there may be a hysteresis on the throttle grip.
-The exhaust gas smells different than on other engines. If you take an exhaust gas analyzer, it is showing a notable content of NOx.
-Why it holes pistons relatively easily with wrong settings?
-Why in some cases the spark plug electrodes melt off, even in some cases when the plugs are cold enough or even too cold, and even with correct mixture?
-Why often 750's and smaller Laverda engines have a wearing pattern on the pistons on 45 degree locations on all four sides?

 

[Dave B]

Hondas...
Honda CB400 Super Sport 4 cyl at 18 years old...all rev and no go.
XR400R not long later, dodgy number plate and go anywhere. Blasting behind the SAS rifle range at Swanbourne beach on winter afternoons.
CB750F2 touring in UK late eighties. Not too bad, but wobbly handling and bad battery charging.
XR600R back in Aus last 15 years...The flying lounge chair with heaps of torque. "If you can start it, you can ride it..." Top bush basher.
WRF 450.. now... fuel injected, sharp as... be careful.
Laverda Jota Series 2 now with Mikunis, digital ignition and FCR rear shocks - fantastic...Been in the family from new.
Purchased from Bike World, Hay Street. Perth, West Aust.

 

[motoddrob]

Hi Dave, bring the jota down to Collie Motoplex on the 15-16 Nov. Champion ride days. Cost ya 300 bucks plus 2 day MA license for the weekend.
I plan to have both my Lavs on track.

 

[Vince]

Back then, I still own and rode a 420cc Husky Automatic, that's a 2-stroke with a 4-speed centrifugal clutch-controlled Automatic gearbox. It was pretty quick. A mate used to trail ride an ex-Fink Desert Race KTM 500cc 2-stroke. It was pretty nuts to follow, as fist-sized rocks would come flying at your head. That bike was replaced by a unicorn. It was a CR 500 Honda 2-stroke MX motor in a modern Honda CR 250 Alloy frame. It's still owned by another mate. It's not his favourite bike, he prefers his Disc brake 500cc Maico 2 stroke. I have ridden most of them, starting them can be dangerous enough, but what gets your attention is when the trees start flying past in a blur. My usual reaction is to close the throttle milliseconds after opening it. They're scary fast. See the pattern here.

 

[Exmoor beast]

At the 57 I have bought a Lambretta and started motocross! Been a bit of a year. Just finished my first ever motocross race on my ‘73 MX360 which goes like stink. Legs shaking like a shitting dog the next day. I entered my first grasstrack forty years ago and retired six years later!

 

[Dave B]

Thanks Rob, look forward to Collie Track weekend 15-16th November. Western Australia.
Nigel H said he will try and join us.

To Exmoor Beast, looks good...
But, we don't get too much green grass track here.
More sand, rock, gravel and Honkey nuts (large Eucalyptus tree seed pods that drop onto the road)...
Apart from us locals on two wheels dicing with 'em, the Honkey nuts caused Peter Brock, famous Australian car racer, to lose it on an off-camber bend during Targa Rally in a V8 Mustang. The navigator survived...

 

[motoddrob]

Great Dave
Talk soon

 

[rocketonarail]

Going off on a tangent sightly ......... Which is your favourite Hodaka ..........

Road Rat ; Wombat ; Combat Wombat ; or Dirt Squirt ....... ( Doit Squoit if you`re from New York , I guess ... ) ............ .

Never ridden the bikes ....... American importer specials ....... but massively popular in the late`sixties / early `seventies ........

John Wayne and ex World Moto X Champion contender Jim Pomeroy were fans ........


I remember one of their adverts which showed a happy young kid sat on his Hodaka clutching a winners trophy , accompanied by the line ....

........ " Beat , but not beaten " ..............


The model names were brilliant marketing ........... ( unless you take life too seriously , in which case you`ll just think thet`re silly ..... ) .......

 

[sfcpiet]

Going off on a tangent sightly ......... Which is your favourite Hodaka ..........

Road Rat ; Wombat ; Combat Wombat ; or Dirt Squirt ....... ( Doit Squoit if you`re from New York , I guess ... ) ............ .

Never ridden the bikes ....... American importer specials ....... but massively popular in the late`sixties / early `seventies ........

John Wayne and ex World Moto X Champion Jim Pomeroy were fans ........


I remember one of their adverts which showed a happy young kid sat on his Hodaka clutching a winners trophy , accompanied by the line ....

........ " Beat , but not beaten " ..............


The model names were brilliant marketing ........... ( unless you take life too seriously , in which case you`ll just think thet`re silly ..... ) .......

All over the place in Oz! Even had a dealer in Glenroy/Melbourne, left my snotty marks on their showroom window more than once.

Combat Wombat looked like it meant business.

piet

 

[Tippie]

Yes they were not uncommon in Australia, with a name like wombat not surprising. Unlike the portly slow wombat they were featherlight and really responsive, quite reliable too I seem to remember. I serviced a few and the test rides were top fun, the easiest wheeling bike I have ever ridden.

 

[sfcpiet]

Kid up the road from me had a Dirt Squirt that he mostly rode on the adjacent vacant lot to his home, I bet he made a lot of friends amoungst his neighbours! Much like I did when I turned our front garden into a speedway oval with my Bantam.

piet

 

[rocketonarail]

The Hodaka ad I was thinking of ......... OK , so he`s not smiling and there`s no trophy ..... but apart from that ..............

 

[chrisk]

My wife’s sister told me she saw a guy riding a suitcase in Sydney yesterday. She knows nothing about motorbikes, but said she had to do a double take.

Showed her a picture of this Honda and almost squealed “That’s it”

 

[Andy J]

View attachment 100154
My wife’s sister told me she saw a guy riding a suitcase in Sydney yesterday. She knows nothing about motorbikes, but said she had to do a double take.

Showed her a picture of this Honda and almost squealed “That’s it”

So what’s so unusual about someone riding a suitcase? This is my grandson on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Liverpool. Don’t think it’s a Honda though.