What Motorcycle Did You First Learn to Ride?

After 40 radiation treatments I went to my farm to ponder, stopped at a Honda dealership in Lafayette, wife wouldn’t get down, told her you’d better because I’m buying a Valkyrie today, saw a Black and jade Valkyrie, asked salesman can you deliver to Baton Rouge, yes he said, 14,500$ changed hands. A week later bike shows up, big cruiser, next day got on, rode Greenwell Springs road all the way to Mississippi, turned around and got the feel of a big heavy bike. Got home laid bike on front yard and practiced backing up on it if I laid it down, got the hang of it. Best therapy for me, if I was gonna go I was gonna go happy.

Back in Norton days, I admired the new Honda 750. Not the most nimble of the large displacement road bikes but sure owned the highway straightaways.

I had a 70 750, and I thought it was a pig, coming off the 250 Kawasaki 2-stroke. However, after a couple of thousand miles I got the hang of it. It really was the first Super Bike. Changed everything in the motorcycle world.

On paper it had about the same performance as my 2007 Triumph, weighed 50 pounds more and had 8 more horsepower
In the real world the Triumph handled much better and the Honda was much faster even after the mods brought the Triumph up to the Honda's horsepower. The Gold Wing even handles much better than the old 750 and at twice the weight. Only a little bit faster though. There wasn't anything on the road that could touch the Honda 750 the first couple of years.

The Kawasaki 900, one of the "Flexible Flyer" series was released in 1973. Still could not touch the Honda on a road course. Anyway, 2.5 years late.
The referenced Harley would have needed an engine rebuild immediately after the race.

The one I had belonged to a friend who left it in my garage because he didn't have a place to keep it at his apartment, and he wanted to make it a "Cafe Racer" against my advice. I put a 4 into one exhaust and K&N air cleaners on it. Changed some jets, etc. He wanted dropped bars and rear controls, but after we put the low bars on it he couldn't afford the rear controls. It was impossible to ride in the stuffed position so the regular bars went back on. He had one of those little fly screens on it that didn't do much but it looked good. I rode it for a little over a year, probably put a little more than a thousand miles on it just around town. I opened it up once on a back road and damn near ran out of brakes and road. It was fast enough by the standards of the day. The exhaust and a smaller seat took off over 60 pounds which probably made more difference than any power we added.
The old sandcastle engines are being souped up these days to make over 3 times their original HP. I just never liked it, except for the looks I got while riding it. 😁🤠

I had to look that one up and was impressed. I did not know Honda made a V-4 in that configuration.

I recall another they made which I seriously considered years ago, a liquid cooled V-4 turned 90 degrees like a car engine. It was 900 then 1100 then 1300 CC, kind of a touring sports bike. Seemed to have it all covered. I do not recall what it was called.

Honda Motorcycles have always been remarkable in their willingness to offer different designs.

The one I looked at when in a Dealer's showroom, was the 1100 CC. I like how the fairing was motorized and could go up and down while being ridden. You have to realize I was out of date. I only had one motorcycle with an electric starter and thought that was pretty wild. My Ariel, Harley Davidson and Norton were all kick start. Never had a fairing or a windscreen. that Honda was amazing to me.

Daughter has a Honda Van,after driving a Ford Explorer 245,000 miles no trouble but replacing trans on warranty,Honda she says is a piece of 💩!

Honda CT70

My old Norton, 1 up and 3 down. Often I squeezed the clutch with my left hand and reached down with my right to engage 1st gear.

My HD WL was handshift. The tranny came from a Servicar (three-wheeler delivery). So, it had a reverse gear. For laughs, I would sometimes engage Reverse and ride backwards a short distance.

I remember those. They sold them at the Triumph dealer in South Houston. They were really good looking bikes. I never saw one on the road though. The one I liked was a 175, I think. It's been a while.

Too bad they didn't make it. Honda was killing. I thought the Bridgestone was a classy looking bike.

Sweet!

First bike was a 1980 XS650 that was in terrible condition. Paid $1000 bucks for it, busted my butt and got it somewhat roadworthy then road it everywhere for a few months.