At least, so far, it seems like it!

BTW, I’m getting ahead of myself with so many posts I need to back-track on, but I was so excited about this that I had to write about it!

I finally got my CB-1 back from the shop today and it rode extremely well! No more stalling, no more acceleration problems! A good carb rebuild was all it took! There’s still a slight leak in the #4 piston, but it doesn’t seem to affect its performance.

I got overzealous, though, when I picked it up and, for some reason, on a straightaway, I went from 1st to neutral and revved really high. I then tried to get it into 2nd and ground the gears really bad TWICE! >.<

Here’s a video clip of that… =/

Anyhow, I rode it up Page Mill Road later in the evening and it did not stall once! I noted all the places I had problems before and it performed well through all of them!

STOKED!

Unfortunately, the fuel filter I bought did not fit and the technician did not take the stripped bolt out. I got both the filter and the bolt back and will need to get a new filter and find a way to get the stripped bolt out.

OH! And another really good thing… I’m getting 50 miles per gallon!!

I’ve been in the market for a new motorcycle. I’ve been wanting a new bike for a while now… I feel I outgrew my 250 Virago in the first six months. I love the Virago, but man, is she hard to get going on the freeway!

I’ve been checking Craigslist the last few weeks for a new bike. I have my dream bikes: Honda CB500 Four, Harley Sportster, Triumph Bonneville or Thruxton… not cheap.

I began looking at Honda CBR500Rs. They’re cool… sporty and fun, yet economical and reliable. Then I recalled a conversation I had with a friend that mentioned Honda CB-1s being really fun bikes. I checked Craiglist and one came up. (They come up every now and then, but not often… at least none that seem in good condition.)

I contacted the guy and was able to test ride his bike…

Great ride! Here’s a short video clip of my 20-minute test ride in the Bonny Doon area!

And not THROUGH me!!

But should I have gunned it, too? See for yourself…

The dude in the red SUV appears in my rear-view mirror at around 3-secs. By 4-secs, the light turns yellow and my judgement tells me to stop. The dude in the red SUV decides to GUN IT, passing me on the right, which ISN’T EVEN A LANE! The light is red before he reaches the intersection.

Not that we’ve never run a red light before, but this just creeped me out.

Based on the timing of the light, my speed and the traffic behind me, should I have gunned it, too??

We’ve had our CX500s for about two months now, but getting them operational has been more than a challenge. Mostly because we’re,… well… we’re clueless. OK, so we do have repair manuals, but we lack the experience in what is what and how things are supposed to come apart, go together, feel, smell, taste, etc…

But I will say this… Our bikes are getting REALLY shiny!

(Ok, not as shiny as my buddy, Graham’s, but he’s got the proper tools and know-how.)

That’s right, one thing we can do is wipe dust off them bikes! As we wait for the day our motorcycle-wise friends can help us figure out what we really need to do to get our bikes up and running, we continue to spit-shine our CX500s!

I don’t have many “before” pictures, but here are some “after” ones:

Here’s what my ’81 CX500 looks like now…

And from another angle. Look at that tank SHINE!

Here’s Bethany’s ’80…

Bethany getting crud off the wheel…

Me on my bike… It’s a LOT bigger than my current ride, WAY heavier!

Speakin’ of my current ride, here’s my Yamaha Virago 250, sittin’ in the corner… all sad, knowing it’s about to be replaced.

Don’t worry, Virago. I won’t let you go… I have other plans for you! Muahahahaaaa!! =P

FINALLY! I’ve put together the first part of my three or four part video series of our ride last month!

Again, there were about 2 hours of video that I wanted to condense into 10 minutes. NOT GONNA HAPPEN! Instead, I will edit each leg of our ride into 10 minute segments.

Here’s the first video!

We left downtown Santa Cruz, hopped onto Highway 1 and took Soquel San Jose Rd. to the Los Gatos Hills where we arrived at our first destination… Wrights Station!

Enjoy!

Not an interesting post, but I’m compelled to let you all know that the two CX500s I paid for last week are almost officially MINE! Why almost?? I was able to get the title and register the ’80, but the ’81 was out of the system, and, therefore, needs to be brought in for the official transfer and registration.

BUT, non-op registration on BOTH bikes are paid for!

The gentleman that sold me the pair came with me to the DMV this morning in case there were any problems getting everything into my name. What a guy! He’s even going to let me borrow his trailer to get the bikes to my place. That’ll happen sometime in the next couple of weeks.

THEN, I gotta get the ’81 running so I can ride it over to the DMV and get it registered! Can’t wait!!

I’M NOW THE PROUD OWNER OF TWO (non-operational) HONDA CX500 DELUXES! Actually, one is for my girlfriend, but they’re both paid for!

Now, I know next to nothing about the mechanics of motorcycles… =/ It wasn’t until another friend, Edric, said he could help me with working on it, that I realized, “this could actually work!” Apparently, Honda CXs are easy and fun to work on… So my girlfriend and I are both STOKED to start working on these!

I bought these nice Olympia winter gloves at Santa Clara Cycle Accessories… in the middle of summer… ’cause they were on über sale. I actually sorta needed them to ride over Highway 17 at night, because it does get cold in California, even during the summer.

Problem is, they’re too big, as you can see in the photos below… =/ They were out of mediums and in the heat of summer, they weren’t planning on getting them… Just trying to get rid of what they already have.

I’ve only worn them a few times, so I consider them pretty freakin’ new. They’re great gloves. In fact, I already got myself a pair of mediums.

Make me an offer! They could be yours today! If you live within a 15-mile radius, I’ll personally deliver them to you!

Here’s a short but fun ride we did a few days ago in the Soquel-Santa Cruz area. It’s our FIRST ride with VIDEO!

Here’s a map of the route.

View Larger Map

After months of eyeing GoPros and Contours, I found a cheap Contour HD on Craigslist. I’ve been trying out different configurations and such and I’ve yet to find that “sweet spot” of resolution, exposure settings and mic sensitivity. My initial tests indicate that the mic sucks!

Yes, this is quite unfortunate because I wanna hear the roar of my engine. Instead, the sound of the wind my mic catches reduces the roar of my mighty 250 down to a faint “buzz.” =/Also, unlike the GoPro, it has no 3.5mm microphone input jack for when I just want to narrate my ride… =/ Time to look into modding my Contour HD!

As a consolation,… the video quality is quite good. Currently making a bunch of test videos…