By the time 1977 rolled around I was ready for a bit of sophistication. In the form of a six month old Honda CB400F1. After that Ducati the Honda was absolute bliss - and I say that as a callow youth who took the piss out of rice-burners something rotten! I couldn't believe how easily it started, for instance. Rather than risk breaking my left ankle, all I had to do was press a button. And the smoothness of the four cylinder mill - right out of another (happier) world.
Revelling in all this sophistication, it took me a little while to realise that the four cylinder engine was just a bit gutless. It needed revs to fly, and then only managed 35 ponies flat out around the 105mph mark. 80mph cruising was about right, another 10mph if there was a following breeze. Handling was better than the Ducati because the latter had rock-hard suspension that allowed the bike to leap about on bumpy roads. There was the mildest of weaves at the ton but it wouldn't have made me back off. The single disc brake and rear drum were up to the standards of the day but a bit laughable compared to modem technology. Back then I had no complaints. Comfort was brilliant, the CB400 acknowledged at the time as one of the few Jap bikes to come fresh from the factory with ergonomics as good as your average BMW twin (which back then defined such things).
Such was the joy at finding a motorcycle that could be ridden without worrying if I was going to reach my destination aboard a machine that was still in one piece, that huge mileages were clocked up on the little 400 four. It came with 3000 miles on the clock, after less than six months that had grown to 26500 miles... unfortunately, at that kind of mileage there's a strong likelihood of the pistons and bores going down. I knew something was wrong because it didn't want to pull more than 90mph in top gear, even down ahill. Smoke out of the exhaust soon followed.
When I stripped the engine down, the small-end were also shot. My sarcastic local Honda mechanic reckoned I hadn't ever changed the oil - on one trip had left it for 3500 miles, so that might've contributed to its demise. I had the chance of buying a Hon CB750K four of a similar vintage for a bargain price, so the little Honda sat in pieces in a corner of garage - for a while! The 750 was a big old lump, a real handful after the svelte F1. But the motor had a charm all of its own. I liked the mid-range grunt and didn't even mind the way it would buzz a bit as maximum revs were sought. Saw 140mph on the clock, tumed the handling very interesting. The bike came with improbably high bars and forward mounted pegs, had to-contort myself to get my head between the clocks!
I'd found the bits to do up the CB400 but the bike never ran as silkily smooth as when I'd first bought it. Both Hondas were sold at the same time, to raise funds for the next monster machine. Yep, it just had to be a Kawasaki Z900. This was literally king of road at the time, an amazing piece of advanced technology that had the legs on the smaller Honda in every possible way. I swelled with pride just sitting aboard the shining beast!
The straights were another matter - totally exhilarating! I swear I was suffering from blurred vision after a bit of drag racing with the lads! That motor was as tough as they came, vibrated less than the Honda and seemed to thrive on revs. After the F1 fiasco I was a bit religious about the oil changes but apart from that did 40000 miles of rather neglectful riding without any apparent ill-effects on the motor.
The one thing I did hate about the Z900 was wet weather riding, the power would have the tyres skidding all over the tarmac unless I was very careful with the throttle and the front disc had an appalling bit of wet weather lag that stopped my heart many a time. Just often enough to have me nervous about long trips, the engine would cut out on one cylinder in heavy rain and I soon became a WD40 enthusiast.
Pushing 600lbs of shaft driven monster motorcycle hard sure got the adrenaline going! This was a bike with seriously bad karma, man! And a highly destructive nature. It was so slowly turning that it threatened to bulldoze its way through obstacles on the back of its outrageous momentum. I once put 140mph on this dead straight, smooth piece of motorway but it was like being aboard a wallowing roller-coaster and the vibes had my eyeballs rotating in their sockets.
Seriously weird and not even particularly strong, the crank's main bearings going pop at around the 57000 mile mark, though, again, I'd ridden the old thing in neglect mode. I put in this treacle-like oil and pottered down to the local dealer, got a good trade-in deal on a Honda CB650 the one with the Euro-styling and Comstar wheels. The poor old dealer went nuts when the mechanic blew the motor up a couple of days later and even came around my house to complain but my wife saw him off! These ex-hippy babes are tougher than they look!
Handling was much better than the earlier bikes, up there with the 400 for the ease with which it could be slung through the bends despite weighing an extra 60 pounds. It already had Girling shocks, leaving me to fit the obligatory flat bars that worked well with the stock footrests. Braking was weak, fuel heavy at 40mpg (full throttle most of the time!) and the drive chain remarkable in its lack of longevity - as little as 3000 miles!
With 38000 miles on the clock, meticulous maintenance sessions included (I was learning from experience - at last!), i felt that the motor was beginning to show its age and sold it off privately. A Suzuki GS850 its replacement, the wife insisting _ that we needed a bit more capacity and a shaftie to do some serious Continental touring. The GS didn't seem any faster than the CB, though it needed less effort on the throttle to achieve the same velocity.
Two long Continental cruises plus the usual commuting and weekend riding had their effect on the GS, which I almost thought of as a venerable friend. Mostly in the chassis which was the fastest rotting I'd ever experienced. Things like silencers fell off in less than 15000 miles, engine alloy became a real mess, as did the cast wheels, and don't even talk to me about the disc's calipers - I might turn violent. Many of the GS range share similar chassis components so there were plenty of cheap replacement parts - it was just all the hassle involved in getting the corroded old stuff off!
Eventually, I tired of fighting the elements and decided it was time to move on. The wife, with the birth of our daughter, had turned rather chilly towards motorcycles. Impressed with the GS's engine, and even its handling (but then what wouldn't impress after past horrors!) I happily bought a GS550 Katana. The gleaming, really immaculate, machine had only had one owner and done just 4500 miles. Had to be a good buy! Performance was almost as good as the 850 as it carried so much less mass and handling was the best I'd ever experienced on a Jap four, even if the comfort could go AWOL after half an hour.
A couple of years went by in the car until my wife relented and let me buy a tatty Yamaha XJ750 that I immediately set upon and soon had painted and polished up nicely. A bit of an underrated four, the XJ, it had bags of power and torque, would do an easy 125mph and handled better than most eighties fours lacked the GS550's stability but was quicker through the bends. I got away with some outrageous manoeuvres with my new found enthusiasm for all things twowheeled! The wife often ended up screaming loudly! Too much madness led to an accident. I somehow survived but both the car (into whose side I'd ridden - I still haven't figured how he got there) and the bike were beyond salvage. The wife gave me a total earbashing but I think she loves me really! I didn't even bother trying to do anything for the XJ - it was too far gone. A pity, it was a neat old thing in its way.
A used camchain and tensioner later, I was back on the road but it couldn't be called fun. After much pleading with the wife was allowed to buy something a little bit bigger. She hit the roof when I rolled up on a big old Suzuki 1100 Katana! Just standing still it looked bloody dangerous!
A fast old bruiser that didn't really get into the action until there was at least a ton on the clock, unlike other Suzuki's of that era it had quite frightening handling! But then I probably shouldn't have been trying to break through the ton-fifty barrier. It sure tunes up the nervous system sitting atop 550Ibs of heavy metal that might explode into a wild speed wobble without any warning! It didn't like ton-plus curves either, wanted to go into the old shake, rattle and roll routine. Still, after the past hacks it was one hell of a buzz.
Next in line, an XJ900. Old but low mileage, fond memories of the XJ750 made me overlook the stories about speed wobbles - couldn't be as bad as the Katana, could it? As it happens, yes! Despite having done only 12000 miles, the engine vibrated away harshly, never found a smooth spot in the rev range. It was at its best, acceleration-wise, between 80 and 125mph, in top gear. I could've hae fun playing with the throttle had not the bars leapt back and forth from lock to lock every time the speedo touched 85mph. I spent a while experimenting with the tyre pressures, tightening down chassis bolts and making sure wheel alignment was perfect but the chassis didn't seem to have enough weight over the front wheel, the handlebar mounted half fairing having little resistance when it was caught out by the airstream. Even a set of new tyres didn't help.
The obvious solution was to dump the fairing. I decided a modern headlamp smaller and lighter - would also help. This left a mess of wiring with nowhere to go so I had to rewire the bike to get most of the wiring away from the front end - it's surprising how much junk manufacturers insist on hiding in inappropriate places. That done I was annoyed to find the amount of wind blast coming off the front end, the quarter fairing much more effective than it looked.
I started off at the most extreme setting, which judging by the mass on my wrists was certainly putting a lot more weight over the front end. The speed wobble came in at 115mph! Even more vicious than normal but that was probably the extra speed. This was still a bit too slow but a step in the right direction. New swinging arm and steering head bearings were added next, a bit of a tussle with the former but! got there in the end. That all added up to reasonable stability up to 125mph, when the motor was, anyway, gasping for breath. But only with an extreme setting on the clip-ons and on smooth, straight roads.
I was beginning to actually like the bike after about two months of getting used to it when I had another crash! This was getting to be a habit! Blasting the XJ through Central London traffic that was moving at a rabid pace, the front brake faltered during a bit of the old cut and thrust. The twin discs were normally heavy stoppers but this time, for some reason, they didn't work half as well as they should've. I tried explaining this to the ancient in the taxi but he seemed to be having some kind of fit and I felt lucky that the force of the collision had distorted the doors into their frames! I'd nearly been thrown over the bars and landed on the petrol tank with a thump! The front wheel was neatly shattered into several pieces, making it impossible for me to do a runner.
I was doing the rounds of the dealers when I saw something different - a Yamaha FXZ750 Fazer. One look was all it took for me to fall for the 3000 mile import. A not exactly generous trade-in deal for the rather rough looking XJ but I didn't give a damn, the HP would take care of the cost. The Fazer was the old FZ750 in street clothes with a drag racer look and gearing suited to beating everything else in the traffic light GP.
Great bike! Someone else thought so too, after three weeks it was nicked from outside a shop I'd gone into. The insurance just about covered what I owed on the HP. It had done about 40mpg, didn't use any oil and was quite happy in the city cut and thrust as well as on the back roads. | was quite keen to find another one but the only one I saw was a very tired 50000 miler - just didn't have the sap!
A bank loan produced the funds to buy a newish Honda CB750 Seven-Fifty. I was taken by its looks but disappointed by its lack of go. Despite having DOHC's it seemed slower than the original 750 four if much more sophisticated and better handling. It was also one of the most comfortable and relaxed fours I'd ever ridden, and if it lacked much by way of top end power it didn't need an excess of effort on the gearbox to run along in the 60-90mph range in top gear.
So far so good - 9000 miles of enjoyable biking, no near misses and the feeling that the motor's one tough bugger - and I do 1000 mile oil changes! Apart from the Z400 (which to be fair was nearly dead when I bought it) I've found lots of fun in all the UJM's I've owned even if a couple of them were near suicidal at speed. What next? I quite fancy the latest big bore Yamaha but don't tell the wife!
Mark Thompson