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The bikes that made me!

At 16 I bought my first motorcycle, a 1963 BSA 650 Star. I’ll save my story about that bike for another day.  The bikes I am going to write about in the next few tidbits are my 1972 Honda 750, my 1977 Honda Goldwing, and my 1979 Honda CBX. I put more miles on and did more modifications and types of riding on these three bikes than any motorcycles I have owned before or since. They had more impact on developing me as a rider than any others I have ever had.

When I was 24 years old I purchased my 72 Honda 750 in 1976. I actually wanted a Harley Sportster but couldn’t afford one. Motorcycling was my passion and it was involved in virtually every part of my life. My brother Doug, our wives and I started a motorcycle club called the Road Toads, and we began riding hundreds of miles every weekend and of course commuting to work. We would tour and go on every S.C.M.A. run and overnighter. If we weren’t riding we were tinkering on or cleaning our motorcycles. We had lots of problems on these trips and I learned so much about riding and working on motorcycles.

At the beginning I put a windshield and backrest on my 750. My first incident on my 750 was when the chain broke, cracked the engine case and I went down. Insurance paid for the repairs, so when I rebuilt it I went to a handlebar mounted fairing and installed a Harley scoot boot and side bags. Put lots of miles on it that way and it was a great touring bike. One day while riding down the 91 freeway I got into a wobble at about 65mph and I flipped over the handlebars and crashed. My modifications had seriously screwed up the motorcycle’s weight, balance and aerodynamics. This time when I repaired it I changed it to more of a café bike with lower handlebars, 4 into one exhaust, custom paint and various detail parts. 

I was hooked on motorcycle touring and loved riding for hours to new places, seeing new sights and spending time with other motorcyclists. My Honda 750 was a great bike and did everything I needed and wanted to do, but being young and always wanting something newer, bigger and better I sold it to buy my first brand new motorcycle. I learned so much on that 750 but was ready for new horizons. I will tell you a story next week about that new bike, a 1977 Goldwing GL1000.

Years later I now have a fully restored replica of my 1972 Honda 750 on display in the pre-owned parts department at So Cal Motorcycles, right next to my 1977 Goldwing and my CBX. Come check them out.

When Ducati introduced the original Diavel in 2011, it was arguably the biggest departure from its racing roots in the modern era. At the time, Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali said 60 percent of the emphasis was on design and 40 percent on engineering—the opposite of a superbike. From the beginning, the Diavel defied conventionality and surpassed expectations.

Like an elite athlete who goes to Milan Fashion Week in couture and shows up the fashionistas, the Diavel showed the function-follows-form cruiser world what style looks like when it’s draped in racing glory. To sportbike riders amazed by its performance prowess, Ducati’s attitude was one of impish Rossi-esque false modesty: “ees nothing…” As if it didn’t know that a cruiser wasn’t supposed to perform like a superbike.

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The new 2023 Royal Enfield Hunter 350 joins two other 350s in the Royal Enfield lineup—the retro-styled Classic 350 and the Meteor 350 cruiser. While the Hunter 350 shared many parts with its siblings, it has significant differences to justify its place in Royal Enfield’s 350 family. Already a hit in its home country of India, let’s find out what the Hunter 350 is about.

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