New here; great thread.
My first bike was a brand-new black Honda CB160, bought at Bill Robertson Honda in Hollywood, California, for $525 in February 1966. On the way home on Santa Monica Blvd, which had trolley tracks down the middle, I decided to pass a bus on the right, only to have it pull over to pick up passengers. I narrowly avoided crashing, but learned a lifetime lesson...
Several friends had CB90s and CB160s, and even a CL250 Scrambler, and we once rode to Palm Springs together early one Saturday morning. Quite a sight, not quite Hell's Angels, 20 or so of us on little Japanese bikes, roaring down the road. On the way home, some of us stopped along side the road, where there was a little dirt berm and a trail leading over it. I made it up first try, and then was lost forever: I LOVE dirt riding.
On weekends, we would strip fenders and headlights, and take back streets to Baldwin Hills, an oil patch between suburban LA and the airport. We always were on the lookout for Greg Arnest, a mean LAPD motorcycle cop, who would pull out a broken-off car antenna, and stick it in our tailpipes to see if we had removed the baffles! Most times, we had...
By the time I sold it in 1968, the CB160 was unrecognizable, with alloy fenders, yellow paint, Bates TT seat, twin up-pipes, and knobbies. I had looped it a few times, learning how to wheelie, and generally tried to kill it, but it just kept running. Japanese bikes of that era gave away quite a bit of handling to British bikes, but they were oil-tight, and made good power, and were infinitely more maintenance-free.
On the other hand, the Matchless G80CS, which I bought for $125, well, a story for a different thread...
Good riding to all.
My first bike was a brand-new black Honda CB160, bought at Bill Robertson Honda in Hollywood, California, for $525 in February 1966. On the way home on Santa Monica Blvd, which had trolley tracks down the middle, I decided to pass a bus on the right, only to have it pull over to pick up passengers. I narrowly avoided crashing, but learned a lifetime lesson...
Several friends had CB90s and CB160s, and even a CL250 Scrambler, and we once rode to Palm Springs together early one Saturday morning. Quite a sight, not quite Hell's Angels, 20 or so of us on little Japanese bikes, roaring down the road. On the way home, some of us stopped along side the road, where there was a little dirt berm and a trail leading over it. I made it up first try, and then was lost forever: I LOVE dirt riding.
On weekends, we would strip fenders and headlights, and take back streets to Baldwin Hills, an oil patch between suburban LA and the airport. We always were on the lookout for Greg Arnest, a mean LAPD motorcycle cop, who would pull out a broken-off car antenna, and stick it in our tailpipes to see if we had removed the baffles! Most times, we had...
By the time I sold it in 1968, the CB160 was unrecognizable, with alloy fenders, yellow paint, Bates TT seat, twin up-pipes, and knobbies. I had looped it a few times, learning how to wheelie, and generally tried to kill it, but it just kept running. Japanese bikes of that era gave away quite a bit of handling to British bikes, but they were oil-tight, and made good power, and were infinitely more maintenance-free.
On the other hand, the Matchless G80CS, which I bought for $125, well, a story for a different thread...
Good riding to all.
