During the Christmas vacation at my daughter's home in Indianapolis, I used my free time to scour the internet for motorcycles. I was especially looking for a new (to the U.S. market) model that Honda was offering, the NT700V, which has been offered in Europe for about 10 years as the Deauville. It reminded me of the Honda PC800 Pacific Coast that I had for a couple of years, only without as much in the way of plastic body panels. Shaft drive, built in saddlebags, adjustable windshield, fuel injection (throttle body style) and plenty of motor (680cc) for two up riding. Yup, it sure looked like my next bike. I decided to go with the ABS braking system which was an offering at an additional cost.
Speaking of cost, I also wanted to get the best deal without paying any of the "dealer fees" that are tacked on as so many places. I did a web search of U.S. dealers and found the cheapest, then emailed my local ones, asking if they could match these prices. I did find one just west of Orlando who did just that...here is the result:
Now I seem to be set for at least another couple of years, the normal time for me to own any one particular motorcycle. Among my cycling friends we sometimes talk about bikes we have owned, and, do we wish we had this one or that one back again? Of course, the answer is "Yes", but that never answers the question as to why we got rid of that one in the first place.
The Honda CB72 Hawk that you see as the first entry to this blog blew oil from every seam in the engine. The cause, which I was ignorant of at the time, was worn out piston rings causing blow-by and excessive pressure in the crankcase which made me add oil every 50 miles or so. What a mess that was, and I was on a 1,500 mile trip at the time. But, that is yet another story, which I promise will make it to these pages sooner or later. Or, how about the 1967 Bultaco 250cc Matador that I bought to make a better enduro rider out of me. I actually bought that bike new, kept it for 2 years, then sold it. I later bought it back and ran another enduro season with it, it was that nice a bike. But, it had a 2 stroke engine and lousy brakes, and Honda had just come out with a new off road bike, the XL250, so I switched yet again.
Can you see a pattern here? I told you so, but, for now, I will leave you here and let you ponder what bike I will come up with for the next posting of this blog.
