1972 Honda CB-350F

Of all the bikes I currently own, this is probably my favorite. Yet another example of my rescuing a poor neglected little Japanese bike from languishing in a barn, I'm the second owner of the bike. It was bought new by a doctor who accumulated a mere 1,700 miles before slamming into the back of a car that stopped unexpectedly in his path. The bike was OK; it put the tiniest of dents in the front rim, and tweaked the forks a bit. I was able to salvage both. However, the Doc was banged up pretty bad, and he parked the little Four in a corner of the garage, and that was the end of his motorcycling career.

When I acquired it, it was in fair shape cosmetically. The paint (Candy Bacchus Olive) was perfect, though there was significant rust on the rims, shocks, etc. And the original 4-into-4 exhaust was eaten clean through in several spots. The Doc, you see, decided that he really needed the room in the garage, and moved the little Honda outside for several years before he decided that maybe he could get a few bucks out of it. He got exactly $250 out of me.. which despite it's flaws, was still a real steal. I mean, the engine is barely broken in, for goodness' sake! Still, I sure do wish I'd run across the bike before he moved it out into the elements... :-/

The non-standard paint is the result of a pretty hairy crash my son suffered when he was 15. And that should probably go down as "most memorable moment", too. I was on the XS-2, and he was following. We were riding pretty briskly, and he got into a corner too hot, and locked the rear brake. I gave the rearview mirror a glance to see how he was keeping up, just in time to see Bobby and the Honda go sliding off the curve and into the ditch, sparks flying. I did a quick u-turn, and when I got back he was already on his feet looking the bike over, tears streaming down his cheeks. I was trying to figure out if he was OK, and all he was worried about was the bike. Finally I had to resort to "Shut up about the bike already! Move your arms. OK, now your legs.. Any of that hurt...?" ;-)

The bike was pretty trashed, but it didn't take too much to put it right. I'd been looking for an excuse to paint it yellow, anyway. Sadly, it seems that Bobby might have been injured in the crash. Four years later, an Army doctor discovered that a nerve passing through his hip was pinched, the result of the joint having been jammed at some point. We figure it could have been that crash, as he was sore as hell for a few days afterwards. Then too, it could very well have been one of his numerous face-plants on his YZ-125 when he was racing motocross, or the less frequent though still plentiful get-offs from his cross-country and hare-scrambles campaigns on the WR-200. Luckily, the Docs say that they can put his problems right with therapy, no surgery required, so all's well that ends well I s'pose...