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My first bike, a 1967 CA160 I bought gently used from Long Beach Honda with money I made painting a house. I rode the wheels off this thing! The well-kept 160 and I were inseparable for a very long time.
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A 1964 BSA A10 Super Rocket. In bobber livery, this bike was purchased from Thrifty Lad in Santa Monica as a used bike. A very used bike in fact, and one that oil-fouled plugs costantly. The thrill of my first big-bore bike was a rush I can still recall today. Hair in the wind, passing cars on the L.A. freeways. I later painted it black.
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I bought this 67 BSA 441 Shooting Star as a replacement for my derelict A10, freshly restored, from a fellow whose wife had just had a baby and he was forced to sell stuff. A very nice ride, though a shaker and requring the "drill" to start (single cylinder big bore owners know what this is...). This was a surprisingly reliable bike with a ton of character and one I enjoyed very much and now miss immensely.
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My 1967 305cc CL77 was acquired when a customer rode it into the shop I worked at, and I bought it soon after. Sold it a few years ago to a collector.
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Although I would never have been as two-up brave as the folks in this 70s Honda brochure, the CB125 I borrowed from a car mechanic friend in the mid-70s was an astonishingly capable machine. I was in trade school and he turned to me hoping I could solve his noisy engine problem, which was simply rusty crankshaft bearings. I ended up commuting on the freely-revving single-cylinder bike for most of a year.
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On a long-term loan from a neighbor, this CB200T was a rather Euro styled Honda my friend bought new and never learned to ride. I found myself throwing it around the curves in Griffith park one day and soundly crashed it. Not exactly the best way to treat your friends...
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One of my favorite bikes of all, Honda's venerable, beautiful (if slow) almost baroquely styled, classicly proportioned and very civilized 1971 CB500 Four. I had 94,000 miles (yes, 94 thousand) miles on this bike when I sold it. My number one favorite of 70s era machines.
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One of the loaner bikes I rode while working for American Honda, a 1982 GL1100. Great bike!
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Also a loaner ("competitive product familiarization") bike while at AHM. A Yamaha 900 Seca, I wadded one of these up good (still recall my helmet banging on the pavement) one morning on the way into the office.
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Honda also put me on this Yamaha 920RH. Put maybe 300 miles on it. I didn't think much of the bike at the time, but many years later after doing some engine work on one I came to appreciate it a lot more.
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An incredible machine, the 1982 Honda CX500T Turbo. 17 pounds of boost, computerized fuel injection. Had this one for maybe two or three weeks. Not long after bought a used CX650T and enjoyed it for several years.
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The first-year (1982) Honda 750 Sabre. A pretty interesting machine. I rode this one for a month or so and later borrowed two of them to race together with a couple other AHM employees who formed a team. We ran in box stock at Ontario and Riverside before both of them closed.
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Another AHM loaner, this 1983 CB1100F was a nice ride. I remember riding on the freeway one afternoon and detecting a bit of wiggle at the handlebar. Stopping on the shoulder, I used the toolkit to on a hunch adjust the rear wheel alignment, and that was all it took. Very civilized, but still spirited motorcycle.
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A 1981 CBX, purchased from American Honda when I was employed there. A little bit modified in this picture. Now has 55,000 miles on.
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A 2009 Kawasaki Mean Streak, that is, a hotrod VN1600. Nice bike, if you like feet-forward riding. Or even if you don't, as its power and agility belies its crusier looks and will therefore surprise you. On loan from Kawasaki. No longer in production.
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A 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 on long-term loan from Kawasaki. Wonderful bike. Probably my number two favorite of all the availalble modern bikes.
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