Honda homeboys

 A couple of pics from sixties Japan of lads out with their Hondas. My knowledge of sixties Hondas is fairly scant but I'm guessing the bikes are CA77 Dream models.

Honda CB500 1975

Continuing the recent crop of Honda brochures here's the CB500. The CB500 is a rare model in the UK being overshadowed both by its bigger 750 and smaller 400 brothers.

Honda CB500 brochure page 1.

Honda CB500 brochure page 2.

Honda CB360 1975

Honda's brochure for the 1975 CB360. Honda's marketing department went for the good old iron horse analogy plus threw in racehorses for a bit of a sporty, pure bred association.... Wow, pulled out all the stops on this one guys!

Honda SS50 1975

Just so much 70s awesome-ness going on with this Honda brochure. Obviously aiming for coolness by association by placing the bike in front of a load of gig posters but the housewife and child between bike and posters can't have been a big pull to the sixteener market that the SS50 was aimed squarely at. A strange year for music too, lots of old names from old bands, prog rock and folk revival, just a short time before punk came on to the scene and cut through the dross....

Honda SS50 brochure front side.

Honda SS50 brochure rear side.

Back in Japan

I'm back in Japan again for a wee while for work.

Japan remains petrolhead heaven and customising is as popular as ever. Here's a few snaps of bikes parked around and about that are a bit different from those you see at home...

This is the Honda Solo. Looks like a custom but in fact this is as
it comes fully stock. Uses the Cub 50 motor in diminutive cycle
parts with retro styling. Very nice. At 6ft 2 I'd look like I was riding
a clown bike!

Other side of the Honda Solo.

Kawasaki Z400. The 400cc class is one of the most important in
Japan as there are two riders license classes - up to 400 and above.
 250s are also popular - below 250 and you don't need the
biennial roadworthiness inspection. 

Yamaha SRs remain amongst the most popular retros.

There's a strong custom fashion for a hybrid street tracker / sand
bike / hill climber look Tall suspension, wide tyres, high bars,
long swinging arm and bates headlight.

Two wheels, powered or pedal remain incredibly
popular.

The Honda Cubra is another retro 50cc Cub variant.

Another sand bike hybrid custom.

Custom super scoots are eternally popular.

This one is mild. Some are totally space age.

Honda Zoomer X update on the cult Zoomer. Personally I
preferred the old Zoomer.

Yamaha Vox retro scoot.

This unfortunate Vox has got a parking ticket. Not totally sure
what went wrong with their parking. Bit out of line?

MZing in Turkey

A trip down memory lane... On holiday in Turkey back in something like 1992. I hired a MZ Kanuni and my mate Will a Honda Lead scooter. We had a great time buzzing around Cappadocia exploring the underground cities for a couple of days. The MZ was a 250 and was a sweet bike, the Honda didn't leave much of an impression but it did the job as a twist and go pretty well.

VMCC Winter Run Sherborne

A few snaps from last Sunday's Dorset Section VMCC 'Winter Run' from Sherborne. Great run, the name seems a bit pessimistic to me though, mid-October, Winter? Either way the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day for a trundle around the Dorset / Somerset borders with a break at the Haynes Museum.

BSA v-twins have featured heavily on the blog
of late. This one is especially tasty, a 750cc
ohv Y13 model.

Close up on the BSA Y13 engine.

And the other side of the Y13.

1931 Norton looking well used as it should
be, sounded right too.

Really taken by this sporting handlebar fairing
on a Royal Enfield Bullet 350.

Has anyone got a fairing like this going spare for my Norton?

Laverda 750SF.

I've never seen a Honda CT90 on the road
before. This one attracted a lot of attention.

There's a lot to like about a CT90. Would love to give one a
go myself sometime. The greatest motorcycle engine ever
made housed in off road running gear. Light, reliable and
reasonably sprightly.

Here's what makes the CT90 extra special. The low ratio
gearbox.

A proper cult bike. There are several websites devoted to
the CT90. Here are a couple:
http://ct90-ct110.com/
http://www.ct90.net/

Soichiro Honda, his autograph,the Cub and the London to Brighton Run

Soichiro Honda on Madeira Drive, Brighton.

When I was young my father regularly took me along to spectate the London to Brighton Veteran Car Club Run. Back then there was a classic car show held at the same weekend at the Grand Hotel, the same place as was bombed by the IRA when the Conservative annual conference was held there. In 1985 we went to the show first and then watched the cars come in along Madeira Drive. At the show we wondered around the autojumble and, bike nerd that I was from an early age, I picked up this early sixties Honda Cub brochure.

As we were mingling with the arriving cars one rolled up carrying a guy who was attracting a lot of attention. It turned out to be Soichiro Honda. At the time he was 79 years old and he looked quite cold and tired (London to Brighton on the back roads in a veteran car is a fair journey for anyone and the weather on the Downs in November is usually grim). Undeterred by his weary state and the throng of spectators I hustled forward with my Cub brochure and asked him for his autograph. He was a gentleman, extremely polite and obliged with a signature slightly shaky from the cold. I like to think that he was flattered that a young lad from England was in awe enough to request his autograph (it's the only one I've ever asked for in my whole life) brandishing a copy of a brochure for his meisterwerk and this is why he signed as opposed to simply being taken aback and not wanting to say no. I did feel slightly bad after as he obviously just wanted a cup of warm tea and I opened the flood gates of autograph hunters and hand shakers.

The signed brochure has become one of my most treasured possessions and as time has passed my admiration for Soichiro Honda has increased. That the Cub is the greatest motorcycle ever designed and produced is nowadays not a particularly controversial view. Soichiro Honda is an absolute hero of the twentieth century and possibly did more to improve the lives, lifestyles and affluence of people in developing nations than any other person. The Cub brought cheap and dependable transportation to the masses.

Honda Cub brochure front side (folded out).

Honda Cub brochure rear side (folded out).
Check out the signature at the bottom!

How Honda Got on Top. Maudes Trophy Cubs and an ascent of Snowdon

The early sixties and Japanese bikes had a lot to prove to the British motorcycling public. Soichiro Honda unleashed his masterpiece, the Super Cub, in 1959. The model entered the UK market in 1962. A new, untried and untested brand from a country that had a reputation for making 'knock off' products. In response Honda cleverly revived good old school techniques to market their machines.

The Maudes trophy had been neglected by manufacturers since 1952 when BSA riders motored three 500cc A7 Star Twins to Austria to compete in the International Six Days Trial where they won Gold Medals. The bikes were then ridden home the long way through Germany, Denmark and Oslo where they did a speed trial to prove that they could still top 80mph and were then ridden back to the UK. The Maudes Trophy was originally conceived of as an annual award for motorcycle endurance tests to be awarded to manufacturers for outstanding achievement. The Trophy was donated by George Pettyt the owner of Maudes Motor Mart of Great Portland Street in London. In practice manufacturers only made sporadic attempts on the cup and it was rarely awarded annually.

To mark their entry to the UK market Honda took three 50cc Super Cubs to the Goodwood Circuit where they were ridden continuously for a week. Over the week the little Cubs covered 15,800 miles between them without problem (an average speed of just over 31mph). For this achievement Honda was awarded the Maudes Trophy which they held on to until 1973 when it was claimed by BMW.

Not content with the Maudes Trophy Honda then in 1963 undertook more endurance stunts. Like the Maudes Trophy attempt each ride had considerable historic precedent in the sale of motorcycles to the British public.

The first feat was a winter's ride up Snowdon (see the Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon in 1926 for precedent). This was followed by an economy run two up from London to Blackpool where an mpg of 128 was achieved. To add to the publicity the pillion was hard riding racer girl Beryl Swain. It no doubt helped that Beryl was glamourous and a 'celebrity' of the time being the first woman to complete an IoM TT; that she was a petite lass who normally raced the 50cc class was probably taken into consideration in the pursuit of economy. The final feat in the Honda endurance grand slam was a three week around Britain coastal ride on two Cubs averaging 30mph and achieving 142mpg over the course of the trip.

How Honda Got on Top brochure page 1.

How Honda Got on Top brochure page 2.

How Honda Got on Top brochure page 3.

How Honda Got on Top brochure page 4.

footnote: comment from Bob in Australia
The first Honda arrived in Australia in 1956 and we started to see a few of them by 1958. Like everyone we were wary at first. Very different looks, a specification beyond belief. Starter motor! Indicators! Mirrors that didn't vibrate. Reliability. Nothing fell off! (although we were waiting for the motor to die after six months) They took Australia by storm. By the time they got to the UK the Japanese makers had foreign marketing sewn up. They'd had a lot of practice in Australia, the States, South Africa, etc, etc. You didn't have a chance and honestly, how did you think you could compete selling things like the Fanny Bee Plover, the Ariel Leader and the LE Velo?
Personally I fell for Suzuki and had my first Suzuki before they ever appeared in the UK. I had quite a few over the years.
Nowadays I play with vintage Villiers thingies but I will always deeply admire the early export Japanese bikes.

Autumn riding the Dorset trails on a Bullet and an XL250

Not many fine days this Autumn but this was one of them. A ride through the fallen leaves on Dorset byways, myself on the Royal Enfield long distance trialser and Ian on his trusty Honda XL250.

No new trails ridden, just a few known favourites. Sadly found out that the lane connecting Tarrant Crawford and Chettle that runs past Chettle house has recently been closed. We rode it before getting the knowledge and it didn't exactly look that it got much traffic so hard to see a reason that the council would bother to close it off.

The Bullet ran well, that's if we don't mention a quick carb strip just by the Chettle camp site to clear out some fuel born dirt. Hardly needs mentioning that the Honda ran like clockwork....

Honda XL250 emerging through the trees.

Faithful trials Bullet muddied up.

Honda XL250 posing.

Rear three quarter view on the XL250.

Which way?

350 trials Bullet getting ready for the forthcoming Exeter trial..

The Dorset Ridgeway on Royal Enfield Bullets and a Honda XL250



Redditch Royal Enfield Bullet, Honda XL250 and Indian Bullet.

A crisp February afternoon out on the Dorset Ridgeway. Perfect! Ian out on his twinshock Honda XL250, Dan on his  Redditch Bullet and myself trying out a new arrival to the shed, an Indian Bullet with Hitchcocks trials kit.

Fixing the Bullet gear selector.

Meeting up in Blandford for lunch we headed over to Tollard Royal to join a track taking us up to the ridgeway running just south of Shaftesbury. The ground was hard frozen, the remains of a snowfall lay about and the ruts on the track were filled with frozen puddles. Unfortunately on one such mini skating rink Dan took a mild tumble. Dan was undamaged but the bike could mysteriously no longer change gear. We took the outer cover off and found a bent selector arm. Duly straightened up the bike was good again.


We crossed over to the parallel ridge running north of Shaftesbury and finishing up at Salisbury racecourse. Swapping bikes around it was evident that comparing the Indian Bullet against Dan's well developed machine there will need to be a good few improvements before it is a competitive mount in the long distance MCC trials it was bought for. Easy enough to sort the bike but improvements to the rider may be more troublesome! Riding the XL250 it was striking how more manageable a 25 year old off roader is compared to a 50 year old one, or even a 20 year old Bullet!

Redditch Bullet ride by of grim fly tipping.

The day was slightly marred by an elderly dog walking couple along the top of the ridgeway; though riding along a byway open to motor transport, stopping to let them walk by, even cutting off engines and greeting them with a cheery 'good afternoon' they saw fit to have a rant about motorcyclists using the byway. When we politely pointed out that we were on a track legal for motorcycles to use, we were riding considerately and not damaging it their best response was to shout profanities and storm off! I know there are some motorised users of green lanes who behave inconsiderately but then there are walkers of this ilk too! Midweek the greatest volume of traffic on the lanes is of farmers in Land Rovers and tractors and it would be fairly safe to say that they cause more wear on the tracks than do the motorcycles using them.

Redditch Bullet in action.

There seems to be a growing voice from local councils complaining that it costs tax payers too much to keep the green lanes in a reasonable state of repair. I can't really understand this - they're roads and need repair. There are plenty of asphalt country roads that get minimal traffic, you wouldn't get people moaning about having to keep them serviced. Why differentiate a right of way just because one is paved and the other not? It seems that councils are happy to jump on the bandwagon of the anti motor vehicle walkers as the stance could save them money. The lanes have been used by all manner of transport for hundreds of year. The eighteenth century saw controversy over the size of bullock carts being used and how this was damaging them. It would be sad if now our ancient byways were closed off and allowed to deteriate into small footpaths because of the penny pinching, the irresponsible and the small minded.





Indian Bullet, Redditch Bullet and XL250.

Anyway, rant over, back to the ride... A beautiful day to be out on a bike, crisp and icy but with bright sun so keeping just warm enough. Just after the potty mouthed pensioners we saw a large pile of fly-tipped rubbish looking like the remains of a seventies caravan. That could get me started too... But on with the ride. With the sun lowering in the sky and the new Bullet having no lights it was time to be heading home. As the light failed the temperature plummeted. We stopped in at a village store to stock up on some calories and rode on making it back just before dark.