Now
that I've finally had some quality riding time on my *ahem*"vintage"
Honda, I'll try to express my impressions of the bike for anyone
interested in an older UJM - Universal Japanese Motorcycle.
Cast
your minds back to the golden age of disco, bellbottoms, and
cheesy mustaches - specifically 1976, the year my bike was made.
The CB550 was considered the middle offering of the Honda 4
cylinder bikes. To put it in modern perspective, if the CB750
was the GSX-R 1000 and the CB400 was the GSX-R 600, the CB550
would be the equivalent of the GSX-R 750. Originally rated by
the factory at 50 hp, the 550 has plenty of get up and go for
most riders - maybe a bit too much for some newbies, but nothing
explosive like a modern day 600 cc sport bike. It's happy to
go down the highway at 75 mph with enough passing power in reserve
that downshifting is not required. It's not nearly as quick
as a modern 4 cylinder bike, but will easily out-accelerate
most cars. Just give it plenty of revs, as it's not particularly
strong down low, but picks up noticeably above 3500-4000 rpms
on up to a 9500 rpm redline.
Handling
is surprisingly nimble. The bike's no lightweight - around 450
lbs., but it feels like a small bike. The tires are pretty narrow,
but cornering grip is more than enough for sane riding. If you're
looking to drag a knee, this ain't your bike. I scraped a foot
peg taking a right hand turn from a green light a little quicker
than I should have, so ground clearance isn't a strong suit,
though probably better than your average cruiser. Even with
my tired shocks and forks, it soaks up bumps pretty well - only
a few really bad patches made their way up to my butt as harsh
impacts. I have yet to ride two up, so I can't comment on how
well the suspension handles being loaded, but I'm a big boy
- 220 lbs. and it hauls my butt around no problem.
The
riding position is bolt upright standard, with the pegs directly
in the middle of the frame, so your legs bend at 90° - no
forward cruiser stretch, no bent over sport crouch. It's quite
comfortable, but I noticed after a 2 hour ride yesterday that
my tail bone was a bit numb. This may be due to the seat design,
which is kinda flat. The best way to describe it is it's like
those old banana bicycle seats, just wider and longer. If I
go on any really long road trips next year, I plan on frequent
rest stops to get the circulation back in my heiny.
Problems?
Well, everything I went through to bring this bike back to life
has been pretty well documented. Now that I have it back to
road worthy-ness, I'd have to say the only annoying thing so
far is cold starting. These bikes tend to be cold blooded, so
it takes quite a bit of cranking to get it going, but once it
warms up for about 5 minutes it's good to go. Another not so
hot area is the brakes. Single disk/rear drum. They take a pretty
good squeeze, but they get the job done. From what I've read,
it's really the design of them that wasn't very great in the
first place. No danger of accidental stoppies on this bike!
So,
if you want an older bike with classic standard styling that's
relatively light weight and nimble handling with plenty of power
to keep things interesting, not to mention legendary Honda reliability
& durability for CHEAP - $400 for the bike, less than $1200
total including parts (with my own free labor) - take a look
at a vintage SOHC 4 Honda.
Just
for the record, this is what the bike looked like when I bought
it. I've cleaned it up quite a bit since then - it has mirrors
and front signal lenses now for instance .....As soon as I get
my hands on a digital camera, I'll post an updated pic.
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Rider
Review: 1976 Honda CB550F Super Sport