The Harley myth of value lives on.
If I buy a comparable bike like a thunderbird as example. If you buy a harley and pay a 20-25% more. Then we both sell a few years later. You get 20% more than I do after a few years.
Do the math. You likely paid more per year to own that hd than I did owning something more unique.
Add expensive harley accessories and now I really financially kicked your tail as those accessories are worth a whole lot of nuttin.
And many of us admire the accessories available to hd guys. If I ever bought one this would be one of the key selling points for me. But I should thank other makers for not having this available to me and potentially letting me go down a financial rabbit hole of lost investment. So. Thank you

It's a myth not supported by actual math data.


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Obviously some assumptions made above for sake of conversation. Numbers are just conversational base assumptions.


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I just received my letter from Honda offering to extend my factory warranty 4 years for $726....although its nice to have that piece of mind, I normally skip extended warranties, looks like I'll put about 5K miles on it for the first year, maybe for those out there who put >10K miles a year it would be worth it? Anyone signing up?

I’d like to thank HondaJon for his help and suggestions on the install. Removing the exhaust gaskets and assembling the pipes would have been a lot harder without his advice.

I believe Jon was the first to take the plunge and order the Motogear exhausts:

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1786

I copied Jon’s setup with TSR air funnel, K&N filter, PCV (stock map) and Staintune exhaust.

Once I got past removing the exhaust gaskets, installation of the headers was remarkably quick and easy. Exhaust sound is a bit louder at idle, but I was surprised at how well the Staintune muffler managed the sound at lower rpms. But at 4000 rpm and above, the bike really sings!

Once on the road, the bike’s performance was transformed! The bike responds immediately to input from the throttle and feels like my old GSX sports bike. In other words hang on when you hit the gas. It really gets up and goes, threatening to raise the front wheel. The stock PCV map seems to work fine – no stumbling or hesitation, no issues with idling or deceleration, and smooth, powerful acceleration up to redline.

The pipes are very colorful – so far – and the collector is much slimmer than the stock exhaust and free of those ugly wields .

I don't have a vintage bike but am a member of QHMC http://www.historicmotorcycle.org.au/, went for a quick ride and look
with my XL500.

[url=http://s183.photobucket.com/user/caponenzo/library/Public/Rally%20Royal%20Hotel]Vintige Rally

The Corbin seat is just a tight fit... I know that, we all know that. I wanted to put my Ogio saddlebags back on the bike, under the Corbin seat... if it was tight before, it was now impossible to latch on over the nylon strapping. I pushed, and thumped and jumped and pushed and cursed and pushed and cursed some more. It was SOOO close, I could hear the latch pushing in the catch but just not quite enough. As I pulled the bike up to the back of my pickup so I could use a 2x4 under the hitch assembly to apply some leverage to the seat I realized that my "solutions" were beginning to cross a very serious line.

<deep breath>

So I backed off the lever idea and just added two little washers between the the latch and the seat to make it functionally a bit longer and it now snaps in and out with and without the saddle bags... 3 minutes from disaster to no problem.

Not sure how many more times I am going to have to learn that desperate measures are a clear sign that you are thinking incorrectly about the problem, but probably at least one more... at least.

I've been after one of these for a long time, as, IMHO, the '70 Bonnie represents the pinnacle of the line, the final iteration of the pre- oil in frame. I located this one in Florida, and it arrived today. Completely restored and correct. Started right up after 35 or 80 kicks!

Needs some fresh gas and fettling, but did around 25 miles around the Shore on a lovely spring day, and I'm impressed. Really light and nimble compared to today's bikes, complements my Hinckley Bonnie, and more civilized than my Norton P11.

I was doing my 8,000 mile check today and I figured I'd wait until I got the valve cover off before I pulled the plugs (makes turning the engine easier). When I went to put the plug socket on, I saw a whole bunch of tiny stones around the plug base. So I put the valve cover back on and used compressed air to blow out the stones. Unfortunately, some of the stones had become wedged in between the plug base and the plug hole. I imagine the heating and cooling of the engine had done that. My only choice was to remove the plugs. Fortunately there is a small lip around the plug hole and by taking the plugs out carefully, I avoided having any of the stones fall into the hole. I then used my shop vac with a small hose to suck up the stones.

If I hadn't had the tank off, I never would have seen them. Just using compressed air to blow out the plug holes prior to removing the plugs isn't enough. You need to carefully remove them and then use a vacume to suck out the hole.

By the way, all the valves were spot on except one intake but it was still within the +/- tolerance.

Ok so I go for a ride, stop at the dealers to check on my new bike, then decided to go visit my brother for a cup of hot tea. Jump on freeway, go west about 20 miles and peel off on my brothers exit. The exit is a 1 lane right hand curve, a little straightaway, then opening up to 3 lanes curving to the left. To go different directions where it meets the State Rt.

So I sweep thru the right hander a little over 50 mph and straighten up for the straight away. Ahead of me cars are dodging..and then I see why, there is a car coming straight DOWN the entrance ramp at 50 mph. I dodge right and get on the brakes hard. He goes past me on the left, and I look in the left rear view. Now the cars behind me are dodging, and he is not hitting his brakes at all. Don't know what he did when he hit the ( for him) left hand curve at the bottom and found himself facing 3 lanes of oncoming freeway traffic.

I didn't hear any crash noises and continued on to my brothers house thankful that things worked out for me this time, and hopeful that things worked out for the wrong way driver as well.

Ride safe out there!

Today was round 1 of the 2014 season for the Hartwell Motorcycle Club held at the Broadford State Motorcycle Complex in Victoria AU. My friend Roachy has a son (Col) competing on his Aprilia RSV4 so the three of us (Roachy, Mick, and I) took a ride out to the track to watch some good old fashioned club racing.

Broadford is situated about 80 km north of Melbourne in the rolling hills that form part of the Great Dividing Range - a mountain range the runs down the east coast of Australia. The motorcycle complex has a mid length road circuit plus MX and enduro tracks. It's an excellent facility for club racing and track/ride days.

Entrance road to the motorcycle park
[url=http://s121.photobucket.com/user/aussieflyer1100/media/Motorcycles/Trips/Broadford%2022-03-14/image_zpsfb3131a7.jpg.html]

Mick's Busa, Roachy's S&S powered HD rigid, and my CB parked by the pit garages
[url=http://s121.photobucket.com/user/aussieflyer1100/media/Motorcycles/Trips/Broadford%2022-03-14/image_zpsa63dd432.jpg.html]

The infield - brown grass due to a very dry summer
[URL=http://s121.photobucket.com/user/aussieflyer1100/media/Motorcycles/Trips/Broadford%2022-03-14/image_zpsd5b994ae.jpg.html][/URL

Aerial view of the track - race direction is clockwise
[URL=http://s121.photobucket.com/user/aussieflyer1100/media/Motorcycles/Trips/Broadford%2022-03-14/image_zpsb873d5c8.jpg.html][/URL

Col had a good day coming second however two more races tomorrow so another chance to win

For those of you on FB, you ought to consider 'liking' the CB1100 page. There never seems to be any taking back and forth, but someone often times posts some pretty good pictures. Yesterday, they posted quite a few of the EX and one of a modified racing version. The shots of the EX are terrific!










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