From Samurider, here are a pair "Active" engine guards. These are lower profile that the larger "Over" engine guards and slightly less expensive at 25K yen plus shipping. (Over engine guards are back ordered until the end of the month)

I've never had engine guards on any of my bikes and didn't know what to expect in terms of weight and strength. These are fairly light weight, maybe 1.5 to 2 lbs each and are (surprizing to me) thin walled tubing. So I don't know how they would do in a crash and hope to never find out.

The right side guard went on in 10 minutes. I was ham fisted putting on the left and managed to bugger the bolt, then break the bolt off in the fixed nut while the clamp was held in a vice.

I drilled out the broken bolt but in the process hardened the nut, so I temporarily put an undersized 3/16th nut and bolt in place.

I told Takashi about it. He said to use grease the next time......with the free replacement clamp and bolt he just sent me.

Yesterday I installed a Scorpio i800 alarm. I connected all of the wiring according to the installation instructions and double checked that I had it connected correctly. Everything fine so far, NOPE. When I activated the alarm the thing went crazy and lights were flashing and sirens were blaring. It sounded like a war going on in my garage. So, I called technical support at Airtronics, who make Scorpio and talked to the tech rep. He stayed on the phone with me for at least 45 minutes and waited while I tried his suggestions on changing different wires around. He was the nicest and most patient guy when he was helping me. It turns out there was some wiring switching that had to be made for the alarm to function correctly. Moral is that I highly recommend Scorpio alarms for their support staff when a problem arises or help is needed. I did call back later and talked to one of the managers and told him how pleased I was with their support.

maybe i should start at the beginning. in 2009, about six months after i started riding, i took a 10,000 mile ride around the states. it was life changing.

a few months ago i decided that i wanted to take another motorcycle ride. i thought about canada, maybe northwest united states, and maybe europe. basically in that order, since i already had a motorcycle that i could use to make the first two runs. at the time europe was a "rent a bike" idea, because if i went for a month it would be impractical to do anything else.

talking to mihai, a co-worker, i found out that he and his mom were thinking about going back to romania in september.
interesting thought, so i checked out motorcycle rental in romania. aside from it being brutally expensive, i didn't like the idea of renting a bike. you never know what that rented bike has been thru. how many times did it fall? did it get twisted around a tree, and straightened? what happened to the last guy who rented it? you get the idea. i didn't want my equipment to be the reason that i was flying off of some mountain cliff road. no, if i am going down, it is going to be my own fault. my last thought is not going to be "if only i didn't cheap out on the bike".

this brings me to the the thirty dollar helmet story. in 2008, when i first started riding, i bought a little yellow motorcycle helmet for $30.00. it was about the size of a construction hard hat. i liked it. it was on sale. it was a really good deal, and even though it was a little bit too big for my head, i could get it so that it didn't wobble around too much. it looked good and i was really proud of my yellow helmet. i put a red john civetta and sons sticker on it, and rode all around new york city on my scooter with it on my head. the new york post actually took a picture of me in my yellow helmet. of course, i didn't know it at the time. vivien texted me to tell me about it "...dad you are on page six of the newspaper..." but, that's a different story not for today.

anyway, i really liked this helmet and one day i had it sitting next to me on the bar at the huguenot yacht club. one of my friends walked in, sat down and asked me about my helmet. this guy was a bit frugal, so i figured i would impress him with my buying skills. i told him that i got the helmet for $30.00. he took one sip of his drink and said " teddy, if you have a $30.00 head, you wear a $30.00 helmet". point well taken. never wore that helmet again.

okay, so after recalling the thirty dollar helmet story, i decided that the prudent thing to do would be either to buy a bike there, but then i run into registration problems (i live in new york) or ship one from the usa. it turns out that things in the usa are cheaper than in europe. there are a lot of reasons but the vat tax is a big one.

so i bought the cb 1100 in the usa, rode it for two months, made sure it was good to go, modified it to the way i wanted it, and shipped it to romania. i am going to keep it in europe for the next couple of years, and ride it every six months or so, until i get tired of europe or run out of money. i figured the romanian connection, was my best shot at getting it over here and thru customs smoothly, and there is nothing better than when a plan works. besides, romania was the farthest east that i really wanted to go. as i ride west i intend to leave it with a dealer, or in storage.

mihai left yesterday. the first picture is of him and his auntie anca. we had lunch and dinner a few times with his family. these people know how to eat and they really know how to cook. sausages, ribs, polenta, eggplant salad, hot peppers, roasted peppers, zucchini, tomatoes all from the garden. and blackberries, strawberries, plums, pears and grapes also from their garden. homemade bread, cakes, pastries and pies...and of course auntie anca's vin de casa (damned good red wine), made from their grapes. these people eat like italians. i can't understand how they stay so slim. i think that i gained over five pounds this past week.

and that is how i ended up here. the second picture is of me and cb just after we cleared customs.

more posts to come, depending on the weather. sounds funny, but it is raining now so i have a little time. it snowed this morning on the mountains.

I received my Lucas style tail light today. We have 3 conductors going into the OEM tail light. Only 2 wires on the after market light. Without a wiring diagram, (Thank you Honda, back in the day every owners manual had a wiring diagram.) I can't hook up the light without blowing fuses when hitting the brakes. Can someone tell me what worked for them. I remember someone mentioning installing the same light but there were no instructions. I'm sure this is very basic but I'm trying to expedite the project and have everything buttoned up by tomorrow morning. Can anyone please help?

Anybody tried a set of Rizoma mirrors on the CB yet? They make some beauties...at a price...and I imagine their 10MM adaptor would work. Just checking to see if there are any opinions or experiences.

Looking back thru some of the new member introductions it appears as though the CB 1100, a Japanese motorcycle, styled and designed to honor a motorcycle produced over 40 years ago, has brought fans together via this website from around the world..we have members from

USA
Canada
Britain
Russia
Italy
Switzerland
Finland
Holland
Australia
New Zealand
Germany
And probably a couple more I missed.

Amazing.... And VERY COOL!

I have a set of Cortech saddle bags that are a little too big because of the position of the rear turn signals. I have been looking for a smaller set of saddle bags to fit in between the suspension and rear signals. I did not want the Harley style leather bags with buckles and straps as I feel they are not suited to our bikes, I have found the perfect solution with the AEROSTITCH tank panniers to be used as saddle bags. I bought the smaller Competition size, although the Standard size would have worked equally as well. They are very well made and with easy to use bungee cords. The straps over the saddle can be shortened if so desired. These bags, size wise, are suitable for day trips.The bags do not come with rain covers, but I sprayed them with a silicone waterproofing agent. Plastic bags on the inside would also help to keep inner contents dry. The set of bags cost $135.00. Worth every penny Hopefully there will be 3 pictures attached to this message.
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i am in romania. the bike got here a couple of days after i did, and it was a breeze to get it thru customs. the customs agent and shipping company asked a lot of questions and i just explained that the bike was here temporarily and not being imported and they let me thru without any temporary tariffs...it was remarkable. after a week of playing around in bucharest, and learning to drive here ( these guys make nyc taxi drivers look like little old ladies going to church on sunday) i headed down to transylvania. first stop transfagarasan highway. this would item #5 on my bucket list.

it was built by ceausescu during the early 1970's as a quick way to get troops thru the mountains in the event of a soviet invasion. the road is amazing. it is about 100 km long and it bends and twists up around over and thru the carpathian mountains. the curves and switchbacks make sense, and you have a good feel from this road. it was rated by top gear as the best driving road in the world, beating out the stelvio pass in the italian alps.

in my short motorcycling experience, i have ridden some of the best roads in the us. the pacific coast highway was my favorite, this was better. this was awesome...literally. i was awe struck. i am afraid of heights, and it didn't strike me until today that i could get this feeling on a road. the height and sheer verticality was incredible ( not a good enough word), and it went on for hours. i never got out of third gear, unless i was downshifting. with the little bit of wind, and the altitude it got really cold...probably below fifty. thank god the clouds cleared, because there was no way i was going to do this in low visiblity. close to the summit there is a mountain lake that is really beautiful. the views near the summit take your breath away, and when i started the descent, i rode 25km downhill. can you imagine that...riding my 1960 dunelt three speed english racer bicycle for 25 km and not having to pedal. not once?

Unfortunately the picture below really doesn’t tell the story.

there were a few other cars on the road, but not may. i didn't see any deer or bears, but i did have to stop and let a herd of cows and goats pass. i got that on video but i haven't figured out how to get that into an email as yet.

bucket list item? i don't know, that list just tends to get longer,
worlds greatest road? it is for today.
really great day that will i never forget? i have been smiling so hard that my face hurts.

so how do you celebrate knocking another item off of the bucket list?
well i just had dinner at a great little traditional transylvanian restaurant.
i had a bottle of wine and listened to two guys play romanian songs on the clarinet and accordian.

i think i am going to go down to the hotel bar and have another drink.

hell, i may go after bucket list item #4 and try out that bidet thing...if i can get somebody to show me how it works.

i should invest in some, have been putting it off for sometime
wondering what you all like and where you buy
specifically the types of pants( kevlar denim, mesh , leather ) and how they fit compared to jeans( im a 36 waist and 32 inseam but even in 34 inseam jeans the bottoms ride up and flap in wind on bike
i need a good jacket as well, live in az so it needs to be able to transition for warmer weather
thx fellas

hi guys,

after months waiting and planning, i finally made the decision and purchased a new cb1100. it rides as smoothly as the reviews all indicated, and is a great complement to my 1975 cb750.

while i'm not into doing a great deal of modifications to the cb1100, i have seen pictures of other bikes w/small things that i liked. has anyone had success with repainting their sidecovers to match the tank or did you order them online from japan? also, does anyone know where to get fork gators?

thanks in advance for any assistance,

jt