How close does this Gringo S metalflake color match the DLX paint?
Any idea?

A very good friend of mine in the 70's was crazy about motorcycles from Triumph 650 choppers with hard tail frames, to CB750 Sohc engines to stroker iron head Sportsters who was also a good mechanic and an amateur drag racer told me it all depended on how much money you could get your hands on. Luckily I only wanted my CB 750 K1 to be able to whip my little brother's 1973 Z-1. Back then it took a Kenny Harman cam,valve springs, rejetted carbs with pod filters and a 811 piston kit. It left Z-1's for dead. Luckily I was parts manager at a Honda shop and got everything for cost and labor for free. The good old days.

Great article about Dick, who was a huuuge promoter of all things Honda. Bought my first bike there. His son Mark now runs the dealership and sold many CB1100's, though the 13's did not fare as well once the '14 came out.

[url=http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=427]Dick Bettencourt AMA Museum article

I'm a CB1100 aficionado but not (yet) owner. The new EX has re-kindled my interest in the model, so I'm active again on the forum.

As the winter doldrums are settling in on those of us in the northern hemisphere, I thought you guys might appreciate a ride tale from last spring. My "seat" was on an F800GT but maybe the tale will prove more interesting than the bike I was on.

I wrote it up on the F800riders.org forum where my handle is "Futterman"...rather than re-post here I'll just [url=http://f800riders.org/forum/showthread.php/265818-Georgia-Bound]post a link.

OK, I was blissfully ignorant of this '92 Honda CB750 RC42 model. Apparently Euro- only, but on eBay in NY. Anyone want to shed some light on it or just opine?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1992-Honda-CB-/1...2025754414

Here are a few pix should the auction go away.

It may seem trivial, but what you choose to put between your foot and your motorcycle boot may be as important as the boot itself. Not much thought about socks is needed for a trip around town -- something that goes with your pants and doesn't slide down into your boot is fine, but a long day trip or a multi-day tour is another matter. You want your feet to be dry and as comfortable as possible relative to the riding temperature.

I recently was introduced to the marvels of alpaca fibers (some in the alpaca biz want to avoid using the word "wool"). Alpaca fiber is not itchy, hypoallergenic, and is warmer and more durable than (sheep) wool. Last summer, my wife arranged for our family to spend a weekend on an alpaca ranch in Wisconsin. The ranch is also a B&B and would be an excellent motorcycle destination for a motorcycling couple. We had a great time and I bought three pairs of socks there; one for golfing and the other two for hiking, snowshoeing and/or motorcycling (mostly motorcycling, of course).

There are many styles of alpaca socks from which to choose even from this one supplier. I opted for a lighter weight one for summer/warmer days and the thickest one I could find for cold riding, hiking, or snowshoeing days.

Lighter Weight Sock - Click Here

I used this sock all summer and on my trip to West Virginia in the fall. I think that I may have opted for the thicker sock a particularly cold morning on the WV trip, but aside from that these socks kept my feet comfortable in both the heat of the summer and the cool of the fall. They naturally wick away moisture which is why they kept my feet so comfy.

[url=http://www.sabambaalpaca.com/store/productDetail.php?id=36]Winter Sock - Click Here

I wore these on my 24 degree ride this past Saturday. I will confess that my feet did get cold, but not cold enough to cut my ride short. In fact it was my fingers, even with heated grips that lead to my decision to head home. They are very warm and, like the others, wick moisture away from your feet which keeps you comfortable. I have used them snowshoeing on a couple of occasions in very cold temps.

The great thing about both of these socks is that they don't get smelly and rarely need to be washed. Sally explained why this was, something about structure of alpaca fiber and the percentage of that fiber in these socks, but I was skeptical. However, both my wife and I can attest that the socks have remained odor-free and that we have only washed them when they got dirty (as in actual dirt in the fibers). I wore the lighter weight socks for 9 out of 10 days in a row on our West Virginia trip. I just wore different socks in the evening so that my riding socks could air out. Yeah, it may sound less than hygienic, but I am hear to tell you that they definitely lived up to Sally's hype.

The only downside is that you should wash them by hand and with a mild shampoo and then air-dry them. This doesn't take very long, but it's not as easy as just tossing them in the washing machine.

[Incidentally, the ankle-socks I bought for golfing work great, too, but they do not have as high a percentage of alpaca fiber and therefore need to be machine-washed after each use, just like regular sock. It's still better to air-dry these, though. ]

So, if you're in the market for some durable and comfortable socks, try alpaca socks. if you're going to try them, I recommend contacting [url=http://www.sabambaalpaca.com/]http://www.sabambaalpaca.com/ and maybe even calling Sally.

Driving to work and spotted a deluxe! The owner came out said he had been hunting for a few years for one ... got it about 5 months ago...picked it up out of Tennessee


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SR400, a bigger version of the Wolf Classic 150, kick start only.

Less than $6K. Saw it when it first came out but was not interested, but now I am very much. I got a decent trade sitting here as a big down payment, too (no, not the CB1100).
[attachment=5772]
These bikes are so cheap to insure and own, too, and this one's EFI. Sport heritage bikes, real easy to ride and fun. I like the 18" wheels, spokes are nice too.

I was riding my F800GS, which is pretty much my favorite street bike and I thought I would just see where that darn ABS kicks in. I had to really stomp the rear brake to get it to activate, and it feels a bit like the bike is sliding in gravel, what with the grinding sort of pulsation at the pedal. On dry pavement it has to be stomped quite hard. But it was pretty fun.

Getting the front ABS to kick in is a bit harder, I was searching for rough pavement as that usually will get it going. So it feels to me like it activates over rougher sections under fairly hard braking; this really does me no good because I would leave the brake on and allow the front tire to just slide over those sections of crappy pavement, as it doesn't really affect the outcome if there's clean pavement right ahead. But I can slow the bike better on my own since the same brake pressure is applied throughout the entire rough patch; with the ABS the brakes are completely released sporadically whereas with a constant pressue the tire slides a little on the rough, uneven pavement but there is still some friction.

One other thing I figured out about ABS today was that I hate it because what it was doing to me is ANTICIPATING lockup, and releasing slightly before the actual lockup occurred. This is typical, it's explained the system rationale for both ABS and TC by most manufacturers.

The bike thinks I am a ham-handed dummy and starts to release the brake pressure a bit before actual lockup occurs, so here I am going "What the...?"

So my solution to all this while still being able to keep the ABS on instead of permanently disabling it by disconnecting the rear wheel speed sensor (this is the trick on the 2013 F800GS) was to just keep getting the ABS to kick in so I'd understand how it works.

That was pretty helpful, so I changed my reference points somewhat with the BMW to brake just a smidgeon earlier, and not be quite as aggressive with max braking. Works really good, now instead of the bike anticipating me locking up, I am anticipating when the bike is going to release the brakes. We got along real good that way.

Anyone with ABS who wants to get the most out of the system needs to find some way to get the system to intervene a few times to "train" the right hand and foot, but it's not really something for the regular guy to go do unless it is a VERY SAFE environment. Would not recommend just jamming on the brakes on the open road to see what happens. Do it under some kind of controlled situation.

Does anyone know what causes O2 sensors to fail ? I just bought a used Honda ATV and the check engine light is blinking the code for O2 sensor. I have never removed one, so I have no idea what they are all about. Can they be cleaned ? The bike didn't get ridden very much and the owner didn't use stabilizers. Is it possible that it's fouled ? Will it harm the machine to run it with a bad one ? I looked around on a couple Honda ATV forums, but it's not the same as asking questions here.