08-17-2025, 09:38 AM
Yesterday I took the CB on a little 4 hour ride through Preston and Tucker counties and it was delightful other than one incident. I was following an older Subaru on Aurora Pike when we came to a stop sign to cross Rt 50. He slowed to a stop, moved forward a little and stopped again, then when he proceeded I pulled forward to the sign while looking right, only he had not proceeded but stopped again and I hit his bumper.
He got out and came back asking if I was alright. I apologized saying this was totally my fault pointing to the black mark my tire made on his bumper. He said "don't worry that it won't hurt a thing, the reason I stopped was I couldn't see clearly because of that bush". I told him I had been trying to look around that same bush as I pulled up when I should have been watching where I was going. He said "they should cut that bush down it always makes it hard to pull out here, anyway be careful", he shook my hand and got back in his car and drove on.
That really bothered me as I rode off because I've never done that before and always wait to be sure the car doesn't start off then suddenly stop. The throttle assembly and mirror had rotated a little forward which I pulled back otherwise no damage other than the tire smudge on his bumper and the man was nice as he could be.
Soon I was riding down the mountain on 50 with not a car in sight focusing on one 25 mph curve after another which took my mind off the "incident". 15 miles later after a bottle of water and with full tank of gas I took 72S at a leisurely 55-65 mph up and down small hills and around the gentle curves. At these speeds the CB1100's engine is almost glass smooth with good torque in 4th through 6th gears, the exhaust emitting its subdued 4-cylinder growl. Again I came upon no other cars and could have really opened it up but 65 just felt right.
At St George I took Limestone Road (it's paved not limestone) which is a small 1 3/4 lane road that meanders through mostly woods with the occasional small farm. No more 6th gear mostly 2nd through 4th now just taking it easy hugging the right edge of the road around every curve in case a truck or car was coming and thank goodness I was because in the middle of one sharp left corner came some kind of wide trike I think a Polaris Slingshot with it's left front tire well across the unmarked center, another one followed and that was it for traffic.
A bit later I pulled off on the overgrown driveway of an abandoned home for some water and to just take in the lush green surrounding. For some reason when I see old abandoned homes like this I imagine the families who lived there, the parents with children then becoming grand parents, how did they live, the good times and the hard times, why was the house abandoned, what became of them?
![[Image: temp-Image-Woumlo.avif]](https://i.postimg.cc/GpTXcnYS/temp-Image-Woumlo.avif)
A gentle tink from the engine cooling down shifted my attention to the motorcycle as I finished my bottle of water. It reminded me of two of my previous Hondas, a 73 CB750K3 and 2000 Nighthawk 750, similar only this one is better in most ways. Honda really did a nice job with this air-cooled 4-cylinder motorcycle.
![[Image: temp-Image5-PH2g-Q.avif]](https://i.postimg.cc/mDx8kpyZ/temp-Image5-PH2g-Q.avif)
Back on the bike now winding up and around, Limestone Road turns into Stemple Ridge Road and eventually back to Rt 50 at Aurora. From there it's an hour to home across Aurora Pike, Terra Alta, Brandinville and Clifton Mills. Strafie who was lying on the front porch ran out to greet me with her tail wagging a mile a minute.
Next up was another ride but this one on a mower.....
He got out and came back asking if I was alright. I apologized saying this was totally my fault pointing to the black mark my tire made on his bumper. He said "don't worry that it won't hurt a thing, the reason I stopped was I couldn't see clearly because of that bush". I told him I had been trying to look around that same bush as I pulled up when I should have been watching where I was going. He said "they should cut that bush down it always makes it hard to pull out here, anyway be careful", he shook my hand and got back in his car and drove on.
That really bothered me as I rode off because I've never done that before and always wait to be sure the car doesn't start off then suddenly stop. The throttle assembly and mirror had rotated a little forward which I pulled back otherwise no damage other than the tire smudge on his bumper and the man was nice as he could be.
Soon I was riding down the mountain on 50 with not a car in sight focusing on one 25 mph curve after another which took my mind off the "incident". 15 miles later after a bottle of water and with full tank of gas I took 72S at a leisurely 55-65 mph up and down small hills and around the gentle curves. At these speeds the CB1100's engine is almost glass smooth with good torque in 4th through 6th gears, the exhaust emitting its subdued 4-cylinder growl. Again I came upon no other cars and could have really opened it up but 65 just felt right.
At St George I took Limestone Road (it's paved not limestone) which is a small 1 3/4 lane road that meanders through mostly woods with the occasional small farm. No more 6th gear mostly 2nd through 4th now just taking it easy hugging the right edge of the road around every curve in case a truck or car was coming and thank goodness I was because in the middle of one sharp left corner came some kind of wide trike I think a Polaris Slingshot with it's left front tire well across the unmarked center, another one followed and that was it for traffic.
A bit later I pulled off on the overgrown driveway of an abandoned home for some water and to just take in the lush green surrounding. For some reason when I see old abandoned homes like this I imagine the families who lived there, the parents with children then becoming grand parents, how did they live, the good times and the hard times, why was the house abandoned, what became of them?
A gentle tink from the engine cooling down shifted my attention to the motorcycle as I finished my bottle of water. It reminded me of two of my previous Hondas, a 73 CB750K3 and 2000 Nighthawk 750, similar only this one is better in most ways. Honda really did a nice job with this air-cooled 4-cylinder motorcycle.
Back on the bike now winding up and around, Limestone Road turns into Stemple Ridge Road and eventually back to Rt 50 at Aurora. From there it's an hour to home across Aurora Pike, Terra Alta, Brandinville and Clifton Mills. Strafie who was lying on the front porch ran out to greet me with her tail wagging a mile a minute.
Next up was another ride but this one on a mower.....