03-28-2015, 11:40 PM
I came from a Chevy (mostly truck) rural family. Then my dad bought a little Honda generator that was quiet, started easily no matter how long we let it sit, and worked flawlessly. Then I got my first road bike in the 90's, a '79 CB650 with about 40,000 miles. I rode it to 60,000 with basic home maintenance. I was riding year-round in Portland, OR, which incidentally made that bike very happy -- she liked to be run, and fairly hard (she hated short shifting).
After that pleasant experience, I found a 190,000 mile Honda Accord in the paper and ran it until kids came along, then replaced it with an '06 Accord that now has ~100k. I love the car's "Maintenance Minder" light that alerts you to maintenance needs -- so far, I've never had to take it to the shop for service, because the maintenance is so simple I can do it at home (e.g., change oil, cabin filter, oil and air filters). I did visit Oil Can Henry's for the ATF change, but that was while I sat in the car reading the paper for a few minutes. Also, the VTEC and hydraulically adjusted valves in that Accord are pretty nice. I'm sold on Honda's, but it was that '79 CB650 what done it. It was a much nicer bike than my first bike, a Kawasaki KE125, that I'd had in my teen years. Although the KE125 2-stroke would be an ideal hipster bike these days! It could actually have been on Portlandia. Who am I kidding, they'd use a Yamaha DT.
I will say that the 1980's chain driven cam Interceptors didn't seem like a robust design and were a pain to try to get into. Thank God carbs are on their way out. Like points and breakers. Incidentally, that '79 CB650 had lovely, lovely, CDI ignition.
After that pleasant experience, I found a 190,000 mile Honda Accord in the paper and ran it until kids came along, then replaced it with an '06 Accord that now has ~100k. I love the car's "Maintenance Minder" light that alerts you to maintenance needs -- so far, I've never had to take it to the shop for service, because the maintenance is so simple I can do it at home (e.g., change oil, cabin filter, oil and air filters). I did visit Oil Can Henry's for the ATF change, but that was while I sat in the car reading the paper for a few minutes. Also, the VTEC and hydraulically adjusted valves in that Accord are pretty nice. I'm sold on Honda's, but it was that '79 CB650 what done it. It was a much nicer bike than my first bike, a Kawasaki KE125, that I'd had in my teen years. Although the KE125 2-stroke would be an ideal hipster bike these days! It could actually have been on Portlandia. Who am I kidding, they'd use a Yamaha DT.
I will say that the 1980's chain driven cam Interceptors didn't seem like a robust design and were a pain to try to get into. Thank God carbs are on their way out. Like points and breakers. Incidentally, that '79 CB650 had lovely, lovely, CDI ignition.