Had one decked out with Goldwing like fairing and Panniers with trunk. The Goldwing gear was offered from Honda for the 900 custom. Looked just like a Minnie Goldwing. Really loved it. The one thing I really liked was it had a drive shaft. Instance power with no lag. Wife made me get rid of it. I don’t have the wife anymore either. I now have a BMW F800GS.
I'm in Canada. My late father bought this bike in 1981, new, only it was the red colour. He never rode it, not even once. In 1984 I got my motorcycle license using his bike. I just loved the sound of it. In 1986 I drove this bike to Toronto to the inaugural Molson Indy ( we lived in a rural area north of Toronto). When my dad found out, he took the bike away from me. That was the end of that. I ended up buying a brand new 1985 750 Nighthawk S the next year in 1987. Loved the sound of that bike, too. I will always have a motorcycle.
Beautyfull. I had one exactly like that in 1981. I paid $4200 including taxes at that time for a brand new one... Wow I recognize the sound of the motor... thank you for that video
one of the few street bakes ever made with a high low range transmission and he doesn't mention a thing about it instead he wows us with it having 2 keys and shows that you can ride it like a motorcycle, amazing!
Oh that's a gorgeous bike. I had one I bought new back in the day. Wish I'd never got rid of it. The 2 speed secondary trans (used because Honda wanted to use the Goldwings shaft drive but the 900's output shaft was on the wrong side) was always a conversation starter!
I had this exact model in the mid 80's. Bought it used and was my first "real" motorcycle. That bike took me from San Diego to Mississippi, then to New Jersey and back. I had a high sissy-bar on the back for the passenger that I strapped my full sea-bag to and used that as a back rest. Loved that bike!
I had a carbon copy of this, I loved that bike. All I added was a wind screen, it made it a lot more enjoyable on longer ride not having wind pounding my chest..
these bikes are fun .I have one and Im starting my 5th year on it .they ride easy and are good and fast . after minor upgrades I can run past 70mph in ffirst gear and I dont do it anymore but they are also great on backroads .
I had an '81 in the two tone maroon, very nice running bike, but the 10 speed, high/low tranny was a dumb idea. Exact same results with a six speed gearbox.
rotaxhead I'm looking at a 1982 CB900C it has 35,500 miles and it's selling for $1,000. He did do a lot of maintenance on it and a lot of custom work on it to the point that it looks pretty new. I was wondering what are these driven by? Chain and sprocket, shaft, or belt? Also, what kind of things should I look for in this particular model of motorcycle?
I love this bike and the High & Low range transmission. How do you shift it if you want to start in low range? When would you shift into high range? After 5th gear or after 1st gear?
Technically you can shift into high range in any gear but it is really only practical to use it in 5th. If my memory serves me correctly (it's been 25 years) I think at about 80 mph the high range would lower the rpm by 500 to 600. It was a great bike for the interstate. At freeway speeds you'd be humming along at about 4000rpm. The engine was not even breaking a sweat. Hope I gave you the info you wanted, have a good day.
Remember, back then that was a large bike. Now, it is a standard, not a cruiser, and for a standard it had a very long wheelbase. It was not considered small at all. By comparison, My father who was 6'4 and a half coming out of the Marine corps was making cross country trips on Honda CB and CX500's. His 1985 Shadow 1100 when he bought it new cost the exact same amount as a brand new 1100 Gold Wing, and had about the same insurance rate. I think he said that at the time, the V65 Magnas were the only bike that would have run him more in insurance payments.
Yep. It really is. You can go back even farther than the 80's too. The original CB750 from Honda was considered the first Superbike in 1969. Harley and Indian going back into their early days when they were considered their strongest in classics and competition during the 20's and early 30's. Things have come a long, long way.
Beautiful bike man! I've got the same exact one (color wise... Mine is a 1982 though). I'm actually converting mine over to a cafe project. Check it out on my page if you're interested... It's called #Project900 Ride on! Can't wait to get mine going!
