I just sold my 78 750A. Punched it out to an 836. Loved having a free hand for hand signals. (turn signals didn't work 😅) Now I hear of automatic Wings! Haven't bothered to check... Ride safe. Look out for the idiots.
They used a 400cc Hondamatic as the motorcycle Prince rode in the movie "Purple Rain" they built another bike for the static shots, based on a four cylinder, but because Prince was so little, and didn't really know how to ride, they built the small automatic one for the shots he had to ride.😆
I've been a fan of Honda motorcycles since the early 80's, for years as a kid I rode Yamaha 2 Stroke Dirt Bikes, and around age 14 had a 175 street legal Deluxe Enduro, with electric start. My father came home one day with a Honda XL-350 and I instantly wanted it. His intent was to flip the bike, and he thought I was crazy, but I changed his mind.. He said I couldn't get it unless I could kick start it, incase the battery had issues while riding the trails. I was a slim kid, and without a compression release the 4-Stroke single cylinder "Thumper" would about thrown me if it didn't start when I kicked it over. I was successful and gave up my Yamaha to have it instead. I rode the hell out of it until I was about to turn 16 and get my Driver's License. He didn't want me riding on the Street with it, and knew I would.. I sold it to get the cash to buy a '68 Mustang. a few years later I ended up with a couple '70s Honda CB Inline-4 bikes. One of which I rebuilt and rode for awhile. I later bought a Suzuki DR-350 Dual Sport which I decked out with aftermarket parts and rode for a couple years while paying it off in '99. I wanted a "Cruiser" and my first plan was to build one, drooling over the pages of a motorcycle parts catalog creating a list of parts, S&S Motor, Baker 6-Speed Transmission, Frameset, Springer Frontend, Tanks & Tins, Spoked Wheels, and all the other parts necessary to build a complete bike.. I began to realize that the total cost would be way more than I wanted to spend, so I started looking for the "Perfect" Production Bike. I had considered various Harley models, but really wanted a light more nimble bike. Then I saw it in a magazine ad the '99 Kawasaki Vulcan 800, to me the Perfect Bike". I like the looks of it and started calling Dealers all over the North West to try and find one... (Before the days of Internet Searches). Unfortunately, many others also thought it was the "Perfect Bike" and all the Dealers I contacted were "Sold Out". I was seriously bummed out until a fellow College Instructor I worked with (who rode a Hot-Rodded V-Max) came in one day and said "They got your bike in Coure 'D Alene!" an off the wall Dealer "Specialty Sales and Service" sold boats, jet-skis, and Kawasaki Motorcycles. The next day I rode the Vulcan home... I did many upgrades to it, but was absolutely devastated 4/20/2000 to come out and find my bike was gone! Stolen! I was crushed and really went through a hard time dealing with it. I began the search for a new bike in '02 and visited the local Honda Shop in the small town of Pullman WA. There it was... I bright Yellow Honda Shadow Spirit 750. I really liked the low profile look, drag bars and ton's of chrome, I didn't even take it out for a test ride, I knew it was the bike I wanted, financed it, and rode it home. I put tons of aftermarket parts on it, and had some parts chrome plated, including the rear fender extension which I modified to install a HD chrome pyramid license plate bracket. I rode this bike to and from Arizona, and all over the NW. In '06 Again things went bad.. The day I received the Title in the Mail after making the final payment, about 1/2Hr later, and 1/2 Block from my apartment someone turned directly in front of me totaling the motorcycle, sending me over the top of the SUV and to the hospital in an ambulance.... After recovering, in '07 I ordered the exact same model from my local Honda Shop. while waiting for the bike to arrive, I ordered Cobra Slash-Cut Exhausts, Hyper-Charger, Scootworks Belt Drive Conversion, and tons of chrome aftermarket parts. I had also removed many of the custom parts from the wrecked '02 Shadow. That year I also went to Sturgis Bike Week, and purchased many more parts from Vendors there. I added tons of LED Lighting with remote control. I had a friend who did pin stripping do custom black flames with silver pinstripe outline to match the tanks Shadow Logo on the fenders and tank. during the next 3 years of annual trips to Sturgis I continued to add upgrades.. I had more than the cost of a new Harley invested, but the bike was stunning. I once had Jay Barbeiri the producer of "American Thunder" pose with the bike for a photo. I often had people tell me how amazing the bike looked. Once while in Deadwood during the Sturgis Rally, while it was parked with the endless rows of custom Harleys, I had a Law Enforcement Office come over to check out the bike, he said "This looks better than most of bike here..." I kept the bike for several years and unfortunately had to sell it during tough times. A decision I have regretted ever since. This year I really couldn't stand not having a motorcycle and began the search for the best '01-07 Honda Shadow 750 Spirit I could find. a couple of months ago I bought an '06 in good condition which already had aftermarket "Shorty" Exhaust and Carb Rejetting dialed in. I have slowly working to return it to pristine condition, with the various modifications and upgrades I want. The Honda Shadow Spirit VT750DC is my favorite bike by far. I prefer it even over the American Classic, Aero and later Phantom Shaft Drive models. The 750 is the perfect size for me, I don't want to have to muscle around a heavier bike. The times I have rode a friends 105th Anniversary Fat-Boy, in Daytona, and his Full Dress Screaming Eagle I was a little terrified. Especially when I rode over the mesh decking on the bridges around Daytona, and felt like it was riding over "Ball Bearings"!
My first bike was a 1983 Magna VF1100. And yeah finding parts was a bitch. Especially in the early 2000’s. And that shaft, being maintenance free was amazing, it was lack luster to say the least. But the damn carbs and that goddamn aluminum airbox chamber.
Nice video guy . Love the channel idk why it took me years to look into the channel. I’ve owned Hondas and never started until about a week or so ago…. When does part 2 come out??? Please don’t tell me the vt750 spirit is on the list or the vtx1300 lol
A large part of the reason for all the new models in the early 80s from Honda, (and the other Japanese manufactures) was the Honda/Yamaha war of 1979 to 1983. Yamaha made a move to become the number one motorcycle manufacturer, both factories were releasing new models at alarming rate, flooding the market and forcing the other two, (Suzuki & Kawasaki) to do the same to try and compete, it ended when Yamaha called a truce after nearly being bankrupted.
Good content to educate us about the duds Honda made. I still remember the fat cat,wth? My only Honda, bought at the age of 66, is a 2002 VTX1800R. A fun bike but I gotta say a 1st generation V-Max was the most enjoyable adrenaline producing bike I've ever had.
@@TJBRUTALCUSTOMS how to make vt500s better. Release a range of tj brutal custom parts. Just for fun. No one said it was going to be economically viable but thats where the magic could happen. Alchemy im all for it... well son it will take a hell of alot of alchemy to make a vt500 into a good bike..*scoffs and to this i say! Oh how can you be so brutal to my half rotten back from the ded vt500s as the soar along the irish coast often to the admiration of an odd eagle or buzzard its like the the vt500 version of an eagle
you forgot to mention the FT500 was actually a special build, withone cylinder being bored out to 500cc, deleting the watercooling system, and eliminating the front cylinder entirely thereby saving a huge aount of weight over the standard watercooled V-Twin VT500
The FT500 ascot was just a slightly modified XR/XL trailbike 500cc single, minus the kick start (electric only) styled as a flat track. The brochures of the time said that FT stood for "Flat Track". They were a flop, apart from not selling very well, they suffered from failure of the electric starters rear support bearing, due to poor oil feed.
I love my VT500, I got it as my first bike for $700, parts aren’t overly difficult to find, you have to mix and match for sure, I have parts from like 6 different bikes on mine. the seating position is perfect for me being 5,6’ mines got a Dynojet Rejet and exhaust, it moves pretty good and it’s light, the low end torque mixed with how easy it is to throw around makes it an absolute blast. And you totally called it there is a guy who restores ascot clusters 🤣 I’m gonna send mine to him to get the Tac needle replaced and working.
I’m glad Honda is getting back to the in-line twin on the new rebels. Try to mimic the HD with the shadow was a mistake. They should leave that in the past
Back in the early 90's I bought an 84(?) Shadow. It was my first street bike and the only thing I could afford after my Fiat Spyder (money pit) shit the bed. It was alright except evey time you went WOT it would lose spark. Just putting back and forth to work and 30 miles an back to see my girlfriend it did fine. After a year or so, I sold it (the guy that bought it swapped out the "brain box" and claimed it ran great) to fund a cage purchase. It wasn't the greatest, but it did instill in me a love for bikes. Took a while but I finally bought a new '03 Spirit that is still rocking an rolling to this day with about 150k miles on it (no speedo, I've got 1 of your peanut tanks on it, so just an educated guess) and 3 years ago, I added a '10 Fury for a little more oomph. I've considered a Harley, but the reliability issue always talks me out of it.
@@bobplyler8057 didn't mean to imply they are all money pits. Mine was a '78 that was butchered to hell and back. Redneck wiring, the right rear wheel fell off because the hub was stripped (coverted to studs and lugs nuts after that) and was obviously in a wreck at some point as the front left suspension broke off at the chassis and no one would touch it with a 10ft pole. Motor still ran great. Was a fun little car while it lasted.
@@bobplyler8057 wasn't trying to imply they're all shitboxes, just mine. Lol! I was young and stupid and saw a convertible that I could afford. Turned out, it was redneck-wired to hell and back. All the hubs were stripped out (gotta love those lug studs). 1 of the rear wheels decided to it had had enough and fell off taking my girlfriend home 1 night. I had the rest of the hubs converted to studs and lug nuts. The final nail in the coffin was when the front right suspsension sheared off the chassis, and no one would touch it with a 10ft pole. Luckily, I was making a low speed right hander. I'd probably be dead if it'd happened on the highway. It was a shame because the motor ran great. Loved it while it lasted.
I had a vt500 shadow in the late 80's, I loved that bike, never had a problem even when riding 2 up, now I do have to agree with you about the shaft drive on it
Because of the only recent discontinuation SR400 Yamaha I can get just about any parts I need for my 1978 SR500 from Yamaha dealers except for parts for the rear disc brake that was only on the 1978/79 US and Australian models
We have two different options for 750 Fork Extensions: shoptjbc.com/products/fork-extensions-honda-shadow-vt750dc-spirit-01-07?_pos=1&_sid=9438e64a7&_ss=r shoptjbc.com/products/fork-extensions-honda-shadow-vt750-aero-04-14-spirit-07-09-phantom-all-years?_pos=3&_sid=19a48038f&_ss=r
@@TJBRUTALCUSTOMS I’m not sure those are the same as the ones you had on the website for the Honda magna… If they’ll work I’ll order two right now though.
Dude that sucks! I'm so sorry but we just cannot help diagnose bikes via RU-vid! It usually ends up being an exercise in futility and frustration. Plus, you wouldn't want a stranger on the internet diagnosing your bike! One would really need the bike in person to properly diagnose, and we are not a service or repair shop. We recommend you check out our other youtube videos (theres a TON!) and the support page at shoptjbc.com We also offer a tuning e-book, here's the link- shoptjbc.com/blogs/news/performance-tuning-book-lp If you are still not able to figure out the issue, we recommend you take it to a local shop! Wish you the best and do fun shit!
The best engine Honda ever made was the old CB 750 four, it might not have the big HP, but they were bulletproof and reliable, we called them concrete mixers, the sound they made when they idle ………..NZ.
Put a bigger tank on it i can go over the cork and kerry moutains on mine as it has a 750 tank. Tbh i see them as little harleys i have a shed load i got one for 150 quid there a few months ago it needed a starter the pulse generators and now its flying🎉 like wtf it brings me so much joy. In the shadow of hd. I dont think i cud ever sell any of them. Hey if you ever in ireland hit me up and you can ride the vt500 with straight bars on the copper coast and btw chicks dig the shadows man that add from the 80s was not wrong🎉
Wait i got 4 1985 honda shadows here vt's all but one has twin front discs and thats a 750 the other 3 are single discs but i wish they were twin.. do carry on...🎉
Wrong ... wrong ... wrong ... I guarantee that you never owned one or rode one. I had a new '83 blue one, loved it to death. First off, let's get the easy shit out of the way. You made three references to the "Comstar wheels". WRONG. Neither the VT Ascot nor the Shadow had Comstar wheels, they had nice, cast five spoke wheels. Comstars were five stamped spokes riveted to the rim. Originally silver and smooth side out, then black and tunnel side out. Next, the instrument cluster was indeed jet fighter like and looked great {opinion, of course}, went well the 80's square headlight and such too. Thanks to the driveshaft, the bike had an almost turbo-like whine that sounded great and no chain or belt to **** with. As for performance, it was a docile 500cc street bike, not a rice rocket. That said, an Ascot will cruise effortlessly at 75 all day long in sixth gear and not even break a sweat, that works for most of us. Lastly, it only took Harley Davidson 30 years to copy the Ascot right down to the exhaust, only with a lot more weight and a lot more money. Great bike!
I keep buying nice examples of these and CX500's to loan out to folks learning or re-entering riding after a long hiatus. I never have them long as a result because those folks buy them from me then quit riding after year because "life gets in the way" and forget their promise to sell it back to me. The Shadow 500 has better interstate manners (speeds over 70 mph) while the CX has so many, many, many spare parts because of the insanely long production. I would say the significantly downrated and overly styled VLX600 is the worst of the Shadows.
I rode a CX650 Euro Sport when i was a motorcycle courier in London from 87-90, it was on 170,000 miles and still going strong when i sold it to another courier to come home to NZ.
Ha..love my vlx 600...has its own exhaust note..going to ride it till my grandson old enough to be on the highway..already is...only 7 ...my riding buddy...parts easy to get ..easy to work on.. we like it ..
I picked up a 86 vt1100 shadow for 800 on market place. It ... Needed a lot of work and I haven't really had the motivation to get it all together again. It's still a pile of parts but at least I think it won't leak oil anymore. And yes it IS hard to find certain parts for this, and specific diagrams. RU-vid doesn't really have as much a wealth of mechanical tutorials like the 500cc one, and unfortunately for me, i am not a super mechanical person lol. But if there's a RU-vid video on the exact thing I want to do? I can do that to my car or my other bike
I love my '83 500C. Here's why. It's cheap on gas... if I drive it the speed limit. I'm 200 pounds. I trek 30 pounds worth of tools with me at any given time to fix this 40 year old beast that's slowly falling apart. If I drive it the speed limit, I get 4.5L/100km. If I drive it the way I like to drive it, it's more like 6.5L/100km. I can confirm that it will move it's 400lb max capacity to a speed that would have my licence pulled from me on the spot, but not much faster unless I'm downhill with wind. It was complete and ran only a couple hundred kilometres a year when i bought it, and it was, indeed, cheap. Here's why I hate it. It's 40 years old, and is falling apart. I made the mistake of thinking I could ride this bike every day in the 5 months a year I can drive a bike in Canada. Every couple hundred km, something falls apart on it, and I'm thankful when it's a simple fix I can tabernakostiwatisdismerde. Guys who have this bike in... lets be generous and call it, a 'custom' condition, want $3000 for a bike that's missing it's airbox, it's exhaust, it's body panels, it's cluster, it's rediculous to find a parts bike, nonetheless parts. It's not worth fixing it. And while I want to preserve what pathetic excuse for integrity it has... It's absolutely not worth the money to do so. Here's why I love it... It's mine. And it gets my knees in the breeze. It needs my love to keep it going, and I love when she squirts fluids all over me. (Side note, the '83 had single discs in the front. I can confirm that it doesn't need more stopping power.
