I put my 1967 Superhawk CB77 back on the road last week. I finally got it out for a real ride today. I took it out - about an hour after a heavy rain storm, early on a Saturday morning in the suburbs of Chicago. Roads were mostly clear. It was 72 degrees out, slight misty fog remaining from the previous night's weather.
What a RUSH! That engine loves to rev, and it sounds so good. Snarling and low instead of high pitched like a modern superbike. It has surprising speed for such a small displacement engine. It sounded and felt good.
The truth is; I don't know how fast I was going. However, the seat of the pants suggests upper 80s, low 90s. My speedo and tach both spun, probably from hardened, 39 year old grease in the drive mechanism is my best guess. Therefore, I removed the cables to prevent any irreparable damage from the spinning needles. As an example, at about 10 mph real speed, the speedo needle would be showing about 60-70 mph, and would "peg" over 120 if I did about 20-30 real road speed. Speedo is only a cosmetic ornament right now and does nothing.
So, I don't really know how fast I was going, but not knowing was sure a lot of fun. A very ZEN thing so to speak, since I only relied on listening to the engine, to hear when I had revved it up to the point where it sounded near redline, and power fell off. I wonder if that is part of the fun of riding a race bike with nothing but a tachometer? Hmm.
The skinny little tires chirp if I break too abruptly. The cheap Cheng Shins I mounted are decent but not the best I could have bought. After the coating wore off they showed some good grip on dry pavement. I have not thoroughly tested them in the rain, nor do I wish to.
Initially, everything on the bike came off down to the last frame bolt for the rebuild. I wouldn't call it a resto, because to me, that is making a bike new again. This was just a primping-up, so to speak. The frame was painted, the fenders replaced and painted. Everything that took paint, got paint. I did about $400 in chrome work, and polished everything else except the engine. From five feet away, it looks like a new bike. I've got about $1000.00 invested inlcuding the $400 initial purchase price.
I got the bike from one of my customers. It sat with just under 7000 miles showing, in a dirty, dusty garage from 1971 to the day I picked it up in 2005. I reuilt it from March through July of 2006. Here are some pics I hope it works. Otherwise cut and paste into browser window.
http://springvinmoto.com/gallery/view_a ... polishbeer
Except, after today's ride, my Superhawk looks more like a wild mustang that got caught in a rainstorm. Road grime got into a lot of places and water sprayed all the nice shiny parts. The tach drive spat a little oil out onto the engine, since I didn't have the correct metric threaded cap to prevent oil spray (minimal). But y'know what? I am thrilled with this bike and don't mind cleaning it one bit. Then, I'll do it again.
I didn't see any "ride reports" from bloggers on this list other than the one Riding Log, and thought it might help inspire some folks that haven't finished their restoration or rebuilds to finish and get their own Superhawks back on the road.
As a last note, at Mid-Ohio Vintage days, this year, I watched three CB77s whoop a bunch of CB350s and CB360s. I think the CB77s were somehow faster, but the CB350s and CB360s had better suspensions.
Thanks for reading such a long post.
Jordan AkA polishbeer
First ride and ZEN experience report 08.19.06
Response and Superhawk lighting ground wire curiosity...Yes, I told the guy I bought the bike from that I wish I could thank his fathter (previous owner, now deceased) for rattlecanning and stickering the original Honda emblems. In fact, by doing so, he preserved the hard to find originals that would probably run me over $100 to replace even used.
I believe in making these bikes "riders" instead of show bikes. I don't want anything that I am afraid to ride for fear of a nick or scratch. I have thought of getting the stamped metal badges and some aftermarket pipes for the time being, as the badges are easily stolen when parked and are worth some cash. You meet all sorts of people at swap meets and shows, and sometimes there are less than honest people who would take whatever isn't nailed down (or at least threadlocked!). I love the stock torpedo type mufflers but they'd be hard to replace if i went down, and a cheap $100 set from JC Whitney would suffice unless I was showing the bike. Personally I probably won't show the bike. It gets enough attention on its own in the parking lot from people who remember them from the 60s. I put the headlight shield with the wing on there even though it wasn't an option. I got it from the ebay seller in Singapore, originally for my 1965 CA77, which is awaiting an engine rebuild, but put it on the Superhawk just to see how I liked it. I didn't like it at first but it is growing on me, especially when viewed from the bike's saddle. Furthermore, it makes an absolutely fantastic perch for my helmet when I park the bike. That Honda wing is angled in such a way that it grips the back lower portion of the helmet and it stays there. Nice bonus, I think. I also noticed that when I pulled the speedometer cable, my instrument lights and head light lost all power. I think that the cable itself may in fact be the ground for both sets of lights. It set me back about half an hour a couple days ago before a night ride, when finally I hooked a jumper wire from the instrument cluster mounting screw to the handlebar clamp bolts, and the light came back on, but not the instrument lights...just a little inside curiosity into the workings of these great old bikes for anyone who is interested. I may be wrong about the speedo cable being the ground, but in my case it seems like the most likely culprit. Thanks for the compliment. Ride safe, have fun! Jordan Aka polishbeer
I had the same experience with grounding a headlight on a bike that had a lot of powdercoated parts. I had to run a ground from the headlight to the gauge to the fork clamp to get a good circuit. Ended up with a nice bright light though.
Matt
Also into Alfa Romeo Giuliettas and Giulias! Looking for a Giulia Super.
Polish, Great blog! Thanks for the interesting report. As to the ground in the headlight bucket. It isn't the cable for sure although it might work as a ground that isn't what it's supposed to do, your green wires are for ground in there. Prima has the right idea,check to see if paint is insulating a ground. Steve Greer
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