Honda305.com Forum

do any of you forum members have a CB 900? I'm considering buying one to go along with my CL 77 and would like some input from other owners.

Hi Ron

I had it's little brother in '79 -- a CB750KZ -- which handled well and ripped it up, for a heavyweight. It was just a bit uncomfortable for my little 29" inside leg; it gave me arse-ache!

Steve

If it's the "F" model, then it's quick for its size and handles ala' typical Hondas of that year. ie: Put some decent rear shocks on it and change the fork oil from "fish" oil to something like BelRay etc. Should do OK for a street bike. JMHO

This is the 1981 CB900f that I had a while back. Now, this one was heavily modified as you can see, but I might be able to provide a few thoughts on the 900, assuming it's an 'F' we're talking about.

It's a top-heavy bike, and the seat is tall, so hopefully you're at least 5'10" (BTW, the seat depicted on my bike is a Corbin 'Gunfighter and the Lady' seat - the stock seat does not have that dishing for the driver). I think it weighs 587 lbs wet, so it's a bit hefty. It has very good power, and is very comfortable for the long haul. Of course, like many Hondas of the era, the charging system is marginal - don't even think about adding even one extra light!

One of the nice things about the bike (at least during the '80s) was that there was a bunch of aftermarket stuff available for it. Don't know whether you want to stay stock or not, but you can do a lot of interesting things with the bike to make it your own. Personally I think the 750F was a better bike, but I don't think you can go wrong with it. I would definitely consider adding engine guards - it will save your alternator if you happen to drop the bike on that side....ask me how I know!

If I think of anything else that might be helpful, I'll let you know.....thanks for letting me weigh in on the matter.

Vince, nice Canadian CB1100F gold wheels. I used to run them on my 1981 CBX sporterized. Took off the fairing/bags and ran a GS1100E 8" headlight. Bike looks cool with the "chair" How'd it run with it?

cbxmountainman wrote:Vince, nice Canadian CB1100F gold wheels. I used to run them on my 1981 CBX sporterized. Took off the fairing/bags and ran a GS1100E 8" headlight. Bike looks cool with the "chair" How'd it run with it?

Those gold Comstars are (IMO) the prettiest stock wheels ever to adorn a motorbike. Of course, my being from Toronto helped me secure them way back in the day.

The Velorex 562 is a great sidecar, for anyone who's thinking of getting one, BTW. It took a bit of getting used to at first - you steer more than you lean, though leaning is still part of it (but it's reverse of what you'd think). Of course, right-handers are always a problem - the chair wants to lift up off the ground, but I solved that with a 50 lb. sandbag when there's no passenger (that's sort of a standard routine with these sidecars). The other issue is left-handers: you can't take them too fast, or what can happen is that the rear wheel on the bike will start chattering, and it will want to lift off the ground itself! But, I must say that it was quite thrilling at speed - long sweepers at 85mph were my favourite.

Two other things were good about the sidecar: i) Passengers were much more willing to climb in it than to sit on the back of a two-wheeled bike. I taught a friend of mine how to drive it, and I sat in the sidecar - it was really cool! ii) It was great for long trips - you could stow all your stuff in there, and it kept everything dry, and it kept the sidecar wheel down in right-handers. For me personally, it was particularly great for my Alaska trip - both for the luggage capacity and for the gravel sections of the Alcan, of which there were many at the time.

Getting back to the CB900f, it is a great sport-tourer (did we establish that we're talking about an 'F' model in this thread???). Just get yourself some good soft saddle bags, a back seat bag and magnetic tank bag, and you can cruise all day. I did 1100 miles on mine in 21 hours straight, and the only problem I had was a bit of discomfort across my shoulders. My butt was fine, and because you have that slight lean forward, your spine isn't absorbing the full impact of the road bumps.

Near Skagway, Alaska, at the top of the panhandle.

Vince, I agree about the Comstar wheels in gold. My 750KZ was met. blue, so I'm not sure the gold would've looked good(?). I didn't like the look of Comstars at all, but seeing yours there......

The 750 had that bloody awful semi-cylindrical CX500 taillight; bleugh! And mine had a Motad 4-into-1 (not my choice). Honda have never bettered the classic look of the CB750K0, IMHO. Oops! Off topic again...