
Dream On
Long-suffering readers will remember my optimism upon acquiring a 1965 Honda Dream barn find. But as every restorer knows, there’s no such thing as a free motorcycle. Or so I’ve discovered….
Musings from one who writes, and rides…

Long-suffering readers will remember my optimism upon acquiring a 1965 Honda Dream barn find. But as every restorer knows, there’s no such thing as a free motorcycle. Or so I’ve discovered….

Continental gathered a dozen journalists and industry folks for a day of testing on the 2.68-mile, undulating Chuckwalla Valley Raceway.

The cure for winter: a nine-day motorcycle trip the length of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

A brief test ride, visible to passing aircraft, revealed that it probably had a ring gap the size of your forefinger. Turning the throttle resulted in a spasmodic, lurching kind of flatulence that couldn’t really be described as forward progress. Clearly, a rebuild was necessary.

Once I bring the Honda Dream home, my elation gives way to the harsh reality of what happens to metal when abandoned in a damp barn for 52 years.

When I was younger, time spread out before me like a desert highway, punctuated by dozens of future, imagined motorcycles, each one of them better than the last. Not so anymore.

I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t have the motorcycle obsession. It emanates from somewhere deep in the subconscious, like the desire to procreate, eat ice cream, or avoid house chores.

A while back, in a moment of delusion, I agreed to make motorcycles a zero-sum game: if I acquired one, another one had to go. Have I adhered to this diplomatic protocol? Of course not. Motorcycles seem to arrive, but none ever leave….

What’s happening to motorcycle shops? Gone, like points and condensers—victims of the pandemic, a fickle market, and more than a few bad decisions….

Carburetors, like clutches and cables, have become the earmarks of antiquity. There will soon come a time when exactly no one will know how to adjust or service these devices. Carbs and clutches will seem as weird as a wall jack….