Now a two-Honda household
My ‘daily-driver’, the car I use to commute back and forth to work, is a very sensible but also very boring 2005 Honda Civic. It provides me exactly what I need for the approx. 60 mile round trip…a stereo, air conditioning, and protection from the elements. What it does not provide me, is excitement in any form. Sure, it has a 5-speed manual so I get to ‘row my own gears’ as the car magazines like to say, but I went with the manual mostly because it was cheaper to buy and returns slightly better gas mileage that the auto.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been contemplating the addition of a motorcycle to my garage. Well…I found one - and it is perfect. That Suzuki I wrote about earlier? My local dealers were all out. So to Craigslist I went, and this one was calling my name…
My new favorite toy
It is a 1996 Honda CB750 Nighthawk - a terrific ‘do-it-all’ motorcycle. A couple of phone calls later it was mine. Since it was located about 170 miles from me, my brother in law, who lives about 15 miles away from the seller, trailered to my house. Thanks, Erik! It has just 6900 miles on it, and is in really great shape for its age. In the three weeks or so that I’ve owned it, I’ve done the following:
- new tires
- oil change
- chain cleaning and lube
- new fairing (the yellow one in the pic may look cool, but it offered no real wind protection)
- auxiliary LED lights front and rear (look for another post on these!)
- a homemade camera mount for recording my rides
I’ve purchased some quality protective gear, including of course a full-face helmet, armored and abrasion-resistant motorcycle jacket and pants, boots, and gloves.
I’ll write another post on the details of all my gear. For now, here’s me in full kit. 
I know I look a bit like a space ranger here, but what I care about on the road is being seen by car drivers. The use of hi-viz colors on motorcycle clothing is becoming more popular, as conspicuity of the rider is really critical to being safe on the road. Notice that I also selected a white helmet - I know it is not the most stylish of lids, but again, my concern is being seen, not looking cool.
I’ve got a couple of other safety related clothing accessories on order - I’ll do a write up on them once received.
Since I’ve had the bike registered, I’ve put about 50 miles on it - mostly just short 20 minute rides on local streets as I get adjusted to the bike and recall all my skills from my MSF class a few years ago. I spent about an hour the other morning in the parking lot of my local school, just practicing starts from a stop, turns from a stop, swerving, and emergency braking. The idea here is to commit all these techniques to muscle memory, so when the time comes, I won’t have to think about it - I’ll just do it.
I’ve posted a few videos up on youtube of a couple of my rides, as well as a review of the previously mentioned LED lights. Check them out here: http://www.youtube.com/user/brianscrazytalk
Stay tuned for more updates on my motorcycling adventure!