The Midlife strikes

In February when Diane and I were in Maui a shortage of rental cars on the island forced us to rent a motorcycle as an alternative for the duration of our stay there. For 10 days we rode around together on 2 different Harleys, a Buell and a Vulcan. It was a blast, Diane actually got to feel comfortable riding on the back and for me it brought back memories of an earlier time when for 2 1/2 years I went almost everywhere astraddle a 1969 Honda CB450.

The 450 was a sweet machine. An engine size of 450cc may not seem like much today, but at the time it came out it was the largest Japanese bike available. It had a top end of 104 mph (109 with the wind blowing just right) and cruised quite easily at 80 mph. Its only drawback at such speeds was the engine vibration which travelled up through the handlebars and rendered my hands numb after an hour or so. (This was before the days of counter-balanced, rubber mounted engines.)

Some have criticised the CB450 as topheavy, but I found it to be not only agile but very well balanced and stable on the highway as well. I once had a catastrophic blowout of the rear tire at 60 mph on the 401 near Windsor, Ontario. The flapping tire caused the bike to yaw uncontrollably up to 45 degrees from the direction of travel, first to the left, then to the right and then to the left again before I slowed down enough to pull off and stop. Each time the rear end threw itself from one side to the other, the motorcycle amazingly seemed to self-correct its steering without any conscious input on my part. (Or was it the hand of God? I guess I'll find out when I get to heaven!)

Such hair raising moments aside, I enjoyed every mile I rode the 450 - all 14,000 of them. I finally sold the bike in 1978 when Diane and I moved out west, and aside from a six month period in the 90's I have been off two wheels ever since. Until Maui, that is.

All this is a roundabout way of saying that I got the motorcycle bug back, and started shopping for a bike after we returned from Hawaii.

I decided that I was too old for this:

and that I was not yet old and fat enough for this:


Besides, the price tag on both models was a little rich for my budget. So I settled for something a little more age-appropriate:


This is a 1986 Kawasaki 750 Vulcan. It is a light cruiser now out of production which was a standard for about 20 years and is now considered somewhat of a classic. It's a good way to go for a used bike - proven reliability and parts are easy to get. It cost me all of $1,900.

Like me, it was in its prime 20 years ago but has been reasonably well maintained. When it was rebuilt 8000 km back it was bored out to more like 850cc, so it may have improved on its designed top speed of 124 mph. It is unlikely however that I will ever find out if that is so. (I will make that concession to age - or to the wisdom which comes with age!)

The motorcycle handles well though with Diane on pillion I find it wallows a bit on the bumps and wanders slightly on a tight curve. I'll try tightening the suspension which should fix the first problem. I not sure what I can do about the latter however. On the cruiser frame the centre of gravity is a little further back than what I am used to, and at 483 lbs I'm guessing that the bike is not quite heavy enough to offset the effect of Diane sitting over the rear wheel. As a result, the front wheel is just a little light, hence the wandering.

The carburetor flattens out somewhat at 7000 rpm, which is not surprising since it has sat for 3 years. Taking it apart and otherwise servicing the bike will be a weekend project once tax season is over.

Then I'll be able to try its legs.