My CBX restoration story
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 10:51 am
I grew up as a teenager watching ’80s motorcycles and dreaming of having one. The Honda motorcycle line up was my favourite; the CB1100F, the V65s, the turbo’s, the CBXs… I had my motorcycle driver licence at 17 years old. A few years later, the student I was, could only afford a used Honda XL350. Went to university and had to sell my Honda. Once I graduated, I met my girlfriend… and you could imagine the story: an apartment, a marriage, a new house and mortgage, one kid then another one. I had to put on the back burner my dream of having a real road bike.
Back 4 years ago, I’ve been in contact with a CBX owner who wanted to sell his baby…. That was the occasion. The bike was not in good shape. The rear tire was good though…. Got the X for 1000$ I believe today that I was blinded by the dream of getting back on the road.
My first idea was to just patch a few of the ugliest parts. Guess what? You patch one part then look at the part next to it and think “If I do this one too, it will look better…” I got caught in the game. It wasn’t supposed to be a full restoration process.
My wife couldn’t understand why I bought this motorcycle. To her it was a piece of crap. Every time I was working on the bike she was boiling… “You are spending time and money for nothing. Why didn’t you bought a decent bike instead” she was saying. But I am stubborn. Then little by little, slowly but surely the project was progressing. I faced numerous challenges in the process of restoring my X. I’m not a car mechanic but I guess my engineer background helped. This web site also helped a lot. Thanks to their administrators and to all of those of are posting on it. I got in trouble many times but this great source of info pulled me out of sh**t many times. I felt I owed something to it. I decided to contribute by becoming an ICOA member (#6378) I feel this is the least I can do.
After more than 3 years, I finally put the bike on the road in early August. And guess what? My wife changed her mind and is requesting her daily ride on the back seat. She realized the CBX is not an ordinary bike. As a matter of fact, I don’t count the amount of time where waiting at a red light I heard “What year is it?” followed by 2 thumbs up.
I just can’t describe the feeling of driving my big6. It just feels great like this bike has been designed for me. And the unmistakable sound and feeling of this inline 6 that make you shiver when you twist the throttle… No doubt, I’m in love….My only regret? The riding season is almost over here in Quebec. I’m dreaming of the next one…
More than 20 years after I got my first ride. Boy, it fells like the first time….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnaMCs62DJY
Back 4 years ago, I’ve been in contact with a CBX owner who wanted to sell his baby…. That was the occasion. The bike was not in good shape. The rear tire was good though…. Got the X for 1000$ I believe today that I was blinded by the dream of getting back on the road.
My first idea was to just patch a few of the ugliest parts. Guess what? You patch one part then look at the part next to it and think “If I do this one too, it will look better…” I got caught in the game. It wasn’t supposed to be a full restoration process.
My wife couldn’t understand why I bought this motorcycle. To her it was a piece of crap. Every time I was working on the bike she was boiling… “You are spending time and money for nothing. Why didn’t you bought a decent bike instead” she was saying. But I am stubborn. Then little by little, slowly but surely the project was progressing. I faced numerous challenges in the process of restoring my X. I’m not a car mechanic but I guess my engineer background helped. This web site also helped a lot. Thanks to their administrators and to all of those of are posting on it. I got in trouble many times but this great source of info pulled me out of sh**t many times. I felt I owed something to it. I decided to contribute by becoming an ICOA member (#6378) I feel this is the least I can do.
After more than 3 years, I finally put the bike on the road in early August. And guess what? My wife changed her mind and is requesting her daily ride on the back seat. She realized the CBX is not an ordinary bike. As a matter of fact, I don’t count the amount of time where waiting at a red light I heard “What year is it?” followed by 2 thumbs up.
I just can’t describe the feeling of driving my big6. It just feels great like this bike has been designed for me. And the unmistakable sound and feeling of this inline 6 that make you shiver when you twist the throttle… No doubt, I’m in love….My only regret? The riding season is almost over here in Quebec. I’m dreaming of the next one…
More than 20 years after I got my first ride. Boy, it fells like the first time….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnaMCs62DJY