Honda eyes on the prize (two wheels article 88)

[T.W.R]

Hondas peaches & lemons from post WW11 through to 1988. Two Wheels writer Bill McKinnon compiled this article with help from Honda itself & other knowledgable sources. even in this the CUB was top of the list. theres also 3 pages of written material but theres enough said below each picture to tell the story

[kro]

Good read, thanks.

[nudemetalz]

Thanks Mr TWR !!!

RC-30 a lemon ?? hmmm,....dunno 'bout that.

Also the VF1000R's are now very collectable too and not that bad to ride considering their age.
(I think we've already had this discussion.... ;))

[T.W.R]

Thanks Mr TWR !!!

RC-30 a lemon ?? hmmm,....dunno 'bout that.

Also the VF1000R's are now very collectable too and not that bad to ride considering their age.
(I think we've already had this discussion.... ;))

well you have to remember this was put together in 88, the RC30 was shitting itself everywhere on race tracks ( due to oil supply problems, that was later rectified). they are now highly collectable. i know where theres 1 for sale at the right price along with 2 RC45s as well.

the VF1000R is a collectable beast also and yeah a great ride until you get into tight stuff or slow corners ( i feel that dropping feeling coming on!). almost brought 1 myself but it got swept away from my grasp, wouldn't mind having it now though.

[nudemetalz]

True, I guess just 'cause it didn't work that well when it came out doesn't make it not highly prized nowdays.

I rode an MVX back in 1987 and found it very smooth and quite fun to ride, even if it couldn't hold a candle to the RG & RZ's. The friend who owned it never had an ounce of trouble with it either...(which is RARE !!)

[James Deuce]

well you have to remember this was put together in 88, the RC30 was shitting itself everywhere on race tracks ( due to oil supply problems, that was later rectified).

The problem with the first 160 bikes (I owned 128) was soft valve seats.

Fixed under warranty.

[gav]

Didnt they have big end bearing problems too, seem to recall alot of the early race bikes suffering from this?

[ducatilover]

my old man had a cb350 when he was my age, he was restoring it whilst riding a zoook twofiddy two smoker, and he hated it because it wasnt very reliable that particular one, i think they are a "twingle" a twin that runs both pistons like a single......now he hates hondas......well until he rode mine and admited it was quicker off the mark and to 100 than his old xs1100 hahahaha eat that:hitcher:

[T.W.R]

Didnt they have big end bearing problems too, seem to recall alot of the early race bikes suffering from this?

the paragraph that covers them only states " the reluctance of the company to lose face by freely admitting problems is not unique to honda, but it does little for the corporate credibility when the factory team attempts to blame tean honda australia for its problems with the RC30 this year, when the HRC built versions have been dropping their guts on racetracks all over the world."

it was a common thing among the race bikes because of the enviroment ( running hard 99% of the time) the few that made it into public hands 1st off weren't pushed anywhere near as hard by the majority of owners but the ones that were failed as well. the actual problem was the oil pump feed capacity in conjunction with gallery diameters. i've got a full breakdown on the problems in another book somewhere

[nudemetalz]

my old man had a cb350 when he was my age, he was restoring it whilst riding a zoook twofiddy two smoker, and he hated it because it wasnt very reliable that particular one, i think they are a "twingle" a twin that runs both pistons like a single......now he hates hondas......well until he rode mine and admited it was quicker off the mark and to 100 than his old xs1100 hahahaha eat that:hitcher:

I think you're meaning the CB-350 Twin. They were actually quite a good bike, it's the four that TWR has stated was the lemon.
I owned a CB-400 Four once with 90,000km's on the clock. It was a hack bike and I could still ton it up. Also regularily got 12-13000rpm without missing a beat. Awesome machine !!!

[ducatilover]

I think you're meaning the CB-350 Twin. They were actually quite a good bike, it's the four that TWR has stated was the lemon.
I owned a CB-400 Four once with 90,000km's on the clock. It was a hack bike and I could still ton it up. Also regularily got 12-13000rpm without missing a beat. Awesome machine !!!
mmmm yeah i did mean the 350 twin, i wouldnt really know and i tend to keep an open mind, well i try too, people like gn250s well i hated mine, it was unreliable and people will now go off at me for saying well it did what ts designed to do, well yeah but theres no reason for it to keep unadjusting its tappets anb blowing any electrical thing in it that it can find, i personally thing the older gns [pre china] are better:yes:

[vifferman]

None of the Hondas I've owned or ridden (apart from the CB360) are on either page.
The only time I've been let down by a Honda was because of a part made by another company. Mind you, having said that, a lot of the parts on any Honda (or Japanese bike, come to that) are made by other companies, often small almost 'backyard' family businesses.