Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

find for sa le , being on e of the most popul ar fuel -saver co m m uter spe cials seen in 19 74 , the Year o f th e Shortages . It's easy to unde rs tand wh y so m an y fuel -ec onom y c o nsci o us p eople are scrambling to ge t their hands on the 200. The wors t mil ea ge we got o ut of it, re dli ni ng in every gear u nt il it reach ed the speed lim it whereve r we were ri din g, was j us t under 60 miles per ga llon. The best we go t, d e liberately try ing to sq uee ze out every d rop , was 63 mil e s on one-hal f gallon. In the l\1.0.R.E. economy ru n, a CB 200 logged 96.69 2 mi les per gal lo n , ac c ord in g to the state of Cal ifo rn ia 's p recision me asu rin g e quipm ent. Many first-time buyers wi ll be am ong th e ones w ho get their ha nd s o n a CB 200 b e fore the supply ru n s o ut. The c ompact p hysical size of the bike, th e as trono m ica l prices now tagged o n lar ger ma chin es, th e fame of the Honda name an d the fan tasti c fu el economy (w hich m ust b e sim p ly m in d -b oggling to a p erson w h o up until this tim e h as spen t his e n tir e lif e fee d ing Belch lire Detro it Eights) ad d up to a lot. Just th e th ing to sa il ba ck and forth to w ork o n at 5 5 MPH . The st y ling is unique. Basi cally a fifth gen er ation version of th e 12 5 twin Honda first in t ro d uc ed in 1961 (it went from a 125 to a 150 to a 160 to a 17 5 to its present form), th e 200 looks lik e no o th er bike in its class. Hon da ap pears to hav e fin all y go tt e n the m e s s a ge th e Department o f Tran sport a ti on h as b een sending o u t t he d ang ers i n he re nt in a b o ut n on - recessed gas cap s du rin g frontal impact (read , cras h) situa ti ons (the y ca n ch ange you r sex) : The C B 2 0 0 has a rec e sse d ca p su rro u n d ed by a p added strip t ha t runs th e lengt h of the tan k along the ce nter lin e . T he fron t end sports a b rake better th an found on an y other m a chin e c o m p a rab le in size o r p rice ran ge . It is a me chanic al di sc un it a nd it is righ t cle ver . No t o nly does the cable-operated ca lipe r provide ex ce llen t fee l and superb p ow er, b ut it also is self-adj usting . While the bike will rea ch abou t 80 MPH Oa t o ut , an d 63 MPH in the quarte r-mi le , it ta k es lo nger to get there th an a nythi ng else in its class (Suz u ki 185 tw in, Kaw asaki 175 sing le, Y am ah a RD 2 0 0). Still, it wi ll reach 55 MPH in the len gth of a freeway o n -ram p, and will eas ily cr uise at 55 or 60 . Th e engi ne just lo ves to rev. O ne .neat th in g about ridi ng a li ttle m ot orcycle is th e fun yo u can h ave run ning it ve ry hard with out h a ving to w o rry as m uch ab out speed ing ticke ts like y o u w ou ld if you wer e ri d ing a larg er m ach ine. T he 200 ga ve u s some ' of th e fine st m otorcy cle fun w e 've h ad in a whil e o n o ne lon g fr eeway o ff -ra m p w ith a sweeper in th e middl e o f its qu arter-m ile len gth an d a sm all ri ght h ander at th e en d , le ading to a stop sign . We always hesita ted to lea ve brakin g to the last possible m om en t when rid in g la rge r bikes, b ecause of th e shee r size of the bike - we didn 't w an t to have to p it ch 500 p ounds o f too-fast-movin g-ma t te r in to tha t en d turn. But the 200 i n spired co n fi d e nce , a n d neve r le t th at c on f idence d own. It would glad ly spi n to its lim it s with the rider t uc ke d in , scr u b off th e n ecessa ry speed wi th ease in wh at see med like inches before the ti me c am e to nea tly stuff it into the turn. N ice and light with p lenty of brakes is t he 200. The t ires w e re better than we expect to fi nd on small Japanese moto rcycles. The b ike hand led p re tt y well , al th o ugh d ue to a short w he el b ase (5 0.8 in ches) it d id ge t a bit squi rrely while b raking to the limits when p lay in g ro ad rac er . The han d ling is not hing the beginn er wi ll be findi ng fault w ith . Gro und clearan ce is qu ite ad eq ua te. It wiggles a little on rain grooves, but n o t enough to worry you. T he rear shocks ar e a lillie pogy , especia lly w he n packi ng d oubl e, b ut are c om fo rtab le . T hey don't pound your Lights in ge neral w er e good , but n ot goo d eno ugh fo r the- speed ca p a b ilit ie s of th e ma chin e. T hey w ere as good as or b et ter than an yth in g we ' ve seen on any other small m ot orcy cl e, st ill, in the abse n ce of other ill um ina t io n, we would n o t want to rid e the CB 200 on a dark stre et at ni ght above 4 5 ~l P H , if'that fast. T he tail light was fin e. T he instruments we re reasonably easy to re ad, a lth o u gh making out the numbers on th e odo m e ter was difficult at night, so re ading th e rese t table trip me ter required ly ing on the tank to get a better look , or wai ti ng to p as s u n d er a s tree t ligh t. It's a cold-bl ooded engine to s tar t. F ull ch o ke with th e ele ctric starter ma de it light off e xcep t when the battery was lo w from ru nn in g with the lights on. T hankfully at those ti mes the kic k starter w as easy to USc . A fte r a few m inu te s warmup the bike would run with out gaggi ng . O ur te st bi ke ble w a ca m beari ng holder gasket a nd sta rted to drool oi l a ll o ver t he ri gh t side o f the engin e. T he w in d spread it o n p an 15. si de case s, c ar bs, e tc . .. . eve ry t h in g b eh ind th e leak. Such a problem is cove red under th e Honda w arran ty. Onc e wh ile t ourin g through Nebrask a at ab out 70 MPH sev er al y ears ago, w e we re p assed by what we th ought at th e time was a Honda 3 05 Dre am . It turned o u t it wa s a 15 0 , and th e intrep id r id er was o n h is wa y fr om \Visc onsin to San KON I S HOCK COOLERS MOVED Y O U R SHOCKS F"OWARO . AND NOW THEY BUBBLE AND OVERHEAT17111 HERE ' 5 EASIEST SOLUTION THE EASIES T The otherwi se o il tight Hond a blew a cam bearing ho lder gasket . PRICE. F"ITS THIRTE EN AND T H I R T E E N AL L AND A HALF INCH KONI SHOCKS. • insides o n freeway ex pansio n jo in ts . wh ich al o ne m ake s th e m better th an the sh o cks fo un d o n abo ut hal f the bikes we tes t , regardless o f si ze . T he b ike is suscep t ib le to side wi nd s beca use of it s small size and ligh t we ight, When enco untering mode rate hea d win ds in c o m b ina t ion w ith gentle grades, fu ll throttle is ofte n requi re d t o mai n tain 60 MPH . T h e bars, medi um he ight and rat her narrow. w er e very comfortable. T h e seat wid th and pad ding were b e tte r t ha n we expec te d for the size and cost of the -b ike , b ot h fo r ri der an d pa ssen ger. A small a m ou n t o f vibration is fe lt through th e ru bber mounted h andlebar s an d th e foo tpegs , bu t it isn ' t enough to b other. Altog e th er , t he co mfo r t rati ng o f th e b ike is quite go od . Th e gearshi ft h as a light , short throw with a very p o sitive ac t io n. \Ve n ever had a ny problem with it, and n ever m issed a sh if t , up or d own. I ts h orn wa s accep tab le a ro un d to wn. b ut not loud eno ugh for freeway use. T he turn sign al s provid ed a m use men t wh en accel erating . It see ms th at th e hi gh er th e re vs, t he fas ter t h e signa ls bl ink . G assin g i t from abou t four tho usand RPM up to abou t nine th ousand , th e b lin ker would go fro m la zy to frantic. an d rev er se the process if the gas was rolled o ff . A t ni gh t it w as a . ligh tsh ow . THE IN T O W N , A T ON L Y $8.95 PER PAIR . BILL JONES M O T O S P O R T . BOX Z42. .. NORTH HOLL YWOOD, CALIF. WHITTIER HONDA Motorcycle Trailers Bell Helmets Full Bore Products 14324 E. Whittier Blld. (213)698-0065 Complete stock of parts and accessories for street and dirt. Can it really do wheelies? If you find a nice dr op off . . . Diego, Ca lifornia, as w e learned at a gas stat io n wh e re he ha d st opped fur the r down Int er st ate 8 0. We ran int o him several marc times d uring o u r tri p w est , an d the last w e sa w o f him wa s in La s Ve ga s. Thus it w ould see m th at an ow ne r o f a 200 w ishing to see th e c o un trysid e co u ld do so wit h out w orry, altho ug h as good as it is, th e ridin g posit ion a nd seat o f th e hi ke ge t a littl e cram pe d a fte r riding abo ut 7 0 miles in o ne s tre tc h . A t 5 5 MPH , suc h a tri p should be a push o ver for the C B 2 0 0 . If you're inclined to wan t m ore go , a stock 16 0 c a m and a se t of 16 0 c arb s will sli p in ion to e x tract some m ore ponies, a t a sacri fice of a few m ile s pe r ga llon . T h e H onda CB 2 00 opens u p ne w vistas of po ssib ili ti es fo r sm all b udget , small size m o torcy cl e o wn ers hip in A merica, 1974 . It 's a pretty fine little ma c hi ne . • List price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. S915 .00 Tune up , labo r $1 1.95 $3 .08 S2 .68 $ 1. 10 $4 .20 $2 .24 52 .76 52 .57 Plugs, each Throttle cab le. complete Clutc h cable Speedo cable Tach cable CO M PLETE MACHINE S j004 0 P R ear b rake rod ~;'stOft D_'.r rC'" ~C ycle Engineering & Supply 1 t40 - A N . KR"' E ..... E ~ "',..,."' .... £ 1...... C A . 9 2 806 ( 7 14 1 630 · 5720 HRL Lubricants 7340 Florence Ave. Downey, CA 90240 213-927-478 1 Hand waShable _ Soft 1\~ " ,,_ . , . ~_ . . ~ ~. ~~ O thmal'l Q. \ h , tlu tl" Q 18:" :>1 LuOIO W St . N ortnroCl e. Ca. Q co , ~IJ2 4 Oe.u~ , • Ridi ng • Racing • Street G LOVES I "Qul"'" 1" ,,, I ~O 12131 ) (,)·6230 52 .14 Headlight beam or bulb Tail light b ulb AND SERV I~E R E P A IR St ay CB 20 0 Parts Price Infornati on Points, each Conden ser s, each DSS~ 56 .92 5 .55 Air Cle an er element Rear br ak e lin in gs set F ro n t brake p ad s , se t p er side $ 16 .56 Clutch plat es. set Fork seals. eac h $ 11.50 $1.58 Drive ch ai n , stock Head gasket Base gasket Cam chain Cam case gasket $ 1 .73 x 2 $ 19 .60 $1 6 .27 ........... . . . _ 54 .04 5 .56 S9 .80 5 .76 Pistons , each . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . • . S5 .64 R ings, each set S9 .50 x 2 $1 .26 Wrist pin, each Circl ip s, each $ .11 Bore job , step one, pe r c yl inder $8 .00 ~ ,H@Rl~~Q'N~ ~3U NV.JNlrfED '\"e-/' CYCLES a..hmr'lQld Malt.rcn.ge 10 FilWlcong 22126 VenlUfIBlvd Woodland Hills. CA 91JG4 111 3401 19' .• 31 27

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