Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Sport tourln, and the Honda CX500. Getting away from it a"··brief'y , By Mika Bufkin . Photos by Jon Davis Most people who buy street bikes will admit to being influenced in their decision by visions of two week cross country biking trips a la "Easy Rider." The truth is a little ~ore prosaic. The EPA. in their study to deter. . th . m1l r ~e e m~UID eage lor which pollution control systems should be effective. found that 20 tbe average mileage which a 7!iOcc mexorcycle accumulates 6efore being junked is actually less tba.n 10.000. Obviously very few people are riding their bikes aCl'OlS tbe Kate much less across the country.' , The rea~ity is. that any tC?uring the ~ve~age bike nder does IS usually Illlllted to two or three day weekend rides. to points two to three hundred ~iles distant. Th~ weekend tours 'are l~ely to ~ m:ade In the company of a ~fe or ~rl fne~d on back or anoth.er fnend WIth a bIke. Each way has tts a~vantages. although.we are n~Jt. often given a chOIce. sex being what tt 15. Long distance touring can alao fen· der a motorcycle pretty much- useless for anything e1Ie. The Ierious Ilmg hauler is likely to load up hia motor· I cycle WIth any number .of cum.bersome. but comfort enbanong. devices. Frame mounted fairings. saddlebags, tape decks. and mama's lap seats may be nice on the interltate but they can make the dailr ~rip to work more of a basaIe than nding a. cafe racer. In Europe. though. touring bikes are more likely to ~ble c~e racers than loaded Gold Wmgs. Thia too can have merit. particularly when the road lei'ds you to a long series of mountain sweepers. What most riders really need is a compromise - a bike that will offer enough comfort and room for two people for a weekend trip. be agile ~ough to commute in the city. and quick enough to make a challenging road enjoyable. To some extent all street bikes are designed with these compromises in mind (with the exception of the Ducati Desmo Sport and the Harley Electra Glide). Fortunately the degree of' compromise varies. which enables one guy to select a Yamaha RD400F while another can buy a Kawasaki KIlSOO. For the rider who wants to do all three, there are several good choices. the Suzuki GS7!iO being a notable example. But of all the bikes on the market. the one which seems to have been most specifically conceived to meet all three requirements of touring. commuting. and play r.aring is the Honda CX!iOO. However. DO motorcycle can meet everyone's needs right off the showroom floor ..Every rider will tailor hia bik&to lIOIDe extent to make it work better for him. Recognizing thia. we decided to add to Honda's sport touring design some of the accessories we felt would enhance a rider's enjoyment of the kinds of activities he is most likely to engage in. What we came up with is a set of items which when fitted with any reasonably good performing and comfonable street bike will make short duration tours and sport riding more enjoyabie. Of course the most important part of the package is the motorcyCle. Here Honda has done the job. despite what would seem the insurmountable handicap of a !iOOcc twin-cylinder engine. The bike actually does perform in each of the major areas at a level only slightly below the best bikes in those catagories. It is almost as comfortable as the KZ I SOD. handles as well as the RD. and is unmatched by anything OD two wheels for handling a rush hour traffic jam. In order to accomplish thia. Honda threw away the standard text for motorcycle design. In fact. after a close inspection of tbe cylinder layout. frame design. and clutch and tran· smission arrangement. it looks as if Honda took the engineers left OYer at the end of the Civic and Accord car projects and. having nothing for them to do. told them to go design a motor· cycle. The result is a very automotive design with a lengthy lilt of UDCODven· tional features. each of which is a unique solution to an old design. problem. Water cooling reduces noise. ib· creases reliability. and allows more power than air cooling. Shaft drives are quieter and require less maintenance than chain drives. The push rod. four valve head produces a lot of power without the complexity of four cams. a need created by the 80 degree V twin-cylinder arrangement. The narrow V allowed compactness and reduced vibration over any other con· figuration. but created the nee,

• Cover