Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

- r-.. 1-0 Q) ..c o ... u o Maybe It's nostIIlgia, meybe it's just whet the everege motorcyclist wents. Either _y, Honde's 1980 IIne-up is heavily weighted towerd the "chopper" look. This one's e surprisingly good bike, though. Presstime quickie Sampling civilized macho on Honda's CB900C By Charles Morey RENO, NV, OCT. 2-5 Members of the motorcycling enthusiast press . witnessed the introduction of Honda Motor Company's 1980 line-up in Reno, first enjoying a presentation in the opulent MGM Grand Hotel, then taking a IOO-mile cruise through Nevada's beautiful countryside. We saw the en. . . . . ure model Ime, drrt b~es ill- 14 cluded, although only stteet bikes were ridden. A~ you:ll see from the photos and technic~l diagrams, the .CR/motocross machines ~ave receIved some welcome. changes 10 the form of center port cyhnders, new rear shocks and (finally) FIM-legal num~r plat~. But the real forte 10 the hne-up from Honda'~ standpoint - the models that WIll sell best - a~ the chopper-styled street machmes. Customs, Honda calls them. While many longtime motorcycle enthusiasts, particularly press people and most particularly competitionoriented press people, find the Customs bordering on repulsive, Honda's viewpoint is otherwise. Honda knows how to sell motorcycles. They analyze the market, then build specific models to suit their findings. Hence, the Customs. Approximately a half million motorcycle enth~siasts Pu.rchase the papers and m~gazmes we pnnt. But there are approxll1'lately 7.5 million motorcycles in the U.S. today. Who rides 'em? Honda knows, and they're building bikes to suit. Their CB900C is a perfect example. Editors were divided into groups of four with a Honda-employed "chaperone" in each group, and aimed out onto a cou~ that wound through the Nevada hills, alongside Lake Tahoe, through Virginia City and eventually back to Reno. We swapped bikes at irregular intervals, and most of us got to ride the CB900C. What follows is a brief impression, a subjective recollection of a half hour spent riding the bike. It's not a test. A good test will appear in one of the monthlies. This is what one of the competition-oriented editors felt about his brief encounter with the CB900C street machine from Honda. Consider the specifications. The motor is a 90lcc DOHC, air-cooled transverse four with four valves per cylinder. The basic transmission is a five-speed, but Honda has added a "two-speed rear end," in truck driver terminology, to give the CB900C 10 speeds total. High range is used for freeway and touring; low range is great for blasting around town. They've designed it so that the bike. must be stopped to change ratios, unfortunately. . The fmal drive is accomplished by shaft rather than chain. Great for low maintenance. The machine is virtually airsuspended, with air· assisted forks and shocks. The first impression came as a pleasant surprise. Many of the "production choppers" aren't comfortable. The pullback bars and step seats seem to have been bolted on as an afterthought, and they just don't fit the human form. Not so with the Honda. The bars, while pulled back, are wide and they have been matched with the touring-style seat to put the rider in a slightly forward·leaning position, a perfectly comfortable, "normal" seating position. \ People will argue that the "bun. bucket" shape of the seat forces the rider to stay in one position on long rides and that a standard seat allows him to shift positions for comfort. On the other hand, manufacturers of the bucket seats continue to find customers. It was vety plush for the time we spent in the saddle. The bike feels - and it is - big. Reminded us of the Gold Wing - the GLllOO for 1980 - in that it's slow· handling. Feels long. Yet, the airassisted suspension reacted quickly to surface irregularities, absorbing normal road bumps with a very soft, smooth feeling, The ride was soft but not mushy. The only handling flaw we discovered was a slight undulation in high speed sweepers in the 80-90 mph range, particularly noticeable wben accompanied by an off· to- WEO throttle snap, due to driveshaft torque reaction. Power is smooth and torqu~. In comparison, when we switched to a CBX, we stalled the six-cylinder motor before recogrtizing the need to rev it up coming from a standing start, The CB900C would chug; the CBX doesn't. Honda has accomplished something that no other manufacturer has been able to match. They'v~ made a bike that will surely fit into the macho image many street riders seem to require while retaining good handling and roadability an enthusiast can appreciate. This editor's opinion of it did a complete 180 between first look and completion of first ride. It's a great bike, almost great enough to warrant a personal image change ...•

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