Lana Peterson with husband Mike’s Honda CB750.
Last fall after I brought home a tired-looking 1970 Honda CB750, my heart warmed as I began noticing more and more articles and pics of CB750s in your magazine. Soon I was waiting at the mailbox for my next issue, for a glimpse of another article or Reader’s Ride to warm my heart through the cold Wisconsin winters as I polished and painted.
The finished product is “my version” of a Honda CB750 I would’ve ridden back when I wore bell-bottoms. The curious thing was, when I sold the bike a few days ago (to make room for my next winter project), I figured the non-stock paint color would be my demise and drop the sale value down. To my surprise, the running boards and heel/toe shifter were the undesirables. The lack of stock exhaust pipes (which would’ve cost more than what I had in the entire bike) were a factor, but if there was a bike boneyard in driving distance I honestly believe I would’ve made more on resale if I’d bought and slapped on some old pegs and levers.
This winter I’m working on a 1981 Yamaha 850 Special triple, which doesn’t appear to have much collector value as I couldn’t find any articles relating to it in your awesome mag. I never had a three-banger before and it’s a beautiful, fast, comfy machine. Keep up the awesome work. If you put my pic of the bike with my bride in your mag, think of all the extra money I’d have to buy motorcycle stuff as birthday, Christmas and anniversary presents to her could be a framed page from my already-paid subscription.
–“Blue” Mike Peterson/Chetek, Wis.
