Florida to Alaska on a 1973 Honda

The Honda CB550 road trip of Summer of 1986

By Neale Bayly
Published on February 22, 2016
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by Neale Bayly and Karen McIntyre
One thoroughly overloaded Honda CB550 and one very jubilant Mr. Bayly.

“Where ya headed, buddy?”

“Alaska,” I replied. The look the garage man gave me indicated that I might as well have said the moon.

Who could blame him? Our well-used 1973 Honda CB550 had holes in the twin exhausts and was covered with bright red tape. It was hopelessly overloaded with yard-sale luggage, and my girlfriend, Karen, and I were dressed in thrift store clothes and hand-me-down open-faced helmets, clearly not looking prepared for such a journey. He murmured “good luck” as I strapped the old hold-all to the gas tank and kickstarted the beast into life. Clicking into gear and rolling out of the gas station, we headed for the highway, destined for 10,000 miles of fun and adventure.

The Honda, which cost us $475 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, had no front brake, so our first ride was a bit hair-raising as we went looking for parts. A second-hand caliper and a tune-up produced a very smooth-running bike, even with the signs of neglect it had clearly experienced while accumulating the 28,000 miles on its odometer. We spent $10 on bungee cords, bought a box of plastic bags and a couple of cheap rain suits, sprayed our tent with waterproof spray, said goodbye to Karen’s family, and hit the road.

The South

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