Ed. Note: The Single Overhead Cam Four/Forum, an online community devoted to Honda SOHC/4 bikes of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, has loosely organized a relay/rally ride that will triple-transect the lower 48 states and all Canadian Provinces. The ride began in mid-March and will continue into the early Fall. Learn more and join the ride when it passes your area.This blog depends on rider submissions, so if you particpate in the ride and would like to submit a short story and photos of your experience, please contact online editor Christian Williams.
ZanVooden’s beautifully restored 1978 Honda CB750.
From Dave Burch:
– Tuesday, August 2: Put in just shy of 250 miles in eleven hours, including breaks. A couple of months ago, I installed a Dyna-S ignition in my 1975 CB550K, and when the rain hit just ten minutes into my day’s ride, I found out the hard way that the power input line that taps 12v from the battery is in a vulnerable spot. Depending on the amount of water on the road, I alternately boogied and limped to the designated meetup (still early) at Wildcat Mountain State Park near Ontario, WI. About 15 minutes later, ZanVooden (Dave) arrived ahead of schedule from Madison, riding his beautifully-restored 750. Things had dried out by then, so we hustled to La Crosse for lunch, only to be rained on just minutes from covered downtown motorcycle parking. Limping again to the parking structure, ZanVooden offered an excellent suggestion: wrap the exposed connection with a scrap of plastic bag. We didn’t hit any more rain, but I bet it solves the problem.
From left: db22, Ben George and ZanVooden.
We stopped at Two Brothers Honda in Onalaska, WI, and met Ben George, one of the managers. Two Brothers displays several classic bikes in their showroom, including a 1968 Honda 305 Dream and a 1975 Norton Commando, with cafe bars and British Racing Green paint. Gojira (that’s the phonetic Japanese name that became “Godzilla” in translation) passed to my keeping for the remainder of the Wisconsin route. An interesting factoid: according to Wikipedia, the original Godzilla movie was directed by a man whose family name was. . . Honda.
From left: Accolay, srust78, ZanVooden and db22.
After a brief stop in Onalaska to allow the Lizard to contemplate having the World’s Largest Fiberglass Sunfish for lunch, we headed north along Highway 35, the Great River Road paralleling Old Man River, to Pepin, WI where we met Accolay (John) and srust58 (Steve) from the Twin Cities. After making log entries and signing the Banner, GZ passed from my bike to Steve’s fabulous CB750F. The Minnesotans headed off to the Cities for the night, planning to point their bikes southward toward Iowa tomorrow. ZanVooden took the Minnesota River Road south as a quick route to the Interstate eastward to Madison, and I lit off south along Highway 35 to home. A successful day’s ride, with hopes for an even better one next year.
2011 Honda Relay Ride participant signatures have filled up the back of the
SOHC/4 Forum banner.