Topic: 1985 Honda Shadow 700.

[Ultra]

6,200 miles,$1,200 dollars.

Choke cable is frayed and sticks a little sometimes and turn signals don't shut themselves off properly.  Other than that, everything works perfectly. 

I have known the seller for almost 25 years.  Very reputable fellow.

He is riding it here tomorrow for me to buy.

It will be my first bike I have ever owned.  I have ridden twice this year after not riding for about 25 years.

Probably going to buy the bike and sell the car.  Sink a little money into the Jeep and hunker down for winter.

Joey and I will be riding together for a while till I get up the chops to get my cycle endorsement.  Been doing lots of reading on safe motorcycling.  Need to get some time in on the bike on empty Northern Michigan highways and towns till it all gets to be second nature.

I am excited. 

[Otto Puzzell]

Via Con Dios, Amigo.

And please be carefull.

[Ultra]

And please be careful.

I will be, thanks.

[Ultra]

Via Con Dios, Amigo.

And please be careful.

Apparently, not quite careful enough.  Took a header over the handlebars this weekend in a cornfield.  A really big storm coming in and I was trying to get to cover before it hit.  A wind gust took me by surprise as I was taking a left hand curve on a two lane highway.  I was riding on the right side of the lane, right near the white line.  It blew me over so hard that the front tire got into the gravel on the shoulder of the road.    I couldn't bring the bike onto the road at that point and ended up harvesting some corn before it came into season.  Once the bike hit a little mound of dirt I became a human projectile.  My left leg made solid contact with the bars, but they weren't able to break it.  Both the bike and I are bruised and bloodied, but otherwise intact.

It has been a long weekend.

[Otto Puzzell]

Ouch! Did you get x-ray's, just to be sure everything is A-OK?

It sounds like you should make a full recovery...

[Ultra]

Ouch! Did you get x-ray's, just to be sure everything is A-OK?

It sounds like you should make a full recovery...

No X-rays.

I am walking on it with no problem and there is very little soreness.  All I have got out of this is a bad bruise and slightly less deep reservoir of luck.

[Ultra]

I would like to add, for posterities sake, that this was MY fault.

I truly don't believe I will learn from it if I try to absolve myself of any responsibility.

 

[Ultra]

My leg is black, blue and swollen from my knee to my ankle.  When I press on some of the flesh, rather than spring back, it stays indented and over a two to three minute period then slowly returns to it's swollen state.

Creepy feeling indeed.

My leg works fine and walking is not a problem.  I merely have a completely bruised left leg from the knee down.

Whew.

 

[Otto Puzzell]

I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't sound right. I know x-rays are expensive, but what if you have a clot in there somewhere, or a hairline fracture that'll give out with no warning?

[Ultra]

I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't sound right. I know x-rays are expensive, but what if you have a clot in there somewhere, or a hairline fracture that'll give out with no warning?

Talked to my Podiatrist buddy.  He says it sounds like a deep tissue bruise with the pre-requisite swelling.  I am staying off of it as well as keeping weight off of it when I have to use it.  Unless it looks like it is getting worse - it appears to be healing to me - I am going to baby it for another couple days and then we will see.

Thank you for your concern.  It is really appreciated. 

[Jagman]

Ouch!

I always liked the look of those Shadows, before the accident, how does it ride?

I had a Yamaha Vision, a 2 cyl, 550cc 4 valve twin, that revved like mad and made pretty good hp for it's size. I had just moved to San Diego, bought a helmet (I never rode with one before) and was tooling around in the back coutry on a nice weekday afternoon. There was a small dip in the road with a small stream thru it, then the road turned left just after that. Just as I got to the other side of the gully a car came around in my lane and forced me onto the gravel shoulder, I couldn't get the bike to turn on the gravel and wasn't smart enough/experienced enough just to put it down. I was only going about 20 mph so it would have hurt far less than where I wound up in the ditch, with rocks the size of VW's! I woke up, on my back, on the shoulder and when I got up I took off my helmet, it was neatly split up the back by the small pointed rock my head had landed on, but I was unhurt other than being shook up a bit. The bike was a mess, all the plastic fairings broken, instuments broken and hanging by their cables, the tank had a pretty good dent in it from the handle bars turning and so on - plus this bike did not have a kickstarter, so if the battery was messed up I was walking home for sure. I managed to wrangle it upright and hit the starter and it fired right up, I had to twist the handlebars straight again and managed to get it back up onto the roadway. Trying to ride home ( I was about 25 miles from my house and knew no one in SD) was almost impossible, there must have been some fine gravel or grit in the head bearings and the bike wanted to just fall over, I had to keep shaking the handlebars back and forth to keep it loosened up so it would stay upright, by now in heavy rush hour traffic. I got it home safely and fixed it up, but I learned to always wear my helmet and pay the fuck attention when I rode from then on! Took me a month to find all the parts and fix it........

Hope your leg is ok, take it easy for  a while and rest, it'll probably look worse before it gets better...........

[Ultra]

Hope your leg is ok, take it easy for  a while and rest, it'll probably look worse before it gets better...........

Thank you very much.

The bike rides great, still does as it only took a couple of miniscule scratches.

[Ultra]

Just got back from a trip downstate.  This bike gets me over 60 miles to a gallon.

The trip went flawless and safe.

 

[Ultra]

A couple pics of the bike I use to travel the state.

It has saved me mega dollars in gas on my trips around the state.  I have already put almost 3,000 miles on it since I got it!

[Otto Puzzell]

Vrroom!

First gear (honda honda) its alright (faster faster)
Second gear (little honda honda) I lean right (faster faster)
Third gear (honda honda) hang on tight (faster faster)
Faster its alright

[Ultra]

Vrroom!

First gear (honda honda) its alright (faster faster)
Second gear (little honda honda) I lean right (faster faster)
Third gear (honda honda) hang on tight (faster faster)
Faster its alright

 

[Ultra]

P.S. This is NOT a fast bike.

 

[Otto Puzzell]

I'll bet it a fair bit quicker the the pucka-pucka bike I had in the '70's. (No, that's not me)

[Ultra]

Bike tops out at about 80 miles an hour, with a tail wind.

It is quite snappy to 30 or 40 miles an hour, very good torque, then it just kind of levels off and above 60 it is a slow steady climb of speed.  Good for two lanes or around town, not very confidence inspiring amongst the semi's and merging traffic of the interstate.

Hence, I stick to the two lane highways.  Makes for a longer trip when I come down your way, Karn, but it is more scenic, easier to enjoy, and, IMHO, safer for me.  I usually take M-15.  Keeps me out of all the urban areas except Bay City and Pontiac.  If you have never been to Vassar, check it out.  Neat downtown with great architecture.

[Jagman]

Wait a minute............a 700cc bike that won't do over 80 mph? Somethings wrong.......were you dragging an open parachute behind you? 

My little 550 2 cyl Yamadog Vision easily went over 115, and my 550ccc Honda 4 from the 70's topped 110 easily, even with a big Vetter windscreen on it.........Are you sure the throttles are opening all the way, air cleaner not blocked or something?

[Ultra]

Wait a minute............a 700cc bike that won't do over 80 mph? Somethings wrong.......were you dragging an open parachute behind you? 

My little 550 2 cyl Yamadog Vision easily went over 115, and my 550ccc Honda 4 from the 70's topped 110 easily, even with a big Vetter windscreen on it.........Are you sure the throttles are opening all the way, air cleaner not blocked or something?

It is a V-Twin.  That means torque, not horsepower.  Seriously, according to the guys at the Honda Shadow forum, this bike is performing just as it should.

[Ultra]

Leaving Lachine and heading for Alpena I stop at D's Honda and order a new air filter,  Then it is south on US 23 along the Lake Huron shore through Ossineke and into Harrisville, where I met up with my sisters boyfriend Scott and he joins me for the ride.  We then went south along the shore to Oscoda.  Leaving the shore we took River Road, a designated scenic route west through the Huron National Forest. Stopping along River Road at Desi's for some good Mexican Food. 

We then continued west by Lumberman's Monument, Canoeists Memorial and Iargo Springs until we intersected M-65.  The AuSable river is beautiful and we continued to use it as the backbone of our trip as we followed M-65 along the highbanks to Wickert road.  Then we took it into South Branch and Sixty Lakes.  Then we headed west on Rose City road through Lupton to Rose City.  Continuing west down an empty, curvy two lane with no cross roads to speak of, though hill country, we followed that road all the way to Roscommon county. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the temp was about 70.  It was perfection.

Then we turned north and stopped for a breather at Kirtland Community College.  We walked the campus to help alleviate bikers butt then moved on.  We headed North, crossing the South Branch of the AuSable River and hooking up with first M-18 and then M-72 where we turned east and headed toward Luzerne.  In Luzerne we turned north on County Road 489 and headed for the Parmalee bridge.  There we stopped at a fuel station and got some gas and headed on.  Continuing east on Cherry Creek rd all the way to M-33 we turned south on M-33 for a couple of miles and then got on county road F-32 and headed for McKinley.  In McKinley we stopped at the Scenic Riverside for a beverage and a break before we continued east on F-32 to Aspen Alley.   We took Aspen Alley north to M-65 where Scott and I parted ways and he headed back for Harrisville and I  headed north on M-65 to return to Lachine and my home.

Round trip, about 220 miles.  Got about 60 miles to the gallon.  No traffic to speak of.  After Scott, John's and my trip to Cross Village and M-119 two weeks or so ago and my two trips downstate in two weeks, this was a real nice ride a little closer to home.

 

[Ultra]

On the map, the purple arrow points to the start and end of the day:

[Otto Puzzell]

Sound's awesome.

As I was perusing the cars at this past weekend's local show-n-shine, a couple of big Healeys caught my eye. Both were later 3000's, but each was sans seat belts. And in spite of the name, these were not big cars in any sense, unless being compared with a bugeye, perhaps. Running one of these on the backroads with only the sound of a rorty exhaust and the bugs collecting on the tiny windscreen - that's the ticket for me.

The sparse vehicle population up there might almost entice me back on to a bike, but images of the last time I laid down my Honda always snap me out of it.   

[Rich]

Coincidentally enough, around the time Ultra got his Honda, my wife bought me an '07 Softail Deluxe, black pearl, as a "reward" for fine service or some such drivel.  Was the first I'd ridden in a while and, after a couple near death experiences (one my fault, one not), I was reminded how much I truly enjoyed this particular mode of travel.  Sorry to hear of your close encounter of the cornfield kind, U...hope you're healing and all is well.  Am planning on taking a MSF course here in a month to hone my skill a bit more before I engage in a copycat.  Until then, am riding very defensively, yet enjoying weekend rambles to Jackson and Yellowstone and Island Park and such, as well as my morning and evening commute.

"If I have to explain....."

r

BTW, Dr. Utz, life did happen in an extremely unfortunate way and thus the explanation for my late August entry...will be submitting same in the next two weeks.  Sorry for the unreliability.....