Starting On The First Kick

When I started to research into buying a motorcycle I asked an old mechanic/enthusiast about getting a 1972 Honda CB500 and he said “Don’t do it. You’ll always be in the shop and never on the road.” He wasn’t entirely wrong but I couldn’t help it. I was in love with the way CBs looked from the first time I saw one.

My bike needed a fair amount of TLC but I could almost always boil it down to a handful of simple things. I remember licking my finger and touching the headers to see if they were hot and exhaust was moving through. Sometimes I had to hold open the throttle to get the air/gas mix right. There was lots of fiddling and lots of tweaking. I remember running up an down a hill for an hour trying to get her to start after she spent a long cold winter cooped up in a garage. It was a small victory getting her going that time. For the vast majority of the time though when I was ready to go so was she. She would start on the first kick.

Riding on the highway at a nice speed with good weather, with the motor purring beneath you and the wind blowing… that right there has been one of the most enjoyable experiences my life has had to offer so far. If I had to do it all again I would.

Last winter I lost my bike to theft and I always joke that I’m glad she’s somebody else’s problem. But I still appreciate those experiences.