Just Don't Sneeze, Please

[BiPolarBear]

Hello -- I just bought my first CBX, after wanting one for thirty years or so. I've always been -- well, horrified, frankly, by the price, but finally realized that they weren't getting noticeably cheaper. Then one night whilst looking at a listing for a 1979 CBX for sale, my brilliant and beautiful wife, Diane, wife looked over my shoulder and said (I think that I married her in anticipation of this moment), "Go for it!".

I went, and she's mine.

But what I first noticed is that when it's leaning on its kickstand, the bike seems heeled over so far that I can literally tip it over the top of the kickstand with a light push, nearly one finger. The thought of some mindless cretin bumping into it, and tupping it over onto its lovely engine and paint has me a trifle worried. Are ALL 1979 CBX's like this? I plan to weld a bit of metal underneath the kickstand to raise it a trifle. Has anyone else done this, please?

[daves79x]

Bear:

Welcome - some introduction! As for the sidestand - STRAIGHTEN it - don't weld something on. You'll find it likely bent in two planes. The rib on the back should be perfectly straight and it should not be bent 'forward' either. Once you get it straight, the bike will sit just fine, provided you have stock or close-to-stock tire sizes (100/90-19 and 120/90-18). Those Dunlops on the bike might be pretty old anyway - that's the first thing needing replaced, usually. A whole different bike with new rubber.

Dave

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Welcome to the site.
Great stable of bikes you have there but with the addictive powers of the CBX you might have to make more room.

[BiPolarBear]

I know what you mean. My Number One bike has always been the Water Buffalo. It's what I've done my Iron Butt rides on, but having experienced the Joys of the Two Wheeled Pipe Organ (I swear, that exhaust note makes my nipples hard!), I might need an '81.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

The Buffalo can be an acquired taste to some people but i have always liked them.
I had a '76 with a mild port job, pods and modified Denco chambers. A fun bike and between the intake honk and the pipes it sounded great.

[Kool_Biker]

Ah, the Water Buffalo aka 'The kettle' in europeenese ...

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It was my trusted steed back in the seventies while a student in the UK. Together, we travelled up and down the country, with stints to France and Belgium thrown in every now and then.

2 stroke magic!

Aris

[BiPolarBear]

Lovely Kettle, mate. Looks like a 1976 GT750A in good nick, with a Manchester/Merseyside plate and a 1976 year identifier. My mother (a McLean) was from Edinburgh, and I have relatives all over the Lowlands, Yorkshire, and a few in the Orkneys. I actually currently own two Kettles, and have had eight, all told. I'm still a member of The Kettle Club -- and even have the club jacket.

Do you ever miss the bike?

[Kool_Biker]

I miss my Kettle very much. But I also miss those times ...

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This pic was taken in Paris, just prior to kitting up to ride back to Brighton where I lived and studied at the time.
I remember the Autoroute, on the way to Calais, going flat out at an indicated 125 MPH (who knows ... with those big optimistic instruments) and worrying about one thing only; the coolant temperature gauge in the middle of the instrument cluster. As long as that was happy, I was happy and going like bonkers!
Tiring in an un-faired bike? Of course not. At those speeds, fuel consumption was colossal - you had to stop every so often to refuel
Aris

[BiPolarBear]

True enough on the 'petrol gulping'. I've done Iron Butt rides on my Suzuki, and it's time to top off every one hundred and twenty miles or so. And the mileage drops precipitously when I rejet and put on chambers.

I was actually born not far from where that snap was taken -- in Chambley. And when it was taken, I was in the Army (AND, BTW, going to Crete every year. LOVE Crete -- I've promised to take my brilliant and beautiful wife, Diane, to Chania someday). Seems like yesterday.....

Here's my Suzuki and my Honda Ridgeline. LOVE the colour!