74CB750RCBlogEntry17

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Blog Entry 17: Posted December 4, 2010

Wow! It’s December already! For those of you who wonder what I’ve been up to and figure I’d abandoned the blog, fear not. I am still very much alive and well and ready to update you all on the goings on with the 750 and myself.

Since my last update back in September, a lot of ground has been covered figuratively and literally:

On a sad note, shortly after the last entry Ursulina and I lost one of our cats, BOC or “Big Orange Cat” or "Big Orange Creel" to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) after a fairly lengthy illness. He arrived as a stray. He'd been with us a long time and had become quite a permanent fixture around the shop, just lounging and greeting customers as they came and went, and generally just being top cat, winning over even those not charmed by feline companionship. He is very much missed by all of us here at the shop, and fondly remembered. In his memory we created a small memorial garden behind the house which we plan on landscaping more come next Spring.

A little riding certainly helped to take some of the sting off of a bad experience such as this loss, and ultimately the following weekend took Ursulina and I to Western Pennsylvania in the Somerset area for the Mother Earth News fair. I took the CB 750 along in the van for our weekend trip to take advantage of the fact that I’d be so close to another section of the Old National Road, and some of the best riding country I know of in that area. So after attending a couple hours of the fair, I unloaded the 750 and headed off into the wilds of Western PA. Late September in that area with the elevation is always a slightly early introduction to Fall, and the colors in the leaves and crisp air didn’t disappoint as I wound my way southward toward US 40 near Fort Necessity. Soon, I was buzzing along my favorite stretch of the Old National Road headed west toward Uniontown. The 750 easily pulled up the Eastern slope of Chestnut Ridge to the Summit Inn and before me opened up the view of Uniontown on the valley floor below as if I just rode to the edge of the earth. If you haven’t ridden that stretch of US 40, you must if for nothing more than that view. It truly is breathtaking and the first time I had ridden this route, was on my old 750 and the interstate had been closed due to a very bad accident. Sharing that stretch of downgrade with a large amount of other vehicles, tractor-trailers, and traffic made it quite an experience to say the least. It really gives you an appreciation for what it must have been like back in the 50’s when roads such as this were the main thoroughfares. After another couple of hours or so west, I picked a nice back road route from near Pittsburgh and wound my way back to Somerset, passing through so many small and charming towns along the way, in time to load up the Honda, meet back up with Ursulina, and head back to the hotel.

The following day after a nice breakfast and a 2 hour drive we found ourselves in Spring Grove, PA sitting at the foot of a 320 foot tall hill waiting for the competition to begin. If you haven’t had a chance to see the Hill Climb at White Rose and if an appreciation for motorcycle performance is your thing, then make sure you fit a visit there into your schedule. The sound of a Harley V-twin or BSA parallel twin at full throttle on nitro-methane and nitrous-oxide pulling up a nearly vertical wall of dirt is like nothing else. 10 seconds to the top. The weather was a bit overcast, but quite comfortable as bike after bike made the attempt at climbing the nearly vertical hill and cresting the top, keeping the crowd cheering on. A very fun day! We made a 10-minute video compellation and posted it on YouTube - check it out.

October is where it gets very busy and my ride time on my own Honda diminishes as motorcycle events fill each weekend. What rides I did squeeze in on the 750 have been a lot shorter than my usual 300 miles per ride, but I still manage to sneak in an evening 40-50 miles or at the very least a trip to town for some parts to be sure I and the 750 don’t get rusty.

The first weekend of October brings about the much anticipated Virginia British Motorcycle Club Rallye in Manassas. Here's a 1 minute video we made while at the show. This show always brings out a very nice collection of rare and unique British and European motorcycles to the Prince William County Fairgrounds for all to see. This year was no exception, and even the threat of rain most of the day didn’t deter the regulars and even quite a lot of new attendees, and luckily the weather held out all day until the show was over. As always, it was such a pleasure to see the old familiar faces and meet lots of new folks as well over some beautiful classics and a great swap meet. We even took home a trophy for one of our restored Triumphs, a 1970 Triumph TR6C Trophy! After the show we were also treated to a nice dinner and visit with a fellow motorcycle enthusiast and his family at his home. (Thanks John S.!) Times like this always remind me of why I enjoy motorcycles and motorcycle folk. Good times.

One of the heavy-hitters in the vintage motorcycle world most undoubtedly has to be the Barber Vintage Museum in Leeds Alabama. The Barber Vintage Festival is the top event here in the Eastern US in terms of quality and variety. The weekend following the VBMC Rallye found Ursulina and I there. Our visit was not only as spectators, but also to display one of our restored Hondas and the return it to the owner following the show. The fully restored ’71 Honda CL350 was an original owner machine and quite a hit at the show. Ursulina also took home a trophy for her volunteer service to the VJMC during the festival! The VJMC has what I’d consider to be the prime spot at the Barber festival right at the entrance gate, but also the classiest one as well with some of the rarest vintage Japanese motorcycles shown anywhere, bar none. One Tohatsu Runpet would be a sight, but two parked side by side? I can’t say I’ve ever seen that. One had factory saddlebags. Also a few rare Bridgestones, a Honda Trail 125, a sandcast 750 and even a GB500 with very low miles rounded out a diverse display of classic Japanese motorcycles.

Returning from Barber the following weekend took us to a Saturday show of the South Eastern Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club held at the Williamsburg-Jamestown airport here in Virginia. The show was hosted in conjunction with the airport's anniversary. A combination of vintage airplanes and vintage motorcycles made a nice showing on the airport grounds despite a very windy morning. The VJMC generously bestowed two trophies upon Ursulina and I for two of the bikes we brought along. One, wasn’t even a Japanese bike, but an Italian that took Best In Show. To say I was flattered and surprised would be an understatement. It was quite an honor.

Our final show for the year was the Meadow Highland Games & Celtic Festival in Doswell, Virginia. This event isn’t a judged show, but simply a display of some very nice British bikes and cars for all to see. I always enjoy this show for three reasons: The Eccles cakes, Haggis (yeah, I know, Ugh! But I like it) and the cool layout of British bikes and cars. Lots of good folks attend this festival and its always a pleasure to catch up with them all and share our bike and car experiences. We had two bikes on display for the Sunday portion of the festival and beautiful weather to boot. Good food, good weather, good friends and motorcycles. Who could ask for more?

November found Ursulina and I just enjoying a break from a lot of time on the road, and catching up on all of the shop work, home maintenance (read: leaf-blowing) and then getting in a nice quiet trip to Williamsburg for the Thanksgiving holiday. I’ve only been doing some small afternoon rides with the 750 here and there between getting set for the coming holidays, and our busy workload, but I’ve managed to tick over 5,000 miles now and that all fairly trouble free, aside from the before mentioned little bugs in earlier posts. As it gets colder yet, I have plans for January to begin the dual disc conversion and rear disc retrofit with all the details and progress reports. I also keep having this idea floating around in my head to see about a significant charging system upgrade to allow the use of heated clothes and grips to extend my riding well into the Winter months. Not sure where that will go yet, but if it does materialize I’ll be sure to keep everyone included in the project.

Next Update: winter riding & winter projects

1974 Honda CB750 Four K4

Mechanical Service with some Cosmetics

Owner & Writer: Randy Creel, Jr., Owner & Restorer of Randy's Cycle Service & Restoration

Revitalize the Spirit & Beauty of your Classic Bike

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COMMENTS: This page is an ongoing write-up of Randy's mechanical & cosmetic service to the bike he'll personally be riding starting the spring/summer 2010. Write ups - some technical some personal - will be posted along with pictures & a video of the progress. Notifications of new entries will appear on Facebook, so please join us on Facebook by clicking on the icon above.