My First Motorcycle.

In August of 2008 after an extensive (and exhausting) search for an old bike, I came across a 1980 Honda CX500C about 45 miles north of my current location advertised in the local paper. It was in pretty rough shape; the bike was painted in an awful metallic dark blue and featured cheesy magnetic flames on the tank. The left sidecover was missing, exposing the unsightly battery and wiring. The original seat was replaced with an awful "custom" seat that the previous owner was pretty proud of. Signals and lights were changed, and the handlebars were swapped for mini ape-hangers. Both tires were pretty low on tread, and the rear tire liked to go flat a lot. The stator had it's classic CX500 problem, but it ran. We recieved an identical parts bike with the purchase, which was 100% original, but about 80% usable. At first sight, the first CX was ugly. The owner tried to make it look like a Harley...he ended up making it look like it belonged in a 6 year old's HotWheels collection.

So, I was pretty turned off to this bike. It looked like nothing I wanted. I was in the market for a UJM ("Universal Japanese Motorcycle") and was looking at a mysterious funny-looking bike from the 80's. I had never seen a CX before, let alone a transverse V-twin. I hadn't even seen a MotoGuzzi before.

We set to work on the bike as soon as we got it, and eventually got what we needed to have done by late September. Here's a few pictures for comparison.

Honda in August '08, with decals removed. Note the turd-shaped seat, mini apehangers, missing sidecover and tiny signals.

Honda in late September 2008. Note the stock headlamp, handlebars, seat, blinkers, taillight and grab bar.

My first trip on the semi-finished Honda was up to Maquoketa, which was about half an hour's worth of riding. After that, my dad and I attempted to attend a rally in Wisconsin, but only made it to Northwestern Illinois and camped there, due to stator problems on my bike.

During Winter '08/'09, I was able to squeeze in a few rides in December, January and February. My dad and I planned on fixing up the bike more and taking it on a trip to Colorado Springs, where his riding began. Ironically, our motorcycle club was having their national rally in Colorado Springs at around the time we planned on going. So, we took the next two months to fix up the Honda and fix the stator and tire problem and geared it up for a long tour. A new trunk, luggage rack, rear tire, stator, battery, windshield, and other parts were purchased to get it ready. We made the 2,500 mile trip with only a starter problem on the return trip.

I continued to collect more states through the summer and eventually claimed IA, IL, WI, MN, MO, KS, CO and NE. I attended another rally in northern Iowa and was able to cruise around and collect IA, IL, WI and MN in about four hours, which was pretty cool.

The riding season ended pretty early for me, having put the bike away just a week after Thanksgiving. For Christmas, I recieved a set of new Harley pipes to replace my rusted through stock ones, which should sound great. I also recieved a new front tire. Haven't touched my CX yet because it has a new friend in my garage stall that's been recieving a lot of attention lately. Hope it doesn't get jealous ;)

Oh, and I now love the CX500. It's such a unique bike with a very strong cult following all over the world. My feelings for my bike have changed a LOT since I saw it sitting in some dude's front lawn in 2008. All it needed was a lot of love, an organ donor, a few dozen Brillo pads, and a new coat of paint.