A touch of the Continentals

Is there any reason why a classic Japanese bike shouldn't be capable of some serious long distance touring? Neil Murray strapped a tankbag on his Honda CB550F2 and set off to find out.

QUITE often just a few tweaks are enough to turn a bike that is, well, OK, into something rather desirable. Think of things like the early BMW R65: a nice enough bike, but not much fun until BMW lopped some weight off it, gave it another 5bhp, and ditched the horrible ATE brake calipers for Brembos. Bingo.

Or the original GPz1100: a thundering bike in its own right, but with the B2 model, a retune of the engine for more mid-range, plus the adoption of a dinky fairing, transformed it.
Honda's original CB500 Four was always respected. As reliable as a pair of scissors, it was, although it looked slightly humdrum (which is a way of saying it looked like any other Honda four). In the US, they got the CB550 first. Outwardly damn near identical to the 500, it was a simple bore-out for the extra capacity.
In the UK we had to wait until the CB550F appeared a year later, but the wait was worth it because Honda took the opportunity to uprate the bike a bit more. Specifically, the suspension was improved, the heavy and now dated-looking four-into-four exhaust was replaced by a new four-into-one that tried to emulate the delicious curves of the 400 Four system, and the styling was generally slimmed down .

I've always liked the 550 Four. It is almost as fast as the later (detuned) CB750 models, while it completely out-handles them. Compared with the classic CB400 Four, it doesn't handle or stop quite as well, and nor does it have the benefit of dinky dimensions, but on the other hand it has far more usable torque. Try running a 400 with a load of camping gear and luggage. I have, and I can tell you, you find yourself stirring the gearbox far more than usual.
The plan this year was much the same as it's been for the last couple of years: find a decent old bike, run it for long enough in the UK to determine that it probably wouldn't blow up, and then strap on throwovers and tank bag and take the thing over to France for some fun.
The original steed was to be a 1978 Suzuki GT380B. Not the ideal thing for the journey, a 25 year-old two-stroke triple, but it seemed sound enough. However, the on-line auction site E-Bay yielded this Honda CB550F2. Amazingly, nobody else bid on it (probably because the accompanying photos were chronic) and my single bid of £750 got it. Just 18,000 miles from new, and 100% stock. Original exhaust system, with what looked like a brand new silencer on it. Even taxed and tested.

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THIS wasn't a bad way to bow out of my editorship. A day in sunny Rutland with new incumbent Rod Gibson on a brace of musclebikes from the late Seventies with snapper Pearson in attendance for a non-stop stream of witticisms as he went about his photographic business.
It was Chris who had tracked down a pair of suitable steeds for Rod and I to test and the ever-helpful Stuart Mayhew of North Leicester Motorcycles turned up at the White Lion in Geddington with the bikes in the back of his van on a Wednesday lunchtime for our 'buddy bonding' double test.

But where was the venerable 'Dr' Rod? As I purveyed teas and coffees in my capacity as 'mine host' to Stuart, his wife Barbara, Chris and Stevie the chat was, of course, about bikes and the latest offering from Bimota - Stuart being the UK distributor for the exclusive Italian brand.
The doc was, in fact, en route from Wellingborough having collected his new personal steed from my mate Dougie Perkins who'd been storing it for me. When he strolled in he seemed pleased enough with the Katana he'd bought off me 'sight unseen'. Hope it goes well for him.
Chris had told me on the phone that the bikes were a CBX and Z1300. No problem penning my commissioned quota of words on the Honda, after all (as I have oft mentioned) I had been on the launch of the CBX in November 1977 at Suzuka in Japan and long-standing readers may recall the saga of my own bike featured in Mechanics.
But out of the van rolled the Pro-link version, Honda's sacrilegious attempt to boost sales of the big six by turning it into a 'touring' bike. Hmmm. Still, it looked tidy enough with some aftermarket silencers (more of which later) Stuart had fitted to the Italian import.
The Z, on the other hand, looked somewhat tired with cracked plastic and generally downtrodden persona. Still, appearances were to prove deceptive later.

Statics Over With
CHRIS decided to get the static shots done first down near the bridge over Geddington's small river, the 'Isebrook' which, I am told today by lunchtime regular Bill, joins the River Nene at Kettering's Wicksteed Park. Bit of local geography there...
It's a pretty bridge in the centre of the village and bears scars along its stonework where the Yanks apparently tried to drive a tank over it during the war. Next to it is a ford, a major attraction for local petrolheads intent on dousing their electrics.
Getting static pictures of two bikes involves much pushing and shoving to suit the photographer's artistic requirements and Chris's instruction to ride them both through a small gateway into the park (to get the bridge in the background) had me cursing as the CBX's top-heavy bulk made this a somewhat risky endeavour.
Rod, on the other hand, seemed able to whip the Z1300 in and out of narrow places with ease - helped no doubt by its ultra-low seat and low centre of gravity.
With Chris and Rod satisfied with the statics it was time to squeeze though the small gate (observed by some puzzled locals) and get back to the pub and gear up for the riding shots.
A regular spot in the Welland Valley north of Corby was chosen (little traffic, space to park the car and a slow left and right kink) was chosen so off we went.
Half a mile out of Geddington the CBX spluttered to a halt! Bloody hell, no petrol? Panic over, it fired up when I'd turned the petrol tap (slightly obscured by the end of the fairing) to reserve.
At a stop for a quick top up of unleaded, Rod told me the tailpiece was waggling about and a quick inspection showed that it wasn't properly secured. Oh well, it hadn't fallen off yet. He didn't seem too enamoured with the brakes on the Z13 and warned me to watch out for them when my turn came.

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