Craig’s Motorcycles
1983 Honda CX650
Back in Australia again I picked up a shabby CX650 with no instruments and patched it up to be a decent touring and hack bike. I'd had my fill of four-cylinder power and wanted the soul of a v-twin. The CX was the best I could do at the time, and it wasn't a bad choice.
I poked some extra holes in the muffler ends to let the great 80-degree sound out. It had nice torque, and the low gearing gave exceptional off-the-line performance at traffic light squeezes—better than many bigger bikes. The handling was generally pretty good for a shaftie, but not helped by the longitudinal engine and heavy flywheel. I remember one or two tricky corners that sent me onto the wrong side of the road wondering where I'd gone wrong. Other faults included an underpowered starter motor which let me down on many a cold morning, and a worn water pump and seal. Rattly clutch springs were fixed with washers and some tricky work with rivets and an oxy torch.

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