Volume Three Number 1
Cyberspace
Letters
One of our "communication channels" is the recently famous (maybe infamous?) Internet a.k.a. the 'Web. Jim Bates E-Mailed me in late October with a question.
"Decided to check on a used motorcycle and have found that the local Honda dealer has a 1981 cx500 that has @15000 miles and they are asking $1195 for it. The bike appears to be in excellant (sic) condition for its age. The motor looks like a Moto Guzzi, and has shaft drive and is liquid cooled. They are going to split the cost of a new back tire. Could it make the Rt 66 trip next June?"
How would you have responded? (I wrote back to say:)
"You're guess is as good as mine, Jim. A BRAND NEW Gold Wing . . . 1,500 miles on the clock when they started . . . blew a tire so completely that the rim was damaged and the participants had to call on the Honda Riders 'assistant' deal to fix things up.
A Helix SCOOTER (for God's sake) completed the Iron Butt (11K miles). Some BICYCLISTS ran Route 66 last year.
Cycle World ran a story about two bikes about that age that made it - albeit with some problems. Older bikes . . . like older people . . . are capable of amazing journeys.
Certainly at the $1,195, your investment would be about what the drop off charge of one of the rental companies. The major `enemy' of older bikes is deterioration of the RUBBER parts. If they've `laid up' for a period of time (the low mileage suggests that that is the case with the bike you are looking at) the rubber parts still wind down. Even though the front tire LOOKS o.k., I would replace that as well.
Were I you? Hell, I'd buy the bike and get to know it well. I'd sign up with Honda's (or another motorcycle specific roadside service) assistance program ($35 a year, I think) and give it a shot. With the sure knowledge that there is SOME chance I wouldn't make it to the planned destination . . . just sorta take a laid back approach, if I make it, GREAT, if I get bogged down mechanically? That's ok too. And with your "investment" you could darn near park it someplace and ride a Greyhound home.
Life is a trip . . . not a destination. Enjoy the ride."
First "Commercial" Sponsor
Regular "rally go'ers" know that the real key to success is commercial sponsorship. That is: manufacturers, dealers, etc., getting interested in the event. We're delighted to tell you that Niehaus Cycle Sales in Litchfield, IL has seen fit to lend assistance to The 3nd Annual Mother Road Ride/Rally®. Brad Niehaus and his brother are second generation dealers in Litchfield and they are extending a special invitation to "Mother Roaders" to stop in their shop right on Old Route 66 in Litchfield. They do a huge mail order business all over the USA and world (1-800-373-6565) and will be including our flyer in their outgoing packages. Brad invited our newsletter subscribers to call for a free catalog.
