As I left Jamin and Benton behind the weather was not too promising. I was facing a ride of some 310 kms to Mont Vernon in New Hampshire where I was going to stay with Stu Brown whom I had met through the SOHC4.net, a forum for those attached to vintage Honda motorcycles, like mine with four cylinders and a single overhead camshaft.
We arranged to meet in Saco, Maine, as Stu wanted to have a ride out on his own CB750. I was having a warm-me-up coffee in Wendy’s when Stu and his friend Mike arrived; they were pretty easy to recognise; two other old geezers on two more old bikes.
Stu announced that the plan was to visit his friend Steve Baker, who had a collection of 750’s and an amazing stash of original spare parts, en route to his place. Arriving at Steve’s place we met another SOHC4 forum member – Andy750 – who had ridden up from Boston on his bike, so naturally, we had to line up the 4 bikes for a photo shoot.
Mike had to leave fairly early and shortly afterwards Andy, who had a two-hour ride back to Boston also left. Stu and I were luckier and were treated to a delicious lunch by Steve’s wife Suzie, who, astonishingly – well I was astonished, especially by the way she was almost running about on her Zimmer – was up and about one day after having her hip replaced! Thank you, Suzie, and I hope, by now, you are much improved.
Next day, having discussed the possibilities, on a miserable Sunday morning, we returned to Steve’s place to collect the trailer and profit from a rummage through his stash of otherwise unobtainable parts.
The next few days was spent trying to sort out my troublesome clutch and improve my aerodynamics using a period windshield that Steve very kindly gave me. It was painted gold flake which looked a bit odd next to my blue metallic, but if it made my ride more comfortable, that was OK with me. Anyway, we didn’t take it with us.
Back home we fitted the windshield and then, because the top was directly in my line of vision, we foolishly as it turned out, cut down the screen before taking a ride. After much trial and error and trying my original screen again, we modified an old Goldwing screen that Stu had and used it. The result is much better than my smaller screen.
We also overhauled the clutch which revealed that nothing was amiss, and all the parts were well within specification. So we put everything back together and took advice from one of the SHOC4’s walking encyclopaedias, Mark Parrish, aka Hondaman. Mark provided a detailed history of the developments of the clutch from the first bike’s Honda produced, and suggested some possible remedies to my, somewhat frustrating problem. Ultimately, he felt the problem was due to the oil – always a contentious issue – and recommended I try adding in some zinc to the mix.
In the meantime, Andy750, who made a brief appearance earlier, reported that he had had a similar problem once and it turned out to be a loose screw on the gear selector drum. To inspect this required the removal of the side cover, and when this was duly accomplished, there it was, the offending item, a loose screw. Loctiting and tightening this instantly solved the problem. So there you have it; as many will attest, I have a screw loose!
Meanwhile I ordered some zinc stuff, which wasn’t easy unless I was willing to wait a week, but I did find a source eventually that would arrive in two days. When it did arrive, I added it and felt that there was a further improvement in shifting.
This delay was not without it’s benefits; in the interim period we get a dinner invite to Stu’s friends – Mike and Zoe Fimbel – for dinner. They have a super place beside a river and pond.
We also went to the local bike night in Milford, at Station 101. The weather wasn’t great, so the numbers were low, but I spent a very pleasant evening talking to some interesting folk.
All good things must come to an end, so on Friday, I prepared to leave, heading north to Canada and Belfast, Ontario. Stu was suffering from toothache, and left me on Friday morning to visit the dentist. He returned in much better form and decided to accompany me for part of the ride.
We set off in bright sunshine and, having passed through Dublin, were soon at the turn-around point, a town called Keene. We were sitting having coffee, when a guy with a distinct Australian accent approached our table. He was Christopher Pearson, motorcycle traveller and blogger. He and Laura were travelling, by car this time, but had spotted our bikes and couldn’t resist hearing the story. Whilst we were chatting Stu noticed a traffic warden about to give us a ticket because the parking meter had expired; he chatted to her, and she agreed to tear up the ticket if we put some more coins in the machine.
Earlier I had tried to park in a spot beside – beside, not in – a disabled parking bay and he said this was not allowed, so we had used a car spot for the two bikes. I told him he lived in such an uncivilised country, as in France I can park my bike just about anywhere with no issues; and now we were being threatened with a ticket! Quelle horreur!
Shortly afterwards, we parted ways, with me heading north towards Saratoga Springs and Canada, and Stu returning home. I cannot thank him enough for his hospitality, generosity and patience; we had a good week. Stay well my friend.
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 