The power and the money,
The money and the power,
Seen in thirty minutes,
Within half an hour.
Pedaling to and from the grocery this morning I stopped and took a picture of this nice Honda period piece, a punched-out CB750.
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| Is it my eyes, or is that swingarm slightly stretched? The Utah Salt Flats Racing Association sticker on the tank makes me think "yes". |
Then I ran to Lowe's for a light-duty
cordless weed whacker/edger
for those spots in the front yard where it's a pain to run an extension cord, and while I was there I spotted more internal combustion grooviness in the lot:
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| Aston Martin Vantage |
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| '99 Forester photobombing Vantage pic. |
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| Also at Lowe's, a 1950 Cadillac. Me not being any kind of what you'd call a Caddy enthusiast, you're probably wondering how I knew the model year... |
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| Well, wonder no longer. |
*
No, I'm not saying that Broad Ripple is like some kind of Hoosier Mulholland Drive or Woodward Avenue or Deal's Gap, only that I saw some cool rides today and it made me happy and I would like to share them with you, as well as have a chance to bust some Coolio lyrics. This being the internet, someone will be along shortly to tell me how many more cooler cars they saw in their neighborhood today. "Here is my parade, internets! Please rain on it!"
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27 comments:
Hey, that's a pretty nicely done up SOHC 750. I'm not seeing the swinger stretch in it, but it's hard to tell from a pic unless it's glaringly obvious.
I saw an Aston Martin here in ABQ the other day. Very odd. Definitely not an every day occurrence. Though, it's an oddly generic shape, somehow. I couldn't tell what it was until I saw the marque badging.
It's always nice to run across some of the better examples of mobile internal combustion machines, wherever you are.
Quite the variety you came across.
Thanks for sharing.
The shocks should be more straight up and down, so yeah, it looks like it's been stretched.
The Caddie, IIRC, is of an age when you could still read the year of manufacture on the taillamp lenses.
Let's hope the Salt Flats dude doesn't get his hands on this sweetie being sold on the fleabay right there in your neighborhood:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-Honda-CB750-Four-only-12-200-miles-all-original-/251281788776?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item3a818fcf68
Yes I know a CBR would suck the chrome right off those pretty (real steel!) fenders, but that was a groundbreaking technological marvel in the 70's; brings back fond memories.
Oh, and from the fleabay description: "For the last seven years owned and ridden by an elderly woman." Heh.
The only cool car I saw on the road today was that 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 that I already have the keys too. :)
Love that bike, it does look stretched, but I think it might be the seat/tank combo that makes it look that way.
-Rob
IIRC, the hot trick back then was CB350 pistons in bored CB750 cylinders. Also IIRC, stock CB750s were actually 738cc, the 64mm CB350 pistons took them to something like 860cc. Required massively rejetting the carbs, but very noticeable performance difference with no external tells.
'75 or '76 CB750F
Swingarm looks stock to me, agree with Rob that it's an illusion caused by the back end being bobbed.
Hope it's owner enjoys it as much as I did mine. I've had bigger, faster, and better handling bikes since then, but I've never had one that was as much fun to ride as my ol' Supersport. :)
I saw a Genesis 5.0 today.
It's not as "cool" as many cars, but god DAMN is it a handsome little "why would anyone buy an E-Class anyway?" car.
Ford has appropriated that Aston Martin front grill for their current Fusion mid-size car. Makes me do a double take each time I see it, but then the rest of the car's proportions are all wrong.
Great CB750 spot.
Love the Caddy in all her split window glory. (A GM thing of the time) I'll bet that is one smooooooth ride. Oh my. Thanks for taking the pic and sharing. No rain here...Boy, would I like to look under the hood of that beauty. ;-)
Ricardo the Engineer
Rub it in.
The Hot Rod Power Tour stopped in Birmingham today and I couldn't go due to work demands.
Nope, no cool cars seen in this locale today :(
Making do with drooling over your pics.
That Honda makes me think of my old Kawasaki, its near contemporary, a 1972 750 H2. It had a fair amount of power, but handled like crap.
I saw a tractor today...
(Smooths imaginary moustache and cocks a smug eyebrow)
... A red one.
I think we can all agree I win this round.
(Tips the barman handsomely and swaggers out onto the street)
Interesting bike - those sure don't appear to be the stock carburetors, and the coiled line looks like it's a kill-switch that attaches to the rider's wrist. At one time, I owned a genuine RC Engineering 1000cc Cobra engine (IIRC, about a 9/16 overbore!) complete with aluminum GoldenRods. We stuck it in an old ratty bike, and left the stock carbs there. Even undercarbed, it was really, really fast, and quite the sleeper.
Not to rain on your parade or anything, but last night I saw a 2013 Dodge Durango.
In the basement of a house.
http://www.wthr.com/story/22516461/s
That looks like a rack of Flat Slide carbs, and the side cover says CB 970, so it has a big bore kit. Judging by the chain cover, the swingarm looks stock. I would think anyone going to the trouble of extending the stock one would do some bracing, as they were somewhat wimpy.
Unless you have a special affinity for Chrysler minivans and Pontiac Sunfires, your scenery is far more photo worthy than mine today.
There was once a Tesla in the parking lot of my employer. That's even more interesting when you take into account that my employer deals in the mass distribution of liquefied fossils.
LOVING the '50 Caddy! That's a fine day o' bird-watchin' you had there. I'm ever so glad you shared your happy.
Thanks,
JSG
Yes, the trick was CB-350 pistons all right. Didn't help much, because the bike still handled like a drunken walrus. I used to beat one regularly at Loudon, using a 650 Norton Manxman.
1975-1978 CB750F model. Swingarm looks OEM, longer would have shocks leaned over more.
IIRC, the 350 pistons in a 750 engine raised the compression ratio to the 12 - 13 to 1 area, high enough to detonate significantly when running pump gas. I think I've still got a holed piston around somewhere from one of those modifications.
My brother "found" an old CB750 standing on-end in the closet of an abandoned house. Nice, clean bike, and a previous possessor put a 4 into 1 header on it and 12 inch longer fork tubes on it, along with handlebars that looked more at home on a plow, by the angle. He traded it to one of my runnin' buddies straight across for a Dan Wesson .357 with a pair of barrels thrown in. It'd go like stink in a straight line, but to turn around you needed to take it to the airport in order to have enough maneuvering room. On very late nights when the air was hot, humid and still that spiral baffle in the header would mysteriously fall out and you could hear it coming at you from quite a distance, usually taching near the redline.
Oh, and I failed to add, but worthy of a new post, the sound of an Aston-Martin V12 pulling away from a stop and running through the gears is enough to make any smallblock fan absolutely green. There are enough Astons around here that I see at least one a week. Always a treat to crack the window a little and listen to the music.
Love the Caddy. First thought upon seeing the pix was to wonder whether it belonged to (Obscure Reference Alert) an Old Blood Mechanic. Pardon me, my geek is showing.
Tam, you have converted me. If I ever buy another motor vehicle, it will be a Subaru Forester. I'll not care if peepul think I'm a Lesbian for doing that.
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