Saturday, March 2, 2013

First Ride

It has been a long winter or at least I feel that it has been.  Maybe it's my age or maybe it's the fact that I want all of this snow gone and the chance to jump on two wheels and hit the road.  Earlier this week I was spending some time online browsing through various motorcycle websites and I came across this advertisement for a Honda motorcycle.


The advertisement instantly brought a smile to my face and took me back in time, at least for a little while.  Picture it, the year is 1978...now I am giving away my age and a young high school kid gets his first street bike, a 1977 Honda CJ360T just like the one in this advertisement!  For a 16 year old, this was one cool motorcycle, a sporty yet very simple motorcycle!  My CJ360T was exactly like the one in the advertisement with the air cooled 356cc inline twin engine, two into one exhaust and red and black paint scheme.


The CJ360T was a simple motorcycle, nothing complex.  It did not have electric start or disc brakes, drum brakes front and back and a kick starter that never let me down.  I can remember riding this machine everywhere, regardless of weather conditions and it always worked like a charm!  I put so many miles on my CJ360T that during my 3rd summer, I had to have a top end job done...cylinders bored, new pistons and rings.


The CJ was only produced in 1976-1977 and was a bit of a flop in the marketplace...it was not nearly as successful as it's cousin the Honda CB360T, but back in 1978, that did not matter to me!  I had a street bike and I could go anywhere that I wanted.  I enjoyed reflecting back to a time when life was simple and I didn't have a worry in the the world, an experience I am sure that many bikers can relate too!

Leave a comment and let me know what your first street ride is/was?

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