The Story Part Two

The concept of this trip was first to ride pretty much straight from my house in Corona California to my home town (where Mike still resides) of Springville New York which is about 30 miles south of Buffalo. It has somewhat evolved from that to a trip from one ocean to the other and then back a bit, with some really neat stops in between (You’ll learn about those stops soon!). Before I could truly commit to this ride I had to first find an old Superhawk. Mike already owns one and his could be ridden "as is" if needed but he will go through it before such a journey is undertaken. This segment of our story tells why we chose the CB77 Superhawk to ride over all of the great Honda motorcycles of the past and how I found one of these great bikes.

So, why a CB77 Superhawk?

Over the years Honda has built many, many wonderful motorcycles in which most any would not only be worthy of a cross-country ride but also be reliable enough to make it with ease given the time needed to do such a ride. I first considered taking one of my ever so cool S90’s on this trip but Mike was quick to point out that I was a bit out of touch with reality and would of "slapped me up side the head" if he were not almost 3000 miles away when I first brought this idea up! Don’t get me wrong, I still truly believe that a S90 could do the trip with ease, It is just that it would take about 2 months to make the ride and to be honest, even though I work for American Honda, I’m going to be lucky as all get out if my boss doesn’t have a heart attack when I tell him I’m going to be taking just about a month off of work to do this ride as it is! Fortunately, I think that he’ll go for it as he is a true Honda person and besides, if nothing else, he’ll be a little jealous that he’s not going too! That’ll make the pill a bit easier to swallow for him, because he is a real Honda history lover as well (Well, boss, I hope that schmooze move worked!).

Anyway, the CB77 Superhawk was (and still is in my mind, even now more than ever!) a brilliant motorcycle. The Superhawk was introduced the US market as a 1961 model along with the CB72 250 Hawk version. The two bikes were virtually identical in every way except for displacement. Americans being the "hot rodders" that we are, always looking for more power, seemed to pick the bigger bike for its power, all 28 horsepower. Therefore finding a CB72 250 Hawk is pretty hard to begin with as there were just a few under 3,500 of these machines sold in the USA from 1961 through 1966. On the other hand, there were almost 73,000 CB77’s sold here in the USA between 1961 and 1969 Even though Honda stopped production in 1967, these units were still sold until 1969. Back then, most every State in our Country would title a vehicle as the year it was first registered, not the actual year of production, even though it was often not correct!

I had worked on quite a few of these bikes when I first started working in the motorcycle industry. They were big and powerful for the times and I can still remember Dave Wilson (one of my many riding buddies of that era) having a CB77 Superhawk that he rode on the trails. That’s right, a Superhawk trail bike! This goes back to the early 70’s. The most memorable thing I remember about Dave’s bike was that it had a large sticker of "Porky the Pig" that covered the whole top of the fuel tank right below the cap! Oh and it was really fast on the dirt roads compared to the 100cc Hodaka B+ that I had back then too! That bike of his ran in mud, crud and dust and everything we could come up to without ever breaking down. I recall that it would stop running on one cylinder from time to time but it still kept on going! Oh, and with no air filters too! Now, I can only imagine what the inside of that engine must have looked like. But like a Timex, it just kept on ticking!

I think that has always stuck deep down in my memory banks, the reliability of that bike of Dave’s was uncanny.

Now that I know better, I can see why that bike ran and ran. Looking at the insides of a CB77 gives good reason for its reliability. It utilizes lots of ball bearings. Big ball bearings that work very well under the worst of conditions and with just a minimal amount of oil last just about forever (well, I suppose that statement will be tested at a date soon to come!).

In the early 1960s, the CB77 305 was the biggest Honda available. Back then a Superhawk could propel its rider into a real adrenaline rush with unsurpassed power and speed. The CB77 Super Hawk was the beginning of something really special. Not just a sport bike but, arguably, Japans first Super-bike.
While extremely easy to ride around town it was also capable of reaching speeds closing in on the 100mph, this was a machine for just about every experienced rider! The Superhawk came to its owner from the factory with telescopic forks, dual carburetors and twin leading shoe brakes, which greatly improved acceleration, braking and handling over most all competitors of the day. It would out accelerate most every street bike available at the time no matter what the size.

The CB77 would give its rider a feeling of control that most bikes of the time could not duplicate at half of the speed capabilities. And it had not only an electric starter but a complete electrical system that was reliable as well! Now THAT was something very rare in the 60’s from larger bikes.
The large (for a Japanese brand) 305cc engine came with an overhead cam, a luxury back then that was found exclusively in the racing community. Its 9000-rpm-redline was a nice change of pace when compared to the low-revving machines developed in Europe as well as here in the United States.

The tube type frame broke away from the common pressed stamped designs of Japan built machines and provided a mounting point for one of Mr. Soichiro Honda’s finest engines ever using it as a stressed member to keep the motorcycles weight at a fairly reasonable 350lbs. Yes, the CB77 and it’s almost 30 horsepower engine was a contender right out of the crate!
The Super Hawk owned the top spot in the Honda lineup until 1965 when Honda released the CB450. So deciding on this bike was not all that difficult. First off, Mike already has one and there should not be too much of a problem in finding another one as there were quite a few built. But I was sure that it would be hard to find just the right bike for me.

Finding one of these bikes turned out to be a lot easier that I first made it out to be. I spent many weeks looking in various locations all over the United States through the Internet and all of the normal "Trader" and vintage motorcycle publications and even considered looking outside of this country to get my hands on a Superhawk. While visiting Japan on official Honda Business (Yeah, I know, tough job huh?) I got to spend some leisure time at the Honda Museum at the Motegi Facility. Now that one-day excursion is worthy of a full story on its own but here is not the place! While there, I looked around for a SuperHawk and even talked to the restorers at the Motegi Museum about this adventure. They both thought it to be a neat idea but in their words (after translated by my host) "That’s a long trip!" I’m sure that my host translator was only being nice, they probably actually said "What a foolish American, lucky for him the bike will make it but he probably wont!"

While searching high and low, I was having lunch with a fellow associate and vintage Honda lover and expert Art Ridgeway and told him of my desire to land a CB77 and also explained why. He thought that the ride from one side of the US to the other was a great idea (FINALLY! Someone who thinks like me!). He then suggested that I talk to Charlie Keller about the plan to see if the HRCA wanted to get involved. I said that I would consider such a thing but did not think that I should bring anything up until I was ready and had a bike. Art then mentioned that he believed that another fellow associate, Andy Devoe, had a CB77 in a shed that had not been touched for years. His recollection of the bike was that it was completely intact, was a runner when it was put up and that it was likely to have been stored properly since Andy was a Service Rep back then. I did not ask Andy about this bike as I was working on a couple of leads that I had in different parts of the country. I soon found out that although there are plenty of these bikes out there, they were pretty rare to find in nice condition and most folks were pretty darn proud (as in $$$!) of the clean ones that are out there as well!

I did come across a couple of bikes that I came very close to considering as they were "restored". But the more I thought about and talked to Mike, the more I felt the need for a couple of things. First off, I decided that I would rather buy a unit that was not a "perfect 10" as my bike would be ridden and I wanted it that way. I think Mr. Honda would want it that way as well. Sure, he created these machines to look at, as he was an artist in my mind. For further proof of my feeling, here is a quote from one Mr. Honda’s personal essays called Imitation and Originality: "I designed the fuel tank edge-line having the line of the Buddha image in my mind. The knee-grip was tried to express a soft feeling by using a somber finish." But, his primary reason for building his products was to allow people to enjoy riding. I did not need or want a bike that I would be afraid to ride worrying that it would get a scratch here or there. Secondly, I wanted to do any work needed myself. I had recently helped out another one of my fellow Honda Associates with her CB160 by getting it running and fixed up and it reminded me of the immense therapeutic value that getting my hands dirty creates.

This is another thing that my wife doesn’t always understand but at least she pretty much knows where I am all the time while I’m fooling around in the garage!

Working on the CB160 was very good for me mentally. It helped me both at home and at work as it rejuvenated my soul sort of speak. It just seemed to add fuel to the fire from the Peter Egan book. So, I decided to look closer to home for a bike that was not already completed. I finally got around to talking to Andy about his Superhawk. He told me that he had not touched the bike since 1990 or so and it had been in his possession for quite a number of years with the intention to bring it back to life. But, day-to-day life, newborn children and other projects kept on putting it on the back burner. I told Andy about my quest and what my plan was and he thought that he might find the will to part with his bike since it would be going to a home that would treat it properly and get it back to the condition that it deserved to be in. There was one little catch though. He also had a 1965 S90 that would have to go with the deal.

I figured what the heck, it cant hurt to take a look at them both. We set up a day after work to meet at his place and on that evening after work I stopped by.

To be honest, I pretty much knew that I was going to buy these bikes no matter what. The looks and condition were unknown and really didn’t matter. In talking with other folks that I know about these bikes (mainly the Superhawk) I was led to believe that they were all intact and original. Something that is not easy to find anywhere. My stopping by to see them was only a formality. I knew that and I’m sure that Andy knew this too. We had to go through the historic ritual of looking before buying I suppose. You know, kicking tires, looking through boxes of parts that have not been touched by a human hand in years and such. Well, what everyone said about the bikes was correct. Both bikes were 100% original and although quite dirty and a bit rusted from time sitting they were both as Andy said (over and over by the way!) "Diamonds in the rough". They were perfect in my eyes, and just what I was looking for. This kind of thing is sort of hard to hide and makes for difficult times when attempting to negotiate the final price! While Andy was telling me about the history of the bikes I was already figuring out what I would need to do to get the CB77 up and going. They both had some new parts that came with the deal and although the last thing I needed was another S90. I already had 2 90s in the garage, a 1967 S90 and the ‘67 CL that Mike rode when I had him over and tricked him into this ride to begin with. The 90 at Andy’s house was a virtual twin to the Superhawk as they were both the same color. And year. 1965. Did you know that the S90 was developed to be a little brother to the Superhawk? That is a fact! Since this was in my head, I thought, "How could a rational person say no to that?"

We hashed out a price. Well, actually, Andy said the price he wanted and I said OK. I suppose I was a pushover. As I rode home that night I thought, "Well, there went two days of a class taken for negotiating skills wasted!" Even though I may have paid a bit more that I would have liked, I got basically two bikes for the price of one. How could I go wrong? Right? Come on folks… help me out here!

Now, I had to figure out a way to get this by my Wife Carin as quietly as possible. She had been talking about wanting to put in new carpet in the house and I just took that out of the picture without even discussing anything with her. This is not a normal thing in our household, but "Some things just have to be" I thought to myself. I know that is politically incorrect remark but I was thinking it anyway!

The next day, I asked my 9 year old son, Anthony if he wanted to go for a ride to take a look at a couple of bikes. He was all for it. I then told Carin that I was going to "Help out a fellow Honda Associate and clean out his shed". She thought that I being a nice guy. Little did she know…

We went to Andy’s house and I forked over the funds and after he signed everything over and said his goodbyes to his bikes we loaded them into the pick-up. We took them to the house. As I was unloading them, Carin came out and took a look. "I thought you were going to help out Andy clean his shed," she said. "I did," I told her. "Oh," she said, "are going to get these running like you did for Candace?" (Candace is the owner of the CB160) I sort of hesitated, and then said "uh.. Yeah". I thought that I might get away with something here for a while at least.

She started to walk back into the house and then she stopped. She turned around slowly and asked, "You didn’t buy these bikes did you?" Before I could come back with some sort of white lie to help ease the pain, Anthony piped right in "Yeah Mom, aren’t they cool?"

Well, that was NOT the way I wanted her to learn about this acquisition for sure. She asked, "When you said you were going to help out Andy and clean out his shed, just what did you mean?" I calmly explained that I helped Andy out by buying these bikes and cleaned out his shed by removing them. This seemed perfectly rational to me but, as you may understand, it took awhile to convince her that this was an investment and not just more bikes to put into our garage – all three bays now filled with motorcycles! When I pointed out the Superhawk and told her that this was the bike I was going to take on the ride across the country with Mike, she just shook her head and said, "You’re even nuttier than I thought! Now, where is my husband and what did you do with him?" Then she walked away muttering something that sounded like "if I ever meet that Peter Egan guy…" I asked her if she was OK and she said, "I’m fine."

Now if you’re married, you probably know that chances are, if your wife says that she is "fine" in the tone of voice that my wife said "fine", you know that chances are, she is not actually "fine". I have learned that it is best to leave her alone and give her anything that she wants for a while after this word comes out. And I did. After a couple of hours we talked about the purchase and everything was "really" fine again.

That afternoon, I put the S90 aside for future use and I started to get the Superhawk ready for a good cleaning and to see what it would need. Before I disassembled for the cleaning, I wanted to make sure that it ran. I already verified that the engine turned over with the cool forward style kickstarter (when was the last time you owned a bike with a real kick starter?) It seemed to have good compression, certainly enough to make it run I figured. I hooked up a set of jumper cables for power to my truck and tested all of the electrics. Everything worked! Every light came to life and almost seemed to say "Thank you"! Then the next test was the electric starter. I pushed the button and there was the sound. The engine turned over with ease and had a nice thump- thump-thump sound of compression inside. Finally for the final test, I put some gas in the tank and let the carburetors fill up. I pushed the starter button again and after less than 10 seconds, it happened. The engine fired! It started up and immediately started to idle nicely. All right! I thought this is perfect! I thanked Andy in my mind for properly storing this bike over 10 years ago. The engine runs and now it was time to start cleaning. As I was taking things off I noticed that the original owner had welded on some pieces to allow the hook up some sort of a rack or sissy bar.

I took everything off and then did a thorough cleaning. After I was done cleaning the bike I sat back in a lawn chair and tried to figure out where to go next. Have you ever just sat in a chair and looked at your bike? Looking at the Superhawk made me feel relaxed and excited at the same time. It relaxed me as it made me think of a time when the word computer was never heard and there were no cellular phones to take away any privacy you had. It excited me as I had a great project ahead of me.

After contemplating for an hour or so I decided to do this project in stages. The first stage would be to take everything apart and repaint the frame, side covers tank and fenders, replace any needed components and then put it all back together and do a few primary "test runs" back and forth to work (50 miles one way) and maybe take it up to Laguna Seca to watch the World Super-Bike Races in July.