Found a piccy of my old Honda...

[Lucky_Lou]

Honda 250 Dream and me ... with hair before the days of helmets, Oh and that's my Hillman Imp Californian two tone Green and White..... what a brilliant car that was until I blew the gearbox,

Lou

[clonmore1]

Absolute quality Lou!!!!

Great pics, I bet good memories too!

[montmil]

Looking quite the hipster there, Lou. [smiley=thumbup.gif] Seems we both wore our hair a wee bit longer back in the days when it was cool with the ladies.

Here in the Colonies, your 250 Dream was known as the 250 Hawk -which begat the 305 Super Hawk. Our Honda Dreams had the stamped steel chassis and the love it or hate it boxy styling, along with a semi trailing link front suspension... with stamped steel forks.

The Hawks were way sexier bikes. Fast, too, as I ran a buddy's all white, 305 Super Hawk at the qtr-mile drags (sprints) one Sunday in 1965 up in southern Oklahoma, I.T. Even racing in a handicap series, the Hawk was the only motorcycle entered and beat all comers. The trophy -and IIRC, the $25.00- was lashed to the seat and hung well over the tail light as our crowd of mo'cicles rode back to the safety of Texas.

To go with your "Vintage Days" photo, here's one of me n'my 175cc Penton (KTM) Jackpiner. Another regular podium finisher in cross-country and enduro racing, circa 1976-78. Sadly, I sold that bike and kick myself when I see the prices these Pentons now demand. Family and kids... whatcha gonna do?

[balibeemer]

Are those bell -bottomed trousers that you are wearing?

[Johnster]

How did you guys stop back then ?  that front brake doesn't even look good enough for a bicycle

[Lucky_Lou]

Looking quite the hipster there, Lou. [smiley=thumbup.gif] Seems we both wore our hair a wee bit longer back in the days when it was cool with the ladies.

Seems cameras were better in the States in the 70,s than here...... did anyone wear "Loons"  over there ? basically Bell Bottoms with attitude you could camp out in them.
Wiki.....
 Elephant bells, popular in the mid-to-late 1970s, were similar to loon pants, but were typically made of denim. Elephant bells had a marked flare below the knee, often covering the wearer's shoes. The preferred shoes were platform shoes with soles at least 2 inches (5.1 cm) thick and heels 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) to keep the pants' hems off the ground.
I never knew them as "Elephant Bells" only Loons I did have the Cuban heels they went well with my wedding suit.......
Lou

[Lucky_Lou]

Are those bell -bottomed trousers that you are wearing?

Yeh baby but I preferred my loons....
She looks good in them.... those were the days
Lou

[Barry]

I've found one photo from 82. When I got married the Z900 had to go towards a house deposit. After a couple of year I came back to the fold with something more modest a brand new GN400 which I kept for 14 years.  The bike had it's faults like poor 6 volt electrics but it had excellent low down torque for a Jap engine and weighing only 320lbs it went well enough.

My 1st born on the front is now in his early thirties and both of us have less hair than we did then.

[clonmore1]

Looking good Barry, the GN400 was a good bike, I had an SP400 a year or so ago, a bit buzzy, never rode it on the road but had fun off it.

[steve hawkins]

I would not mind finding a GN 400 now.  make a great project bike.

Rev. light

[Barry]

If they were available new I'd buy one tomorrow. Except for oil changes and routine items like tires and plugs mine was almost maintenance free for 14 years. The air filter was an oiled sponge so that got washed and re-oiled once a year. The oil filter was a very fine metal mesh so ditto. Not very good protection perhaps but I compensated with 1000 miles oil changes.  It needed one new battery in 14 years and one set of head bearings. Never once even thought about the ignition system, it was a modern CDI magneto system driven by a 2nd coil on the alternator. 1st kick starter if you had the knack. The 6 volt electrics could be upgraded to 12 volts with a bit of effort and that would remove a significant weakness.

[clonmore1]

Mine was (prior to my ownership) 1 owner, 26k miles from new (1980), totally original, I picked it up for £400 p/o just wanted rid of it and sold it for £1.5k about 6 months later!

It needed some work & TLC, but was great fun.

A very good and under rated motorcycle