TriumPhil
Living Legend
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2009
- Messages
- 11,444
- Location
- Long Valley, NJ
- Ride
- '07 Mulberry Red, Carpentered & Bruted R3 Standard
Years ago, I purchased a used '74 Honda CB 550 in absolutely mint condition. It just happened to have a windshield installed on it, a first for me in my riding career up until that time. She looked just like this:
Well, wanting to see what the 4 cylinder mill could do on the open road, as soon as I left the seller's place, I had to take get on a very beautiful and wide open stretch of I-80, so I decided c rack it pretty good. As I merged onto the highway I spun it up and upon hitting top gear at about 70 mph, i threw care to the wind and went WOT.
Needless to say, I had given no thought at all to the aerodynamics of having that big transparent sail attached to the handlebars and at about 85 mph the dammed shield put me into a wild wobble, a shyte-your-shorts shimmy, in other words, a virtual tank-slapper, again the first of my riding career up to that point.
Instinctively, I chopped the throttle and held on for dear life. Quickly, my new ride was back under control and just as quickly I pulled of the road and onto the shoulder, dismounted and waited until I stopped trembling due to what I was certain was a near-death experience.
From that day on, I never took that Honda over 80 mph, figuring that it was a built in non-mechanical governor and probably the best safety feature available in its day!
Well, wanting to see what the 4 cylinder mill could do on the open road, as soon as I left the seller's place, I had to take get on a very beautiful and wide open stretch of I-80, so I decided c rack it pretty good. As I merged onto the highway I spun it up and upon hitting top gear at about 70 mph, i threw care to the wind and went WOT.
Needless to say, I had given no thought at all to the aerodynamics of having that big transparent sail attached to the handlebars and at about 85 mph the dammed shield put me into a wild wobble, a shyte-your-shorts shimmy, in other words, a virtual tank-slapper, again the first of my riding career up to that point.
Instinctively, I chopped the throttle and held on for dear life. Quickly, my new ride was back under control and just as quickly I pulled of the road and onto the shoulder, dismounted and waited until I stopped trembling due to what I was certain was a near-death experience.
From that day on, I never took that Honda over 80 mph, figuring that it was a built in non-mechanical governor and probably the best safety feature available in its day!
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