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June 10, 2011 7:18 p.m. 914Driver SuperDork

First outing with the R-90; left work at noon and met my friend Ron on his 500cc Ascot (he has 18 <650cc Hondas) and my brother Mike who has a Buell Thunderbolt.

It was good. First time for me flogging the Old Girl, first time for Mike to beat the Buell, nothing horrible, 45 - 65 mph on twisties all afternoon. Stop for coffee, back at it; ended up at my house for a belt adjustment on Mike's bike.

It was good to get acclomated to the R-90, nice to see Mike enjoy something besides commuting the Thunderbolt.

Better than working.

Oh look, it's beer o'clock.

Dan
June 10, 2011 10:14 p.m. bastomatic Dork

That R-90 is a great bike. How does that Ascot ride? Always liked the idea of a big thumper around town, though I've heard the Ascot motors don't last too long.
June 11, 2011 7:29 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

Ascot's a twin I thought.
June 11, 2011 7:53 a.m. eastpark Reader

Ascot's came in both single and twin (FT and VT):
June 11, 2011 9:10 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

The red one is what Ron had, two pipes coming out the front; it looked to be a twin.

Dan
June 11, 2011 11:13 a.m. oldsaw SuperDork

In reply to 914Driver:

It was a thumper, unique in that Honda employed two exhaust pipes for no apparent reason other than looks.
June 11, 2011 1:59 p.m. 914Driver SuperDork

Cool, better breathing is good.
June 11, 2011 5:04 p.m. Zomby woof SuperDork

oldsaw wrote:

In reply to 914Driver:

It was a thumper, unique in that Honda employed two exhaust pipes for no apparent reason other than looks.

Probably because it's a 4V, with 2 exhaust valves? A few manufacturers do that.

I saw a VT today. Nice bikes.
June 13, 2011 8:48 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

UPDATE:

It rained both days of the weekend. I removed the goofy two-into-one pipe from the R-90 and put the freshly polished stockers back on (after liberating the baffle a bit).

The bike is actually faster, snottier and the front wheel comes up with the stock pipes on!

It now sounds like a German sewing machine should. Who ever put the 2 into 1 on, cut the twig off that you use to pull the center stand down, so welding a 3/8" diameter pipe onto the side was a two beer job. A rattle can of satin black and we're ready for Pebble Beach.

Dan