My interest in this model  started way back in 1983. I'd spotted one in the shop front of a Honda dealer in Mitcham south west London. I instantly fell in love with it and had to buy it.  Brand spanking new, this new, shiny bike  just brought me miles of smiles.

But my ownership didn't last.  Sadly it had to go to in order to finance repairs to my Nissan Z180 car. Needs must, especially as we now had a puppy that was outgrowing the box it used to travel in on the bike, the box squeezed tightly between myself and my pillion passenger. Those were the days.

I promised myself that one day I would get it back or at least a replacement.

To my delight, one came up on eBay that I had to have.

 Unfortunately, it needed a lot of work, time and money to bring back to a roadworthy condition, so ended up stripped down and never rebuilt fully.

A few years passed, and this one came up out of the blue, and not very far from me. It had been kept garaged for 11 ½ years under a blanket in excellent condition. The previous owner only used it to and from his Antiques shop in the Hampton / Teddington area and the odd weekend out to Box Hill.

Sadly it was parked  up when the now elderly owner could not ride any longer but in not an uncommon situation refused to sell it on.

Unfortunately, he had passed away earlier in the year leaving all his estate to his daughters. But fortunately for me they decided to sell and I spotted their advertisement

During viewing, I was informed that it hadn’t been started since it was garaged. They had a  friend who had replaced the old fuel, but it needed a new battery which had been bought but not fitted.  I lost no time and fitted the battery there and then. Once fitted, I flicked on the choke and pressed the start button…

and… it fired up immediately, (That’s Honda for you).

I agreed a price  which included both original keys and all documentation including the original bill of sale from Ryes of Fulham.

Since its purchase, I replaced the tyres and submitted it for the MOT. It passed with no advisories whatsoever.

Due to the exhaust systems prone to rusting out on this model, it had been replaced with a four into one system, (again, a standard modification). However, I managed to locate an original style exhaust and fitted that to bring it back to its original design.

This bike for me is a definite keeper.