W/NW : Motorcycles

Wayback Machine -- June 1989 on my way to Alaska from Toronto. A heavily modified 1981 Honda CB900f with a Velorex 562 sidecar. This was shot on a small dirt road just off the Trans Canada Highway somewhere in Manitoba.

First day out from Toronto near Pic, Ontario (up towards Thunder Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior) I blew a piston and had to limp along on three cylinders about 150 miles to Thunder Bay. I ended up spending a week in Thunder Bay (which is like spending a year in Thunder Bay) waiting for a replacement Wiseco piston to arrive at the local Honda dealer. After they got it all fixed I had to make up for lost time, so on this particular day I left Thunder Bay at 5am and proceeded to ride 1100 miles in 21 hours straight. My own personal Iron Butt Rally. Don't think I'll be doing that again!

In case you're wondering, I had that bungeed-down windshield for use on the Alaska Highway, as I heard that trucks coming the other direction could kick up rocks and possibly hit me. The only rock I ever had hit me was on my left knee at about 60mph. Nothing ever hit the windshield (I'm not a fan of windshields), so I ended up leaving it with the guys at Fairbanks Honda in Alaska and did the remaining 5000 or so miles without a windshield. Hmm I wonder if it's still up there, installed on a motorcycle somewhere in Alaska?

Shot with my old Leica III and a 5cm Summar.

Manitoba 1989.jpg
 
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Vince Lupo said:
Wayback Machine -- June 1989 on my way to Alaska from Toronto. A heavily modified 1981 Honda CB900f with a Velorex 562 sidecar. This was shot on a small dirt road just off the Trans Canada Highway somewhere in Manitoba.

First day out from Toronto near Pic, Ontario (up towards Thunder Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior) I blew a piston and had to limp along on three cylinders about 150 miles to Thunder Bay. I ended up spending a week in Thunder Bay (which is like spending a year in Thunder Bay) waiting for a replacement Wiseco piston to arrive at the local Honda dealer. After they got it all fixed I had to make up for lost time, so on this particular day I left Thunder Bay at 5am and proceeded to ride 1100 miles in 21 hours straight. My own personal Iron Butt Rally. Don't think I'll be doing that again!

In case you're wondering, I had that bungeed-down windshield for use on the Alaska Highway, as I heard that trucks coming the other direction could kick up rocks and possibly hit me. The only rock I ever had hit me was on my left knee at about 60mph. Nothing ever hit the windshield (I'm not a fan of windshields), so I ended up leaving it with the guys at Fairbanks Honda in Alaska and did the remaining 5000 or so miles without a windshield. Hmm I wonder if it's still up there, installed on a motorcycle somewhere in Alaska?

Shot with my old Leica III and a 5cm Summar.

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Good one, Vince. Here's my journey in 1982, also on an off-highway road in Western Australia after a trip to Alice Springs. Me on left toasting my friend's motorbike (not in shot) having just clocked up 100,000 kilometres. My bike was a BMW R75/6. Shot on Pentax MX with 135mm lens.
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Yokosuka Mike said:

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Fujifilm X-T5 camera
Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2 R WR lens (FF Eq 85mm)
March 2025 - Yokohama, Japan​
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That's a fast bike! The exhaust pipes look the same as on the early Honda 750.
The typeface used on the bus sign in the background is one I made a few decades ago and released as freeware. Fun to see it here and there.
 
Doug said:
That's a fast bike! The exhaust pipes look the same as on the early Honda 750.
The typeface used on the bus sign in the background is one I made a few decades ago and released as freeware. Fun to see it here and there.
Click to expand...
While I was always a fan of Honda motorcycles in particular, getting my start on a Honda Z50 around the age of 8. While they were quite similar in many regards, I loved how the major UJMs (Universal Japanese Motorcycles) each had a style all their own depending on their manufacturer. This was certainly true of the Kawasaki Z (KZ) series bikes of the 1970s. A few years ago Kawasaki brought back that “root beer” color scheme on their retro bike in an attempt to look as much like this classic Z as possible. But things like the proportions, single rear shock, water-cooling, etc. gave it away.

Anyway, those old Zs are really cool bikes. And no matter what anyone else thinks, riding around on one while wearing sneakers will never look right to me. 😄 But hey, to each their own.

By the way, very cool about your font!
 
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