I haven’t written much in awhile. I haven’t had much to say. The Triumph is a wonderful bike but not something I would want to take long distances after all. I could put a lot of money into fixing that, or I could start with a better foundation.
I chose the latter option.
Last week I picked up a 1985 Honda V65 Magna. The bike has been torn down to the frame & reassembled with many new parts. There are some areas that didn’t get enough attention so I’m sorting that out now. Minor stuff, really.
She wasn’t starting in the sub-freezing morning temperatures we’ve been having here so I replaced the original lead acid type battery with an AGM type battery from BatteriesPlus+ with a very high CCA value so she turns over quite easily in even 20 degree temperatures.
But the starter has issues. The starter clutch is on its way out. It can be coaxed into engaging but I don’t wish to be stranded with a dead starter, so I’m going to rebuild it.
The speedometer cable is broken. Will fix that. Also the alternator cover leaks and doesn’t have a real gasket, just RTV. So I’ve got a gasket to install.
There are cooling issues. I rode to Durham yesterday in sub-freezing temperatures and the coolant temperature gauge was warning over imminent overheating unless I rode the balls off the bike (quite a thrill with this beast, let me tell you!)
But the foundation is there. The frame on this bike is a bit more stout. With some luggage farkles added, it should be able to haul quite a bit in the way of spare parts, tools, supplies, etc for longer trips. And the engine? Well, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the old V65 Magnas, let me point out that this was the Hayabusa of the mid 1980’s. Yeah, it looks rather cruiser-ish or mildly UJM-ish, I know. But this is a muscle bike. With a more average sized rider it could turn quarter mile times under 11 seconds!
I don’t need all of that power for racing or riding like a jackass. But I’m a big dude, and when you add long haul luggage, the bike is going to be carrying over 350 pounds of rider + cargo. With the big water cooled V4 to haul me up the side of a mountain and the monster dual disc brakes up front to ease my descent, I’ll be in pretty good shape.


