1980 Honda CB900C review from United States of America

Blew engine of my CB900C at 68,000 miles because of engine cam bearing. Cost to fix the engine was more than the value of the bike.

Gas tank was too small.

Trouble starting it (especially in cold weather), if the bike sat for a few days or more. I remedied this by fabricating exterior battery posts, and then used a car battery and jumpers to start it the first time during the day. After that, it was okay. I suspect that the starting problem may have been that enough gas evaporated over time from the float bowls of the four carburetors, so that engine was initially starving for fuel.

The four cylinder engine was smooth and very powerful.

You could only go 120 miles before having to go on gas tank reserve. This was sometimes a problem on trips into remote areas.

Despite a few problems with this bike, I loved it. It was blindingly FAST, handled well, and the unique dual-range transmission made riding on twisty mountain roads a lot of fun. The low range of the transmission was very useful when riding steep hills in downtown areas, such as San Francisco or Seattle.

The brakes were FANTASTIC. It had dual discs on the front and single disc rear. When I first bought it, I damn near threw myself off the thing when I hit the brakes hard at high speed.

The shaft drive was wonderful and trouble free.

Relatively easy to do maintenance work on.

A fun, sporty bike for around town and nearby rural areas. If you're going to go on long road trips, get a Gold Wing.