On Tuesday the 12 th of April I took my Triumph Sprint RS for its annual service to Garlands in Haverfordwest. After dropping the bike off I enquired if I could get a taxi into town for two hours whilst the work was being done. “I'll see if we've got a courtesy bike,” said the man behind the counter. “We have a couple of Suzuki GS 500's out the front – one of them might be available.” That sounded alright to me. A few minutes later I was standing on the forecourt waiting for the keys to one of the 500's. But there seemed to be a problem. My helpful assistant suddenly appeared and walked over to a twenty-four year old Honda CB 900. “This has got tax,” he said, “You can have this.” “Never mind the tax,” I thought, “Has it got an MOT!” The proprietor approached me and said, “You're only going in to town, aren't you? You'll appreciate your Triumph far more after riding this classic.” I was intrigued by the prospect of riding this and took the keys.
I suppose the CB 900 was the Fireblade of its time, and this one was not in too bad a condition. Styling wise, the huge indicators seemed to make up about a third of its width, and I was a little worried by the 120 section crossply rear tyre, even though it had plenty of life in it. The bike slotted into first gear easily and the throttle response was fine as I rode off on the one and a half mile trip into town. Then, at the first junction came the first big challenge – the brakes! Two fingers over the lever and squeeze gently with a gentle prod on the rear brake pedal – nothing! Four fingers over the lever and grab a big handful and slowly something started to bite! Luckily the back disc seemed as powerful as the two front ones and I brought the thing to a halt. Stiff and chunky switchgear reminded me of the age of this bike as much as the brakes which were all probably in fine condition for 1981! On the more open road and for a 900 this thing really showed how far bikes have come in two decades. The power was simply no-where near what one would expect of a modern 900cc bike. I only managed to get up to 55mph on the short stretch of NSL on the way into town, but I would not want to push it much faster than that even if the conditions allowed. In town itself the bike was surprisingly manoeuvrable – the high bars and low foot rests helped even if the seat was rather high, and coupled with the weak brakes caused me to put both feet down at every stop until I had gained more confidence.
I parked up in “Safeways” for lunch after a couple of tours around the town. On the way back to Garlands I leant the bike a little more enthusiastically through some urban roundabouts and was surprised at how sure-footed it felt, but if it had been wet, on those tyres, it might have been a different story!
Overall this was a great experience! If you feel the need to get your machine serviced at Garlands , or to visit them for any other reason, make sure you ask about the availability of the Honda CB 900 courtesy bike. A ride on it will be an education!
Thanks for the experience to everyone at Garlands .
Howard Parsell