Stablemate for my GW

[bronzestarvue]

Going to take a look at this Honda tonight, as a potential stablemate for my GW. It's a 1987 Honda Super Magna V700:

https://norfolk.craigslist.org/mcy/2899491987.html

It's one of those "love it or hate it" kinda bikes, and I think it's actually pretty cool! Shaft drive, V-4, low seat height, gotta love those 4 upswept mufflers! Plus, it's small enough that my gf can ride it (she's licensed and been thru the MSF course). I think I've scared her away from riding the GW, because of my constant analogies about getting an aircraft carrier to turn, lol! Weighs about 25 lbs less than a 2005 Honda Shadow Sabre she used to ride, AND has almost 50 percent more horsepower (85 on the Magna versus 60 on the Sabre). Should be interesting...

 

[slabghost]

Sweet! You'll have fun with that.

 

[AApple]

Probably won't find this one on CL

REALLY? oh2: :rtfm:

:smilie_happy: :mrgreen:
Nice ride! I wouldn't mind having one like that to ride sometimes... :good:

 

[dan filipi]

Sweet looking bike.
With 85 hp and 6 speeds it should cruise nice on the freeway.

CL is great but why are pics so dang small?
Would be nice to get a larger view.

 

[Anonymous]

sweet bike but wait till you insure it almost as much as a Saber

 

[bronzestarvue]

Checked out the bike tonight, in really good shape. Everything's there, hasn't been molested in any way, looks great. I like the dual round tail lights, with the bobber-style rear fender. The handlebars are like what I've found doing some research, in that it looks like the base piece in the clamp is a different diameter than the rest, with the exposed welds and everything, so those bars are stock. Not a fan of the oversize grips, so I'll probably replace those with regular size black grips, like I did on my GW (done after the pic was taken in my sig, along with black rectangular mirrors). Tach doesn't work, and the mirror mount on the master cylinder is broken, but that's an easy fix (maybe bar-ends?!).

Started right up with the choke on, settled into a nice lumpy idle after a few minutes, could use some slight carb tuning, or maybe it'll sort itself out once it's ridden on a regular basis (seller's put only a few hundred miles over the last year, since he has a Yamaha 1600cc v-twin). He dropped the price down to $1900, so I think I'm going to take the plunge and get it. It's supposed to rain Fri into early Sat morning, so depending on how wet the roads are, I should be able to pick it up by Sun afternoon.

Will post some better pics once I get it home...

 

[bronzestarvue]

Pulled the trigger and bought the bike this afternoon (Sat). Rode it back to the house, maybe a 30-minute ride, mostly surface streets. Very favorable first impressions, with the exception of the front end. I think it's going to need steering head bearings, because when I use the front brake, the front end shudders. Slow down using only the rear brake, no issues. It's over 20 years old, so if it's needs bearings, that's to be expected.

This thing has some good roll-on power, and a really nice exhaust note. Very torquey motor, very easy to handle (at least compared to the GW), and if you're in the power band, when you roll on the throttle, it just punches ahead. I wouldn't say it has a flat hp and torque curve, because way down low it just kinda lopes along, but at mid to upper rpms, there's no waiting. Pretty fun bike, doesn't look like it's too terribly hard to work on, as far as changing plugs, adding fluids, etc. Since it's due for an inspection this month, I'll ask the indy shop that does my inspections to have a look at the front end. Here are some pics I took when I got her home:


Low seat height, small windscreen, passenger backrest, will need a right-side mirror, and maybe change the grips:

Great V4 motor! The belly pan does a good job of hiding most of the exhaust plumbing under the bike. The yellow spark plug wires are a nice factory touch:

Upswept mufflers, large slotted side covers, rear drum brake, dual round tail lights:

I like this view, with the four mufflers pointing up and two round tail lights...subtle it's not, lol!

 

[dan filipi]

I was surprised to see drum brakes, not that it matters but I wonder why that is.
Disk are probably lighter.

Excellent looking bike, I'm jealous :blush:

That is a cool rear view and the engine is a piece of art. Congrats!

 

[sledge]

:music: the Middle Son , of The Owner of the Company I worked for bought one of them Brand new , looked just like that except his was Bright Yellow . it was as quite as the night , Beautiful bike . .... I Like the Color on yours too..... :music:

 

[bronzestarvue]

sweet bike but wait till you insure it almost as much as a Saber

I have my '83 GW insured thru GEICO, and to get BOTH bikes insured will cost me $300 per year (roughly $150 for each one). Forget what the exact coverages are, but I think that's cheap enough for both bikes, considering how little I ride them...

 

[Anonymous]

WOW thats a great rate - I was looking at an older Saber and my insurance company quoted a rate that was out of this world I ended up passing on the bike. They (the friendly insurance conglomerate) just informed me that because I have had 3 very very small speeding tickets (no demerit points) my insurance was going to almost double.

Is there a bigger scam on the face of this earth than insurance?

 

[joedrum]

well the insurance companies scam against the people is bad ....but its not near as bad as the scam of the federal reserve private bank owned by the moneychanger scum parisite ...that are priledged and granted the right to print whorthless money and then inflect it on the people as a deibt we have to pay the moneychanger scums ....

facts are that from 1776 till 1913 when the federal reserve coup took over america from the people the average growth in our countries economy averaged 10% a yr ....since 1913 till now the american growth rate hasnt grown by one penny ...its been negitive growth 100 strait yrs...period

when i got sick and found out first hand how the gov and insurance companies work together to keep a lid on the truth ...no matter how many die ......i started reading and leaning things i never had time for ...i sure did then ....its obvious our gov has been taken over an occupied ...moneychanger foreign parisites .....

america is not in detb its just the federal reserve own MSM liars that tell us we do ....there money was worth nothing when they made it and we sould pay them back with money thats worth nothing ....these moneychangers think we as americans are just stupid and deserve to have there stuff ripoff ...pockets pick and to die in wars that have nothing to do with americans except be victoms in all ways possible they can unlease on the people that there suppose to serve ....

after leaning the truth i decided i will never work in this coup gov system that snatch america away from its people in 1913 period ...id rather eat berries in the woods ...its a shame now all the scams against the people this country stands for

 

[dan filipi]

Yep.....that sure is a nice bike there , Robert .

 

[Tory]

Very nice bike.For some reason you dont see many around hear.
I love the sound of the V4s.And that solid rear wheel is awsome.

The rear drum is unusual on a bike of that year dan,but I like it.Less problematic on a bike that doesnt get riden to often,and I tend to favor my front brakes,which doesnt help the issue.(On the wings linked brakes I have to think differantly)

 

[bronzestarvue]

I have a 1984 Honda Ascot VT500 back in CA, and did a muffler mod using a Pro Circuit stainless end cap. Here's what it looks like on the Ascot:

If I can find something like these in 3" diameter, I'm thinking of bolting them on the ends of the Magna's four mufflers. I think it'd look pretty cool, and improve the looks of the bare exhausts. Unfortunately, Pro Circuit doesn't make them in 3", and I like the angled tip, so my search continues. I'd settle for a straight tip, but finding some in 3" isn't easy so far...