1981 Honda CB750K aka the Cricket (こおろぎ)

Finding the Cricket

Where does a guy go when he wants to buy a decent used bike for a fair price? Ebay? No, I went to Craigslist, the poor man's ebay, forgetting the fact that the nine out of ten times that I've tried to buy or sell something on Craigslist I've had to deal with some of the dumbest jackasses on the planet.

I remember trying to sell my camera. I got an email asking if I would take $50 off because he had to drive 25 miles to see it. Sure asshole, why don't I bring it to you for an extra $50?

I do see value in his logic though, the next time I go to a Mariner's game I'll ask if they'll knock 10% off the tickets, parking and snacks because I had to drive 25 miles from Tacoma.

My favorites are the guys who pretend to be foreign in an attempt to avoid taking accountability for asking you dumbass questions (aka the Borat method). "i student not hab so mach muny please give me half price dont say no"... Up yours Jethro... did you ever think that maybe a disposable camera is about as much as you can mentally manage?

The good news is, the tenth deal is always worth the previous nine. After a month or so of obsessively watching listings in Tacoma, Portland and Spokane I narrowed it down to two bikes. Both 1980's model Honda fours. The first was a 1982 Honda CB900F in Poulsbo. A real beauty and undoubtedly one of the premier street rapers of it's time. The other was an unassuming but well kept 1981 Honda CB750K. Smaller and more of a cruiser type, but still a great road machine.

My buddy John kind of queered me on the race machine nature of the 900F and although I couldn't argue with his logic, it was still hard to say "no" to that machine. Anyway I chose the 750K and saddled up for a trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Retrieving the Cricket

The trip required that I drive east over Snoqualmie Pass. All that week (3/30/09) the pass had been closed off and on either because of poor road conditions or avalanche maintenance. I was shooting for Saturday April 4th, but about 2 feet of snow had dumped in the pass Thursday night and the Washington DOT had closed it for avalanche control most of Friday. The forecast said it was supposed to be clear, dry and (just) above freezing Friday & Saturday. So what the hell?

With my utility trailer hitched up and my 1995 Honda Odyssey loaded with tools, snow chains and camping supplies my dog Sugar and I headed through the pass.

The morning was beautiful as we drove into the sunrise through the mountains. There were some wet patches but no ice on the roadway. Traffic had bunched up near the summit of the pass. This was due more to caution than any real road problems. I welcomed the chance to slow down a little. My Odyssey has only a 2.2L four banger in it. In fact my model year was Honda's first entry into the minivan market so it was built on top of the Accord wagon's frame and engine (and much of the electrical). I guess they figured if Toyota and Chrysler pantsed them, they wouldn't have to eat the cost of refitting one of their factories. However, the Odyssey has become the premier minivan and has turned out to be one of the most versatile, hardworking and reliable vehicles I've ever owned.

Sugar and I showed up at the guy's house around 2PM. I took it for a test ride and we BS'd about the bikes in general. I think he was sweating the deal a little bit because I didn't bring it up. Anyway, we sealed it and I headed back west. I arrived home about 11:PM, tired but the Honda was safely in my garage.

Making it My Own

The previous owner had thrown in a repair manual so the first thing I did was go through the basice maintenance steps. Changing the oil, checking the plugs, the timing and the drive chain.

As I expected it was in great shape and well maintained. Besides a few odd things (headlight assembly is not stock... assume it was mounted after vetter fairing was removed, the original headlight lost) all it needed was a new chain and rear sprocket. So I picked up a nice heavy duty Tsubaki roller chain on sale and ordered a Sun rear sprocket from CycleGear. One thing I did change was the number of teeth on the rear sprocket. Honda allowed for different gearing via the sprockets so I dropped from a 46 tooth rear to a 43 tooth rear with an 18 tooth countershaft sprocket. This has proven to be much better at high speeds on the freeway and there has been no problem with the lost torque when accelerating.

The next order of business was picking a name. I thought of grasshopper or even mantis (a bit macho even though the ass kicking ones are female) but finally decided on the Cricket because it's brown and insect-like. (It's also tapered looking, but I wasn't going to name it the Turd.) With the name chosen and the bike ready to ride. I waited for the weather to clear.