My first Bike was a 75 Honda XL250. I wanted something bigger, and my boss offered to sell me his unused CX. It had 1200 orig. miles on it, needed a new needle jet for one carb, and a battery. That was a year ago. I have put 5000 miles on it since then including a couple overnight camping trips...
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My first Bike was a 75 Honda XL250. I wanted something bigger, and my boss offered to sell me his unused CX. It had 1200 orig. miles on it, needed a new needle jet for one carb, and a battery. That was a year ago. I have put 5000 miles on it since then including a couple overnight camping trips in Wisconsin.
It has a fairly plush ride with an upright riding position, gets 44 mpg, brakes well, uses pushrods and rocker arms instead of an overhead camshaft, but still revs happily to 10,000 rpm and though it has only 500 1979 vintage CCs, it gets out of its own way. don't race anything bigger or newer though. These were some of the first bikes to combine electric start, water cooling, electronic ignition, tubeless tires and shaft drive on a medium-sized chassis.
Also, it has a couple nice peace-of-mind features. It can be push started and driven even with a dead battery or blown master fuse because the ignition system is self energizing and is seperate from the rest of the electrical system. It has 3 bright tail lamps. Handling is telepathic. It will drone all day down a highway without any nervousness, but even at medium or high speeds, just think about changing lanes, and it's already done. I have yet to put dime one into this bike except for correcting the errors of its previous caretakers. Suggested upgrades: sissybar and luggage rack, modern shocks and springs, xenon headlamp.
Very reliable, easy to handle, do-it-all bike. I can't see ever getting rid of this thing, even if I get a new bike. Oh, and I paid 450 bucks for it. Best damn money I ever spent.
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