It’s that time again—time for a motorcycle review by the guys at Regular Car Reviews!

If you’re familiar with RCR’S YouTube channel, you know they’re moto-curious. They mostly focus on cars and other cages, but they’ll post motorcycle reviews up from time to time. This week, they’re looking at a 1982 Honda CM450.

You might remember we looked at a pretty similar motorcycle, the Honda CM400A, back in the spring. The CM400A was one of Honda’s earliest attempts to build a twist-and-go motorcycle, predating the whole DCT trend by decades. The Hondamatic transmission turned out to be a sales flop, but the basic idea behind the CM line was good. Build a reliable motorcycle with decent styling (at least for that era!). Give it enough power to handle basic transportation needs. Tack on an affordable price. Bam, sales success.

These are the machines that laid the foundation for Japan’s total domination of motorcycle sales through the 1980s and 1990s. Everyone remembers the Kawasaki GPZ900 and the Honda CBX, but small-bore commuters like this were the real stars. They soldiered on for years, often with minimal maintenance. Insurance was cheap, and they didn’t use much fuel.

And, RCR’s review of this bike is spot-on. Thirty-five years after they hit the market, these bikes are even cheaper now. Most of them are a bit crusty around the edges, but hey, you won’t cry too much when it blows over in a windstorm. It’s the easiest, cheapest and probably the smartest way to get into a vintage ride.

Vezi sursa