Another Big Bear
Talk about serendipity! Right after I finished proofreading Requiem for a Big Bear (March-April 2023), a random ad popped up on the “Yamaha Two Stokes 1955-1979” Facebook group. It was for this 1965 Yamaha YDS3-C (aka Big Bear Scrambler), a complete, original-paint bike like that which had carried me up the West Coast 38 years ago. The seller was Dave Kolbo, founder of KDI Reproductions, a manufacturer of repro parts for early Yamaha Enduros. He’d acquired the scrambler in a lot of NOS parts and bikes purchased from the family of a collector and had no use for it. But I did! Eerily like in 1985, this Big Bear needed a battery, fuel-system cleaning and fresh oil to run. The first ride was spellbinding. The powerband is way more peaky than I’d remembered, and the bike faster. I now recall why, in general, it would be fully capable of touring. And I might just do that, after fine-tuning Big Bear No. 2. But first I must attend to — you guessed it — a badly slipping clutch!
John L. Stein/via email
Motorcycle karma
No sooner did I get my new-to-me 1967 Honda Super Hawk home, and my March/April 2023 issue of Motorcycle Classics arrived with an article on a Honda Super Hawk. I had been searching for one in the right condition at a decent price for quite a long time. While the frame on mine is not chromed, the fenders are. I’m told Honda did that with the last 250 or so as the CB350 was on the way. A Super Hawk was my first bike. Riding this one makes me feel 50 years younger. Thanks for the great article and karma.
Bruce Isaachsen/via email
Looking for a mentor
My name is Kameron Cross. I’ve been messing around with bikes and mopeds for a few years now by myself. I have a 1977 Honda NC50 Express, a 1977 Sparta Buddy with a Sachs 504 in it, and a 1984 Honda CB650SC Nighthawk that I restored (my favorite). I’m 22 years old and I’ve been interested in antique motorcycles and restoring them, learning everything about them and talking about them. It’s been hard to find anybody to learn from near me. No mechanics want my help even if it is for free. No one in my family has any particular interest in my 30-plus-year-old motorcycles. I guess where I’m going with this is where should I start? It feels like I’m looking for a mentor that doesn’t exist.
I would like to find someone who doesn’t mind having some help and maybe giving a few pointers along the way so I can learn from them. I don’t want any pay. I read the shop manuals for my bikes and I do all the research I can, but in the end I feel I’d get a lot more out of helping somebody work on their bikes and learning from them. I’m located in Portland, Maine.
Kameron Cross
kameroncross1017@gmail.com
Readers,
Who out there can be a mentor for Kameron, or can suggest someone for him to contact in the Northeast area of the country? Email Kameron directly with your suggestions or feedback. Let’s help this young motorcyclist find a friend to wrench with. — Ed.
Originally published as “Readers and Riders” in the May/June 2023 issue of Motorcycle Classics magazine.
