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So, I took the ferry out to Coupeville, Washington on Saturday and it was warm sunny day for a change. Found the place no problem. A couple of guys had already been out, but he held it for me to get a ride even though we hadn't discussed that. He said he felt like it was the right thing to do since I was two hours away and I called first. It was just as advertised.. A very clean 85 Magna VF700c. 39k miles, all original. Still has the original seat and pipes and the toolkit and manual. I rode it for a few miles and everything checked out so I bought it. He and his wife were very nice retirees and my wife and her sister were buzzing around the house and visiting on the porch so we ended up staying for a while and hanging out. Anyway, the bike came with a cover, a large full-face helmet and helmet bag, and two nice pieces of luggage that attach to the sissy bar so you can take some stuff and still ride two up. Anyway

The good -
- Very clean bike, all original
- Lots of torque - this will sound crazy to a lot of you, but it feels like that thing could pull a boat on a trailer. I can't imagine needing more.... I'm sure that will change. I've been ridng a cb360 you know...
- Like the riding position so far. Don't take near as much wind to the chest. Not sure why everyone hates the stock seat. Then again I've only put about 40 miles on the bike.
-The price. $1000 for the bike, cover, helmet and luggage. Now I have two bikes that run great and look good. Total purchase cost for both = $1300. No payments is nice! I've literally passed on looking at 100 bikes like this one because I figured one day I'd see a good one with a low price. Not being in a hurry is the best way to get a bargain!

The bad -
- Needs new rubber front and rear like right now
- The electric starter switch is cracked in half. Still works, but that will have to be fixed.
- The sound of the motor... nice and strong, however the high pitched tone might destroy my brain even with a full-face on. Gonna have to get some earplugs I think. Funny that my smaller bike has a much more pleasing throaty roar than the new bike.

That's about it. My wife took a little ride on the back and she's happy. We may or may not sell my '74 cb360. At any rate we will keep it until spring and make a decision then when it could fetch a better price.

If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on this model I'd love to hear them.

Oh, I'll put a pic in the next day or two.

That's the exact same bike my best friend rides. The only thing I don't like about his is the bars are a bit narrow, but other then that it's a great ride. i hear ya about the seat. It's the most comfortable seat i've ever been on. Your going to love it.

Congrats on the new ride! Sounds like a great find. New tires for that model shouldn't be too expensive. I picked up a brand new set for my '78 CX500 for just $200.00, or about as much as just the rear goes for on my Meanie.

Scott58 wrote:That's the exact same bike my best friend rides. The only thing I don't like about his is the bars are a bit narrow, but other then that it's a great ride. I hear ya about the seat. It's the most comfortable seat i've ever been on. Your going to love it.

I was thinking the bars are a bit narrow as well. I'm sure that's something that can be changed but I want to put a few hundred miles on the bike before making any big changes.

Honda Magna! That's awsome, I've ridden with a couple and those bikes can do some very impressive stuff. Congrats on getting it, and I hope it works out.

If the engine seems a little whiney it might have something to do with a leak in the exhaust system or through the baffles. Most of the ones I've heard are REALLY deep.

Thanks Sev - I'll check out that possible exhaust leak. I haven't even been through the manual yet so I don't even know where everything is yet.

Congratulations Have fun and ride safely.

Hold onto your CB if you can, I wish I'd kept my CB350.

the whine is usually the clutch basket.
it has damper springs in the back of it.
the springs are to lessen the shock of gear changes.
it keeps pressure on the drive gear and the pressure of the damper springs against the gear make it whine.it's normal for it to whine.

9000white wrote:the whine is usually the clutch basket.
it has damper springs in the back of it.
the springs are to lessen the shock of gear changes.
it keeps pressure on the drive gear and the pressure of the damper springs against the gear make it whine.it's normal for it to whine.

Damn, you know a lot about motorcycles. It does sound like a 'normal' sound to me. The engine sounds very healthy to my admittedly untrained ear. It just happens to be right in that frequency range that's annoying. I'll see if I can still hear what I need to hear with earplugs in.

Glad you like it! I hear ya about the power. When I moved up from my KZ440 it was like "holy crap!" but even now that I'm used to it I don't see any practical value in going bigger.
As for the seat it's fine for short trips but on the long rides it does cause some noticable back discomfort. But hey that's just me you might have no problem with it.
Keep the 360! I wish I hadn't sold my 440 but I needed the money. I'd like to still have it for introducing others to riding and since it gets better fuel economy I'd use it to school and back and only have to refuel once a month.
Anyway congrats on the new bike!