This is the Honda CB360G. Its a two-cylinder 4-stroke bike imported from the 1970's on to the USA and other parts of the world. The USA has around 450,000 of these and the previous CB350 in varying states of repair and rust. The original models had front and rear drum brakes which are... bad. Drum brakes need maintenance to insure they keep working, and they aren't exactly fast stopping in the real world.
Since 1968, the CB350 was the best selling motorcycle in the world. Cleanup and tuneup after buying one for $100-300 is a somewhat popular way to make a little money for a mechanic who likes a little risk. Its a basic machine but its a modest way to get around. I wouldn't mind one myself, provided the electrics work. Its nothing fancy, a simple seat, modest engine size, only 356cc, and was a backbone machine for the Motorcycle division for decades. Cared for properly, its a nice old machine that can pull you up a hill. One of these was fixed up a little for the movie Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, which I think was a horrible series but lots of people have seen it. The CB350/360 are used by Hipsters.
Old bikes like this one matter for two reasons. They're cheap and can be restored into modest and fuel efficient transportation. And they're vintage, which is what tourists want to see in America when they come to spend their hard currency on vacation, and without a manufacturing base, America is a tourist destination. We have to play the part so tourists will come where we live. A bike like that? Its a vintage machine, and properly cared for, it helps set the stage for a vintage America, trapped in the past. We're set to become a sort of agricultural apple pie Renn Faire. Wine, steak and fries, good fresh fruits and veggies. Like a cruise ship with mountains and deserts. Stuff that isn't as safe to visit elsewhere, or not as much fun. We're a weird place, very quirky. We have to play that up. What else can we do in a post-industrial wasteland of lingering ghost towns and fallen infrastructure?
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