How about some of the language in the service or operators manuals? I remember "clinking ability" for "climbing ability." Or "tootle" the horn. Anybody know what a "gudgeon pin" removal tool is? You might if you worked on a Triumph and wanted to remove a piston. Or a "supape." Spanish for valve.

I was in second gear around 30 mph I would guess. I was steering with my feet on the turn signals.

I just turned 62 and still ride. I got a used 2000 ST100 with 19k on it in 2002. It will be my last bike. I worked as a tech in two different Honda shops in the period from 1979 to 1985. I traded the 69 750 in 1978 for a new CX500. I really liked that bike and once rode it 15 of the 25 miles to work without touching the handlebars.
I have many mixed feelings about the war in Vietnam. Yes, I think we were right to try to stop the spread of communism and wrong to quit when we had them on the ropes. Damn Henry Kissinger, Walter Cronkite, the protesters and the chicken shits who ran to Canada. The ones who really came out on the short end of the stick is the people of South Vietnam. Especially the ones who worked for us on the bases. After April 1975, they either had to disappear or be killed, according to someone who was there in the ARVN. Thanks to those on this board who respect Veterans of ALL wars. Your kind words are appreciated.

Another time, I wondered what the CB would sound like without the baffles. The bolts securing them were spot welded in one place so it was fairly easy to break the weld and pull them out. Being young and not worried about my hearing off I went to Elizabethtown, thinking the place must have some cute Bettys living there. I turned off the highway towards a residential area and heard a siren and a quick look in the left mirros showed the lights that go with it. I pulled over and was relieved to find out the police officer just wanted a good look at the new model he hadn't seen yet. Phew, that was a load off. Then he asked me how fast it would go.......................duh, what would you say in that situation?? I played dumb and told him I didn't know since it wasn't all broken in yet and I hadn't really opened it up.
Ron 2, LEOs Zero.

I arrived at Ft Knox with the CB750 just after Christmas 1969. I found a place to store it off post in the yard of a married serviceman who lived outside the base. As soon as the weather warmed up I took it on post and took some ofther G.I.s for rides. On the first time two up I was flying down a two lane road leading to a state park along the Ohio River when I crested a small rise. On the other side the road hooked left and I wasn't prepared for the turn at the speed I was carrying. I knew better than to grab the brakes and just leaned until the rear footpeg scraped. I managed to keep my underwear clean, but not by much. When we got back to the barracks, my passenger told someone else that "He really knows how to ride." If he only knew..
A few weeks later I was cruising around the burger stand across from the entrance to Cherokee Park near Louisville when I noticed a car full of young girls. One stuck her head out the window and asked me to take her for a ride. I pulled over and when she got out of the back seat, I could see she was a real chain stretcher. I told her I just got the bike and wasn't really confident enough to haul a plus size yet. I later found another car full of better proportioned young ladies who has been drinking. Instead of having someone puking on my back I settled for a rain check and an address. Three of the girls shared an apartment on the east side of Louisville. They all had boyfriends but one was out of town so I substituted.
A lot of the G.I.s were buying performance cars like GTX 440 Magnums, 454 Chevelles, Road Runners and Firebird and Camaros. They would all brag about how fast their cars were and I would ask them if they wanted to race. They saw me driving a 64 Valiant four door and thought I was crazy until I showed up on a new CB750. They knew they couldn't beat a 12.6 second quarter mile at 112 that the advertising brochure claimed. So I didn't get any takers.
A few rides stick out in my mind as memorable, especially the one at night with 190 pound Bobby Lisles of St Louis on the back. Earlier that day, I went off post to go for a ride and found my back tire flat. Since it was parked in the open I assumed that some bastard had let the air out just to piss me off. I pushed it a block to the nearest air pump, filled the rear tire and rode a bit that afternoon. Around dark Bob and I headed for Louisville. We turned right at Pleasure Ridge Park off the Dixie Die-way and went about a mile or so when the rear tire let go with a bang. I knew what happened right away and proceeded to fight to keep control, sawing the handlebars left and right just trying to keep the bike from swapping ends. We got stopped, without daring to touch the brakes, on the left berm, next to a drainage ditch about five feet deep. Luckily, there was no traffic coming the other way when it happened or I would not be writing this. We parked the bike and notified the property owner that it would be staying there until the next day when I would return to fix it. All Bobby could say was, "Holy Jesus." He knew how lucky we were. We started walking back to the base which was about 15 miles away. When we were walking past a home with hedges out near the main road we heard a female voice ask if we needed a ride. We said we were and she volunteeried to help. I thought she was going to drive us but no, she had other plans. She didn't stick her thumb out for more than four cars before one pulled over thinking they were going to get lucky. She convinced the soldiers in the car that they would be doing her a big favor if she would haul her two friends back to the base.
The next day I retrieved the rear wheel assembly and tore it apart to find a 10 inch rip in the tube. Tubeless tires/wheels are the second greatest innovation to motorcycling, disc brakes are the first.

In the summer of 1969 I was in the Mekong Delta and had been receiving Cycle World magazines, when I first saw the CB-750. I did not take an R&R so I could save up my money to buy a new one when (and IF) I returned home. I dodged enough rocket and mortar rounds and left the country at the end of October. I arrived at my local airport at noon on the 30th. I went home, greeted my Mom and settled down for a good soak in the bath tub. I noticed a heck of a brown ring when I stepped out and discovered my waist up tan was mostly gone. I got in my 64 Valiant and drove the 8 miles to the Honda dealership where I had previously purchased a 64 C-110 and later a 65 CA-77 Dream. There was a red CB-750 on the showroom floor so I made the deal and traded a well used Dream for a new 4 banger that truly was a dream compared to the evil handling 305. I used almost all the money I had managed to save from 12 months overseas but I knew I still had a year and a half of guaranteed employment in uniform. It was a nice warm fall day when I headed home with the new bike but on November 1st we had snow flurries which meant a few more bucks were spent on a windshield. Serial number 1001352 and I spent the next ten years together and accumulated 35,000 miles. I weighed 135 pounds when I left for the war and lost 20 pounds while there. Can you imagine a 115 pound rider with 68 untamed horses at his command?
My next duty station was Fort Knox, KY, so I rented a U-Haul and trailered the bike in a snow storm for 10 hours.
If you want more details of my experiences, let me know and I'll post them here.
Ron Collins, PA