Curbside parking your collection of four red classics in a space just long enough for a 1960s Cadillac is possible when your classics are a Honda CRX and three motorcycles. This group is the most recently spotted lineup at a street corner in Georgetown in Washington, DC that for years has featured a shifting array of interesting motorcycles.
This variable feast for motorcycle fans has been anchored by the always-present Yamaha on the left, and it has included a Moto Guzzi and other out of the ordinary machines. Now it shows a consistent theme of red, moderately sized classics and neoclassics, seeming to imply that they all belong to one owner, an impression furthered by the motorcycles boxing in the CRX. Without further ado, here is a look at this consistent but varied collection that represents the 1980s, 2000s, and 2010s.
The Honda CRX should be the most familiar to the car but not motorcycle enthusiasts who are the majority of the readers here. Introduced with the third generation 1984-87 Civic and lasting into the fourth generation Civic until 1991, the CRX was one of the most popular sports cars of the 1980s, part of the 1980s wave of affordable two seaters that included the Toyota MR2 and Pontiac Fiero. Many car enthusiasts who grew up in the U.S. during the 1980s will have fond memories of the fun to drive and practical CRX.
This one is a CRX Si, the hottest version of the CRX, introduced in 1985. Powered by a 1.6 liter 16 valve four rated at 108 horsepower at 6000 rpm and weighing less than 2000 pounds, it could accelerate from 0-60 in 8.5 seconds, respectable performance in the mid-1980s. As a survivor of the hottest version in the hottest color, this CRX Si is a prime example of the model, in good condition aside from a hatchback lid secured with a bungee cord that may indicate a broken latch.
Staying with Japanese vehicles of the 1980s, the senior member of the motorcycle group is a Yamaha Maxim. With a transverse inline four and shaft drive, the Maxim was an updated version of the four cylinder “Universal Japanese Motorcycle” (UJM) that had taken over the U.S. motorcycle market since the early 1970s. It had a stepped seat and raked forks for “custom” styling emulating early cruiser bikes such as the Harley-Davidson Super Glide, without abandoning the UJM mechanical formula for a V-twin engine to imitate Harley-Davidson even further, as all of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers would do by the end of the 1980s.
There were two generations of the Maxim, the 650cc XJ650 in 1980-84, and the 700cc XJ700 in 1985-86. The U.S. received the XJ700 while the rest of the world received the 750cc XJ750, so that Yamaha could avoid the 45% tax on motorcycles over 700cc that went into effect in 1983 to benefit Harley-Davidson. All of this history made the Maxim thoroughly a product of the 1980s.
This Maxim has the touring package that Yamaha offered as an option, with a frame-mounted fairing equipped with lockable storage pockets, top box, and saddlebags (not present here, but with their mounting brackets visible) that transformed the cruiser-styled Maxim into a fully equipped touring bike. It would have been a good choice for a rider interested in long-distance touring but wanting a lighter, medium-displacement motorcycle instead of an 1100cc Honda Gold Wing or 1340cc Harley-Davidson Electra Glide. Like the Maxim itself, it is a period piece that is difficult to imagine a motorcycle manufacturer offering today, when most models are highly specialized and general purpose motorcycles are rare.
Next to the Yamaha Maxim sits a much newer neoclassic machine, a Triumph Thruxton 900. Introduced in 2004, the Thruxton is a café racer styled version of the Bonneville, Triumph’s mainstay model since its introduction in 2001. The standard-style Bonneville with its air-cooled 790cc parallel twin, a modern re-creation of the classic Bonneville of 1959-88, has served as the basis for differently styled models such as the Speedmaster cruiser in 2002 and the off-road styled Scrambler, based on the TR6 Trophy scramblers of 1956-70, in 2006.
The Thruxton café racer with its low handlebars, rear set footpegs, and removable rear seat cowl had additional performance to go along with its classic café racer style, introducing the 865cc engine that later became standard across the board on the Bonneville and its derivatives in 2007. It has been a successful retro model combining classic style with modern, reliable mechanicals, and this red example with its accessory mini fairing and currently trendy pipe wrap represents it well.
Speaking of Scramblers, the rearmost and most recent motorcycle is another one, but from a manufacturer not known for them until recently. It is a Ducati Scrambler, first shown to the public in 2014 and introduced to the U.S. market in 2015. Ducati pitches it as having a heritage from the Ducati Scrambler of 1962-75, which was a line of dirt-oriented single cylinder bikes in the 250c-450cc size classes, but it is an entirely new motorcycle using the 803cc 90 degree V-twin from the Ducati Monster.
Unlike the Triumph Scrambler, it is a street focused motorcycle with normal instead of high-mounted exhaust pipes. It is intended to appeal to an entirely different market than the sport-oriented bikes for which Ducati has been known, being both less expensive and oriented more toward comfort than hard-edged performance. Initial impressions of the bike have been favorable, but only time will tell whether it proves to be as successful as previous Ducatis or the Triumph Bonneville and its offshoots.
Four curbside modern classics and neoclassics spanning three decades and three countries in a space only slightly longer than a Buick Electra 225 may or may not be a record of sorts, but it is an impressive collection nonetheless. I do not know who owns these vehicles, but whoever owns them, or even only some of them, has impressively diverse tastes and an eye for the out of the ordinary.
I cannot look at those wheels without thinking that they are each missing two holes.
Yeah, but the wheels that really bother me there are the Maxim with the curved spokes. I always thought those were ugly bikes, the touring package doesn’t help either. They really are clunky looking compared to Hondas of the same period.
Triumph Bonneville is on the list for smaller bike to replace my ballistic packhorse Concours 1000.
Overall it must be interesting to keep all this machinery stored and maintained in such a small outdoor space.
Those Yamaha wheels were incredibly odd, bordering on ugly. And they used them on everything for about half a decade. My 81 Virago 750 had the same wheels. They may have looked good on paper, but in practice not so much.
Ducati sales are up 10% this year in the USA, and up 69% in Italy where the Scrambler is the best selling bike overall, so the early returns are looking good.
The Maxim and the other early Japanese cruisers left me cold at the time and they still do.
Those CRX’s were everywhere once. Are those buyers choosing Scion’s and Nissan Cubes now?
The Maxim was a custom version of the Seca which caused a few red faces at Yamaha as Seca was also an 80s video porn star! I’m sure we didn’t get the Maxim in the UK but we got the Seca aka XJ750 a strange looking beastie with weird padded handlebars and a half cable half hydraulic front double disc brake.
Lose the pipe wrap and I’d take the Triumph.
Secas and Seca IIs didn’t have the overt porn connection in the US, but managed mediocre sales because every review that praised it (and there were many) insisted on considering it “the sensible sport bike”. Which in the US is an absolute kiss of death, because no squid-wannabe wants to be riding a sensible anything.
The again, that’s the American motorcycling attitude. I’ve always felt we desperately need the British “L” plate and engine size restrictions for beginners. Having to spend a year or so publicly proclaiming “I’m a dork and don’t know what I’m doing” seems to toughen the attitude of British riders, and probably has more than a little to do with the average British rider making the average American rider look pathetic.
Street cool is only good when its earned.
+1
After 23 years riding most American riders would still consider me a dork, but at least I sort of know what I’m doing…
I had an ’82 Seca 650. shaft drive, straight handlebar, great motor, great bike actually but a little soulless and i moved on.
Street cool is only good when it’s earned how true. My badass big brother a grey haired ,grey bearded Sportster riding giant was once a spotty herbert on a Yamaha 175 dirt bike with L plates 43 years ago.
A Maxim with the factory touring kit – that is definitely not common. To me, that’s the most valuable vehicle in that picture. Damn, those are even the stock pipes! Definitely rare and deserves better than street parking.
Most Maxims that show up around the shop are your typical UJM beaters. Bought for a couple of hundred bucks, if that, managed to get running, and the owner is up at the parts desk screaming about what replacement parts cost (assuming Yamaha still has them on the shelf at all).
Somehow, when you can buy a old bike for a couple of hundred bucks, new replacement parts are supposed to be priced proportional. And everything is still supposed to be in production, never mind that the bike is thirty years old.
What I always found to be fun when I worked the parts desk was the light going off in the customer’s eyes when he realized why he was able to buy the bike that cheap. The previous owner had probably been in about 90 days earlier talking to me, and getting the same answers.
Triumph Bonneville Thruxton: I’m going to have one of those before I die. Have ridden more than a few, and still consider them the best motorcycle value out there. If you’ve never taken one out, do yourself a favor and do it.
Ducati Scrambler: It’s been eleven years since I worked at Ducati Richmond, and my knowledge and interest in the brand still tops out around 2003 or so. Seems like a nice bike.
I learned to ride on this 82 Maxim XJ650. My dad bought it in 1984 for $1,100. It really was owned by a little ole lady. She and her husband toured all over the US. He had a Goldwing, but she wanted something smaller. They bought the Maxim new and had the PACIFICO AERO fairing installed at the dealer. I can’t imagine riding from Louisiana to the Grand Canyon on that bike, but she did it.
It was a good ole bike. Nothing flashy or special, just good motorcycle transportation. You can see the mufflers had to be patched because they didn’t last long at all. I took this bike to Auburn with me in 1995 where it was my sunny day transportation for 3 years. Dad took it back after I graduated but didn’t ride it very much. He gave it to me in 2009. I replaced the cam cover gasket and fixed up a few other odds and ends to make it road worthy and bring it back to a good cruising status. I sold it a year later for $800. We got lots of good use out of it over the 26 years it was in the family.
I own an ’85 XJ700 Maxim that I bought from the original owners son back in ’94. It was red and identical to the pictured example except bare without touring package. It was in need of seat recover, tires, paint and the clutch was slipping. Still ran well and was only $400.00. It is still a great bike to ride today, and at 79k miles still runs great. I have repainted it black and had the seat redone. Only needed speedo hub drive, caliper seals, starter brushes and rear brake shoes in the 21 years I’ve owned it, apart from batteries and tires. And carb overhaul and tank liner after the tank started to rust internally. It’s still fun to ride the twisty highways, the state route 504 ride to Mount St Helens is a nice all day ride. Really like the shaft drive, even though it lifts the rear a little when you hit the throttle going around corners. Reminds me of my old VW Bus reduction gear lift. The slipping clutch was only because of the wrong oil being used, I switched to Spectro and the clutch stopped slipping. The only other problem was when I first got it it lost power heading up Angeles Crest Highway. Turns out the air filter was never changed and looked like it was packed with grease, it was so plugged up. A new filter (foam), and it ran great at any elevation. It still looks almost new, I don’t plan to get rid of it. Great write up. Looking closer at the pictured bike, the chrome fenders and wheel design makes me believe this bike is actually a 750 Maxim, of around ’83 vintage. The wheel design is different and my 700 has painted fenders. But still a great find.
Sounds like somebody used automobile oil in the bike to save a few bucks, and forgot about the friction reducers. Motorcycle oil doesn’t have it because most bikes have a wet clutch.
Liked the comment regarding the twitchiness of the shaft drive – they all did that back then, and the airhead BMW’s were the worst. My R90/6 would jack up and to the right when you cracked the throttle. Kinda disconcerting until you got used to it.
Yep. He was a BMW (auto) mechanic and rode it daily 45 miles to the dealership. And always used the automotive oil that was dispensed by his rack. He sold it to me and bought a new Sportster 883.
The vehicle that has my attention in the photo is the CRX. This particular one is an ’86-’87 model. I purchased new an ’84 CRX 1.5, kept it for 10 years, and it still remains as the favorite car I ever owned.
I can’t believe the bikes are parked out on the street. One could load one of them up in a minute and be off with it. A race 1967 Mustang was just stolen from a guys driveway, in broad daylight, with him in the house and in a safe local neighborhood. Obviously his car was scoped out at the track a few days earlier. You see this stuff more and more. Worst part a neighbor saw it and spent the time taking pictures rather than calling 911 or the car owner.
I wouldn’t mind having the Thruxton and the CRX…the other two I have no interest.
Give me the CRX Si… I could give a rat’s ass about ANY motorcycles.
Minor correction: a first-generation U.S. CRX Si had a 12-valve 1.5-liter engine, which had 91 hp. The 1.6-liter/108 hp figures only apply to late (1990–91) second-gen U.S. (and presumably Canadian) cars.
Nice collection. Parts availability is the sticking point with old Japanese motorcycles. We kind of forget that they are thirty years old and new repair parts are hard to find and expensive. OEM mufflers are really hard to find as they were cheaply made and prone to early rust out. The basic motors are very tough as long as they have gotten regular oil changes and the level kept up. There are lots of enthusiast forums that can help. I went to a couple of shows put on by the Classic Japanese Motorcycle club and have enjoyed seeing the bikes I loved as a kid. Always love the CRX. In 1990 I bought a new Civic SI because I needed the back seats. Still one of my all time favorite cars. White with charcoal grey sports seats and the standard sunroof. Honda put such a great chassis on these cars with their double A arm suspension all the way around and great build quality. Mine was plenty quick and with the standard 5 speed always returned 32 mpg. in my mixed driving. Such a versatile package, It would hold five passengers, fold the rear seats down, tilt the fronts back and there was room to haul surprising long objects. I really haven’t owned a car since, that has impressed me as much with it’s versatility.
I don’t ride (far too uncoordinated) but those are nice-looking bikes. I do love those CRXs though, and I think these are the best-looking vintage–flush lamps and the deeper spoiler/sills compared to the first ones, but still the purer first shape.
I remember seeing ads of the Maxim on Hot Rod Magazine during the 80s and I loved the style, but please, without that grotesque touring package.
I could take home all the bikes shown in the picture… I love them all, but the CRX… Nope…
I had a 450 ducati while in Eritrea in 1972-73…I loved it…everyone had one or a 350…one dependant kid had a desmo..there were a lot of other bikes around..350 honda,650 yamaha….I also owned later on in life a 750 triumph bonneville special…electronic ignition….great bike…I found this site by chance while looking at 68 cougars, my son has one….nice trip down memory lane…..