Please meet Maggie, my 1986 Honda Magna VF700C:
I spent this past summer perusing craigslist, drumming up Honda Shadows and Goldwings while slowly building a budget for my next bike. Then, one day I read about someone's Honda Magna. I learned about how they're a slice of history as the scene starters for muscle bikes; how they exist not just as cruisers, but as sport cruisers with overdrive; and how they're fatally flawed with low oil pressure to the cams, requiring meticulous attention to maintenance intervals or aftermarket kits to obtain reliability.
I was hooked.
Some time passed, and then I finally found the OTP (one true post) on craigslist: a Magna owner who's text description expounded not speed or horsepower, but reliable care and clean stock status. I had to have it, and one anxious week after contacting the seller, a friend and I drove up to Tennessee and met this bike's single original owner, Billy.
The Magna was in unbelievably good condition; way better than the craigslist pictures. Billy even purchased a new battery just to be sure everything was set for me to ride back. Dumbfounded by his generosity and my good fortune, I gladly bought the bike and brought it home. Riding it back on the highway was nerve racking, but also one of my favorite trips in any vehicle to date. This bike just flies, and the engine purrs, and there's less frame vibration than my old Virago 250. The seat is comfortable, the brakes are reliable, the suspension is perfect, and the speedometer works! No Honda I've owned until now has had a working speedometer!
So now I'm starting a maintenance thread, and looking forward to this next chapter of vehicle ownership
I spent this past summer perusing craigslist, drumming up Honda Shadows and Goldwings while slowly building a budget for my next bike. Then, one day I read about someone's Honda Magna. I learned about how they're a slice of history as the scene starters for muscle bikes; how they exist not just as cruisers, but as sport cruisers with overdrive; and how they're fatally flawed with low oil pressure to the cams, requiring meticulous attention to maintenance intervals or aftermarket kits to obtain reliability.
I was hooked.
Some time passed, and then I finally found the OTP (one true post) on craigslist: a Magna owner who's text description expounded not speed or horsepower, but reliable care and clean stock status. I had to have it, and one anxious week after contacting the seller, a friend and I drove up to Tennessee and met this bike's single original owner, Billy.
The Magna was in unbelievably good condition; way better than the craigslist pictures. Billy even purchased a new battery just to be sure everything was set for me to ride back. Dumbfounded by his generosity and my good fortune, I gladly bought the bike and brought it home. Riding it back on the highway was nerve racking, but also one of my favorite trips in any vehicle to date. This bike just flies, and the engine purrs, and there's less frame vibration than my old Virago 250. The seat is comfortable, the brakes are reliable, the suspension is perfect, and the speedometer works! No Honda I've owned until now has had a working speedometer!
So now I'm starting a maintenance thread, and looking forward to this next chapter of vehicle ownership
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