“That engine!”
Scott Mercer is referring to the 6-cylinder powerplant found in the legendary Honda CBX. It’s a mill that has long fascinated him, but a strong sense of nostalgia also plays a vital role in this story about his 1979 Honda CBX.
It all starts in the early 1970s when Scott’s stepdad, Russ, got a once derelict Aermacchi-built 250cc Harley-Davidson on the road again. “It was a non-running machine,” Scott recalls of the Aermacchi. “My mom actually paid a shop to put it back together, and he taught me to ride that bike — that launched my motorcycle career. Russ was passionate about motorcycles, and I followed closely in his footsteps.”
In 1978, the year Scott graduated from high school, his mom and stepdad bought him a 1972 BMW R75/5. He rode it extensively, but the machine was a little tired so he took out a $1,000 loan and freshened up the BMW’s engine and transmission. Sadly, while riding home from AMOL Precision, a motorcycle shop located in Dumont, New Jersey, an errant driver took out the front end of Scott’s machine. The bike was totaled. To pay off the loan and accumulate enough cash for a down payment on a new BMW
