Chrome Hawk
I read the excellent story in my March/April 2023 issue of Motorcycle Classics about Jen Tacy and her 1963 CB77 Super Hawk. I always found that bike to be a real winner and hers is perfect!
The reason I’m writing is to tell you that during my combat infantry tour in beautiful Southeast Asia in 1968 I saw several CB77s with the chrome frame and gas tank. They were the bike of choice for South Vietnamese officers and were a status symbol. Usually there would be two Vietnamese officers riding on the one bike. Now whether they’d had the chroming done I don’t know. It could have been a Honda option for wealthy Vietnamese.
David F. Gillogly/Mesa, Arizona
The perfect motorcycle
If we are talking about the perfect motorcycle, I need to nominate the Honda PC800 Pacific Coast. Generally scorned by the motorcycle community but admired by non-bikers, the Pacific Coast must rate as one of the most misunderstood motorcycles of all time.
I owned a 1995 Pacific Coast for 10 years, riding all over Torrential downpours were nothing more than a minor annoyance, with the fairing and windshield deflecting nearly all the nastiness. And the trunk! It easily held a week’s worth of clothing in addition to maps, a camera, a phone, snacks and just about anything else you would want to bring along. Even after a full day of riding through rain your possessions would be fresh and dry, ready for the next day.
