July 4, 1998
It was just a little over a year ago that I cashed a chunk of my frequent flyer miles and boarded a Delta jet for Oklahoma City to check out Jeff Hopkins' 1995 Honda Pacific Coast. He had advertised it on the PC800 listserver and although it was a little newer than I thought I could really afford, I had pretty much convinced myself that the PC was the bike for me and at $5,200 his sounded like a pretty good deal.
There was, of course, an element of risk in this endeavor. I didn't know Jeff Hopkins from Adam's housecat and had never seen even a photo of the bike. After several phone conversations with Jeff I was basing my intent to buy the bike totally on the good things said on the list about PCs in general and on his word that this bike was in good condition and would be reliable enough for me to ride the return trip of about 1,100 miles back to Kingsport, TN. In my "back pocket" was the fact that my Delta ticket was good for a round trip if needed; but, my intention and hope was that I wouldn't need to use the return leg. I didn't of course; I bought Jeff's bike and thought I would share with you fellow PC owners my opinion of the PC after a year of ownership.
Firstly, let me say I have ridden this machine. When I motored quietly away from Jeff's house around 1:30AM on that warm Oklahoma night just over a year ago, there were 4,813 miles on the odometer. Tonight my PC sits a few feet away in the garage with 24,032 miles. I didn't quite make 20K in my first year of ownership but I did far exceed my annual mileage for any of my other 40 years of riding motorcycles. I also might add that no more than 50 of those logged miles were made as a commuter. I own a car for that. Very nearly all the miles were purely for pleasure and the PC has delivered that in spades. In that same 12 month period, my wife, son and daughter have all learned to ride and now have their own motorcycles. Although I had owned a number of older bikes before it, I think the purchase of a "serious motorcycle" (i.e. the PC) solidified our interest in family motorcycling and started us down the path of getting everyone involved and on their own bikes.
Recent magazine articles have characterized the PC as an adequate commuter but lacking in performance and aesthetics. A couple have even hinted at the possibility that the PC might be used as a "light" touring bike.
Performance is of course a measurable quantity and the numbers will show that the PC is not a "crotch rocket". The PC's performance is however, adequate in all but the most demanding of situations. I'll confess here that I'm not a particularly fast rider; I guess I'm too old for that (How does the old saw go? Something like, there are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots). However, the PC will quietly out-accelerate all but the quickest of cars and I can testify that it pulls strongly right up to it's maximum speed of a bit over 100 miles per hour. Pretty mild-mannered by modern sport-bike standards but perfectly adequate for a "real-life" riding.
As far as aesthetics go, my observation is that people either hate the way the PC looks or they think it's drop-dead gorgeous; there doesn't seem to be much middle ground. Generally, the more "traditional" the observer, the more likely they won't like our "scooter on steroids". On the other hand, the PC is the only motorcycle I've ever owned which routinely receives compliments from complete strangers. I guess beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.
I have found my PC to be a more than adequate tourer. I'm not quite sure what "light" tourer means but I assume it refers to the mass of the motorcycle and the potential for riding long distances. Certainly the PC is light in both regards compared to a Gold Wing or Venture but I just can't quite see myself on those large and relatively ponderous machines. I've toured the PC alone and two-up with 350lbs on board and have ridden it as much as 700 miles in a day. I find it to be a delightful "light tourer" and in fact, I consider it to be a pretty serious one.
I really like the sporting side of the PC's sport-touring nature and while I rarely ground the pegs, I have touched them down a few times. The PC is not in the same league as a CBR600 or a Ninja but in my opinion handles quite well for a machine with this level of creature comfort. It responds beautifully and predictably to countersteering all the way to the limits and "flicks" back over center in a very satisfying and stable way - I like it! It's also extremely easy to maneuver at parking lot speeds after one accepts the fact that it's too heavy to be "man-handled". All you have to do is stay on top of it and it can be handled like a much lighter motorcycle.
I've never experienced the notorious wind noise from standard windshield since my machine had the tall Rifle shield mounted when I picked it up. I even tried a taller (custom made +2") Rifle shield for awhile but eventually sold it because I couldn't get use to looking through rather than over the windshield. The standard tall Rifle with a 12" strip of Saeng Edging across the top works best for me (6'3" tall, 33" inseam). I'm still riding on the stock seat because 1) I don't find it uncomfortable and 2) I don't want to be any closer to the pegs than I am already (the Corbin seat lowers seat height by about an inch). I did fabricate some crusing pegs for an alternate foot position on long rides and I added a VistaCruise throttle lock to provide relief for wrist fatigue. I've also added electric grip warmers and a Cobra HH40 CB radio with helmet speaker and mic to both the PC and my wife's NightHawk. Any road, any time, for pretty much any distance, I'm ready.
What I like most about my PC: