1980 GS450E vs Honda Civic

[davidduarte]

Friday night, on my way home from work, a Honda Civic with a coffee can exhaust pulls up next to me at a light, revving his engine. So I blip my throttle, light turns green, he takes off. He got about a car length away before I flew past him. He was reading my license plate up to the next red light. I don't make a habit of doing this, but it was fun. Don't underestimate 30 year old small displacement motorcycles!

[850 Combat]

A GS450E was a 14 second bike in its day, as I recall. An older Civic would require significant laying on of the hands to accomplish that. A new Civic SI has close to 200 hp and probably hauls ass.

Top end of a Civic is probably very similar to the 450.

I like the slab sided '80 450, especially the one with the little fairing and relocated foot pegs. I like the '83 a lot too.

How about posting some pics of yours?

[davidduarte]

I took the milk crate off, but I still have the windshield on:

[kirkn]

Hey, that's a sweet-looking machine!

I remember the very first Cycle Magazine I bought with my own money in 1981. I was 16. It featured a test of a Honda CB400T Hawk (I know, I know; NOT a GS...) and the very first paragraph mentioned how it was quicker stoplight-to-stoplight than nearly any car you could buy brand new at that time. There were a few ringers, of course, but not many, and it was only a 400! That's stuck with me all these years...

I'm surprised you were bold enough to take him on. Those fart-cans are good for another 50~75 HP easy. "R" decals add another 10....

[steve murdoch]

Friday night, on my way home from work, a Honda Civic with a coffee can exhaust pulls up next to me at a light, revving his engine. So I blip my throttle, light turns green, he takes off. He got about a car length away before I flew past him. He was reading my license plate up to the next red light. I don't make a habit of doing this, but it was fun. Don't underestimate 30 year old small displacement motorcycles!

Squid!
[good for you]

[Calvin Blackmore]

I used to run light to light against cars
very few cars even hot rods can beat a bike
mind you if they are high and drunk and idiots

which they likely are

they can roll right over the top of you when there car gets into its best acceleration ranges.

I recall the guys in berlinetta camaros being the nicest of all
raced a guy with an lt1 350 spec v8 and was utterly humiliated at the end of the 1/4 mile

[hacksaw55]

Thanks for the laugh kirkn!

[tkent02]

A GS450E was a 14 second bike in its day, as I recall.

It still is.

[Calvin Blackmore]

It still is.

nope seconds are longer now what with the slowing of the earth's rotation in the past 25 years or so.

[sam78gs750]

Those fart-cans are good for another 50~75 HP easy. "R" decals add another 10....

Classic! I love when guys put the "fart in a soda can" exhaust on their honda civics or whatever jap car and do absolutely nothing to the car besides that and putting a few decals on it.... looks and sounds quick until they pull away from the light and are screaming in second gear and only going 15 mph.....

[Guest]

David, I'm jealous... your 450 is almost identical to mine except that mine's in a million pieces at the moment... and yeah they're great bikes

[Tim Tom]

New Civics are still slow

A new Civic SI has close to 200 hp and probably hauls ass.

Civics will never be a fast car, no matter how much plastic is strapped on the bumpers and trunk and how loud (yet crappy) the noise it makes is.

Case in point, the other night a nice, new civic SI rolled next to me at a stop, whined his engine a bit. I responded with the 850G's nice howl. The light turns green and I'm doing about 50 in second gear and probably 150 feet down the road before he got across the street

Very VERY few cars can come close to the acceleration of a bike. Even the vintage ones

[1100E]

I'm surprised you were bold enough to take him on. Those fart-cans are good for another 50~75 HP easy. "R" decals add another 10....

I have a Charger R/T and have "tuned" my 5.7L Hemi up to about 390 BHP, I wouldn't even consider racing a GS450E, bikes are almost always faster than cars. I hate it when a worn out "ricer" with a crap-can exhaust tries to run my Charger, they're just pathetic!

A buddy of mine had a candy-apple red GS450S with bar-end mirrors and a cool fairing, that was one pretty bike

[donimo]

That is the best part of owning a bike, no matter how small you go they are still fun, can't say that about my base model 1995 cavalier...

[davidduarte]

That is the best part of owning a bike, no matter how small you go they are still fun, can't say that about my base model 1995 cavalier...

No doubt. There's a saying, and I think it's quite profound: It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.