The 80's are back- I just bought a Pacific Coast

[spd2918]

OK, long story.  My bestest buddy in the whole world just bought a BMW K1200LT in Ft. Lauderdale.  He is from Minneapolis and has wanted a touring bike for some time.  He thought the short ride home would allow him some time to get to know the bike.

Not wanting to be left out, I found a high mileage PC800 near Cocoa Beach:

I bought it and will be accompanying my buddy home. I am flying down Monday and we are going to ride to New Orleans for some good food.  I hope my ST1300 won't mind giving up commuting duty.

Is there anything specific about the PC that could give me any trouble?  They appear to be bullet proof (this one has been well taken care of and has new Metzlers on it).

Can someone in New Orleans tell me THE BEST place to eat for seafood etouffee?  I have been there twice, but before Katrina.

[Mr. Whippy]

It actually looks a lot like my Burgman 650.  (Of course my Burgman has electric folding mirrors  )

That's got a autotranny of some type right?

Really nice looking in red.  I disliked the white ones immensely.

I'd be curious what the mpg is on that bike when you make the trip home.

[spd2918]

No, it's a 5 speed.  THe scooter references come from the styling and the trunk.  I am hardwired to use the clutch and shifter, so I wouldn't ride an auto scooter (I can't think too quickly).

I hear the MPG should be 45 MPG real world.

The only issue I have heard about it the stator, but that has been replace din the last few months.

[Mac]

While not etouffee, Coops place has the best jambalaya I have ever eaten, it is definitly worth having. It is a traditional reciepe handed down and is outstanding.
Here is a link with directions.

http://www.coopsplace.net/map.html

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

Looks like a nice bike congrats, I just went back to the 80's as well 1985 ZL900 Eliminator.  

[1KPerDay]

Is there anything specific about the PC that could give me any trouble?  

People might mistake you for a girl on a scooter, but other than that...  

[valdoo]

When I lived in London, I had a friend whom was assigned to Her Majesty's Customs & Excise (HMCE) motorcycle surveillance squad.  We don't do it in the States, but in Europe it's common to use bikes this way.  Economical and nimble, easy to hide.  He attended the Metropolitan Police motor officer training program, and rode every bike in the British enforcement inventory.  He told me that, hands down, the best all-round bike for this purpose was the PCF800.  This scoot is used by the Royal Protection Squad that safeguards the monarch.  He told me that its size/agility, strength, reliability and comfort rendered it perfect for cop ops.

Don't know how this applies to your riding needs, but thought I'd chirp in FWIW.  I think it's an impressive machine, myself...

[Max Wedge]

Here a link to a guy who seems familiar with the breed....



http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265019&highlight=detroit

[JReazor]

I don't care what anyone says. The PC800 is awesome. Congrats on a very cool, very useable motorcycle.

[Scratch33]

PC800's a good bike; congrats.  About the only worry I'd have is replacement parts/plastic.

[spd2918]

Here a link to a guy who seems familiar with the breed....



http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265019&highlight=detroit

What a read!  Thanks!

From the thread:

The Bike

My weapon of choice is my beloved Honda PC800. It was Hondas answer to a question no one in the 1990s was asking. It is a pretty dang good all round bike with a copious amount of luggage and as reliable as the monkey bars at school. The only draw back is that if you have any more testosterone than Pee Wee Herman you may be embarrassed to be seen on it. It has followed the path of my last few bikes general neglect and a flair for the practical use of cable ties, dry wall screws and duct tape has created a monster.

....



I am as good a graphic artist as I am a husband. This paint program worked like a crappy digital etch-a-sketch ( my daughter now tells me if you hit the A button in paint you can type in the letters. Where was she a hour ago?

A) Cable tied on mirror/turn signal assembly. The advantages of ABS plastic bikes is that you can gore holes in it with any number of sharp objects contained in G. The reason the mirror was dangling is due to “The Incident” that won’t actually happen until the 29th. Either I have a crummy continuity editor in this film shoot or I have stumbled into another pesky anomaly in the space/time continuum. Either way my mirror was dangling and I didn’t have the right allen wrench to access the really cool Honda (put the mirror back on with no damage) clips.

B) Who in the hell made handlebar grips the size of a roll of Certs I came back from one trip absolutely convinced I had Lou Gehrigs disease. Sweet Thang pointed out that I had just done a round trip to the bayou of suthern Leweezeanna (2400m +/-) on a early seventies shovel head superglide.borrowed from a 5’2”tall woman. Ever since then my hands give me hell on trips so I took some pipe insulation and wrapped it in electrical tape to give me relief.

C) Cupholder from some Nissan that I bolted clean through the fake gas tank. This is handy I put change for tolls in one of the holes and my Ernest Tubb coffee cup in the other one. Don’t get me wrong “Bob Wills is still the King”

D) My GPS, a compass I got at Murrys auto parts with a digital something else that failed within the first week. The compass only points to the W (due to some high energy electro magnetic fields, emanating from the coil probably). This suits me just fine as I only like to go west. When I head E toward work and I look down and see the W it makes me happy because W is where I like be and it brings back sweet memories..

E) Sunglass holder drywall screwed to the dash. Picture yourself pulling into Sturgis with your real cool prescription sunglasses on. Picture the sinking feeling you get when you realize the vest pocket that held your $350 prescription regular glasses is flapping empty in the breeze. Ah it is only a coupla hundred miles to our last stop in Pierre we can find them. NOT! I could only ride in the day the rest of the trip. That is the trip where the Harley Fat Bastard Blew Up .Which turned out pretty cool as it forced me to stop in my tracks at dark, all alone. I met a lot more people on that trip because of that. But I don't recommend loosing glasses or blowing up motorcycles to meet people.

F) We have stumbled upon one of my nuclear rants, the one thing America has done right and it has remained unchanged since its introduction and it has never been improved upon THE SWING-AWAY-CAN OPENER. This is still a privately run business out of St Louis MO they don’t have corporate jets or jaw clenching CEO’s (buy high sell low) and they manufacture the damn things here in the USA. Wall Street would have you believe that such a thing is out of the question. My grandma had one bolted to the wall in the farm house and it opened cans when my dad was a kid, when I was a kid, and when my kids where kids and it still worked fine when we buried them, rest their souls. The only reason electric can openers took off in the first place is because the wretched cheap imported can openers wouldn’t open cans. Unfortunately this one fell on US-23. at rush hour and I found it a coupla months later on the shoulder and retrieved it. No it was not good as new. The only other product made in the USA is J.B.Weld without which I could not survive.

G) Gerber Brand multi tool with the slide in pliers that don’t pinch the crap out of your tender palm meat the moment it spins off a rusted on nut in which you have invested all of your strength. I had a old leatherman that is a flippin biohazard with hunks of vermins paw sheared off and wedged in the little cracks. I created a unique leatherman dance that included chanting obscenities while my biting bottom lip all squinch eyed. (I will admit to tearing up time and again).

I) Homer Simpson (thanks Andy)

J) Homer Simpson bottle opener

K) I was unable to find a replacement Swing-Away so I am temporarily stuck with this Chinese hunk of junk.

L) My Sweet Thang distress come get me transponder. (cell phone)

[SteveG]

Holy sh@t that was funny!!

[squeezer]

That's a great write-up!  Those advrider guys know how to hit a keyboard.

I always thought the Pacific Coast was a way underrated bike.  And I think that its failure here is one of the reasons we don't get other practical bikes.

Have a great ride back.

[spd2918]

Have a great ride back.

Thanks.  I might write something up on it.  It will be fun to see my former cruiser riding buddy go further than 20 miles.