Michel Lussier's 1967 Honda CB77 Superhawk

NAME: Michel Lussier
AGE: 67
HOME: St-Liboire, Québec, Canada
OCCUPATION: Retired procurement specialist

Saturday, May 4, 1968. That is when it all started. I was 18, going to school, and on foot. Then my neighbour puts his 1967 Honda CB77 up for sale. He bought it new, but did not enjoy riding so much. He just quit. He gave me a ride around the block, then showed me how the controls worked, and... just sent me off on my way! Riding that bike felt so natural, it was like I had been born on a motorcycle.

To this day, I can clearly remember the euphoric feeling I felt on that first ride. I bought the bike right there and then for $450.00 (a lot of money at the time). I just could not get off the thing.

This was the beginning of a lifetime of riding. I have owned many motorcycles through the years, but the CB77 has the biggest place in my heart. With the CB77, I learned to ride, maintain, repair, and, later, restore motorcycles. None of my motorcycles ever went to a shop. I bought the bikes, the shop manuals, the required special tools for each, and that was it.

In 1974, I bought my second bike, a new 1974 Suzuki Titan 500, and the CB77 got stored in my father's garage, left to gather dust for years. By 1995, I decided to restore it. I was lucky—plenty of NOS parts were still available then, either from Honda, or from a multitude of sources on the internet.

This year, I finally installed the flasher system. The CB77 was not sold with flashers in America, but was in other markets. It took me two years to find all the NOS parts (wiring, relay, mounting brackets, and flashers). I had to buy a used switch, as the NOS one is unobtainium, anywhere, at any price. The only part now not matching the frame number on the entire machine is the seat. It is NOS, but not the correct seat with the front lip. It is a 1966 model seat.

I put three bikes on the road every summer: a 1998 VTR1000 Superhawk, a 1971 CB350K3, and the 1967 Superhawk. The CB77 is a people magnet. Wherever I stop, I meet new people. Except for a very few (of around my age), nobody knows what this model is, and are curious about it. This bike holds a special place in my heart, and it’s always a pleasure to discuss it.