I just have to chime in here with my dimes worth of opinion on the Honda PC800. I have, as many folks on this forum, owned many bikes in the past. All makes, styles, engine size, etc, etc. I currently own a 2007 Honda Goldwing along with the PC800. I wanted and looked for a PC for a couple years and test rode 3 or 4 but I would always talk myself out of buying for one reason or the other. I guess it just wasn't meant to be until I stumbled across the PC I finally bought. The PC800 is by far, hands down, the "funnest" bike I have ever ridden. I just love it. It is so friggin' utilitarian with all the storage. I found a 97 PC800 about 200 miles from my house and got it at a great deal. 2700$. It tuned 40K on my way riding it home the day i bought it. I am the third owner. The second owner was nearly as OCD on maintenance as I am. Anyhoooo... It took me a couple weekends and some hours after work for a week or so to get the carbs cleaned / synced, learn how to remove all the tupperware in the proper order without destroying it in the process. I fixed a couple more nit-picky items (OCD kicking in while I had the panels off). I even made an electronic form of the owners manual and service manual. FYI...make sure the bike has the original tool kit with all the tools. You can do 99% of all work on this bike with the kit//save some magor break-down or serious engine/tranny work. I hardly ride the Goldwing any more. I guess I will ride it more once I start taking longer trips with my wife. I ride the PC every day...daily commuter and love it. Add a Givi top case and you can easily double the storage. Maintenance is a breeze with oil, filters, plugs, fluids coming from Wally World (save the air filter) and taking about as long to change as a typical automobile. I can have the carbs on my work bench in 15 minutes from center standing the bike. I even added a heated gear plug in / port and the bike came with heated grips. Sa-weet. Parts are still available from Honda, even the body panels, albeit very pricey if you need to replace one. Brake pads (front) and shoes (back) and such are a dealer item and very reasonable in price. I have yet to need a part that my local dealer could not get from mother Honda. Get a parts book...I got a electronic copy, in case you do need parts cause the pimple face kid at the parts counter wont have a clue on the PC for parts...neither will the mechanic if he is under 40 years old. Did I mention no damn chain or belt to mess with. Shaft drive! Accessories are nearly non existent, so far as aftermarket items made especially for the PC. I bought my Givi top case rack from a fabricator in Ukraine. A PC in excellent condition (body panels) will sell for upwards of 4K. Start deducting from there for scratched, broken tupperware. Mileage is no biggie with these bikes. As long as the oil has been changed semi-regularly and some routine basic maintenance its nothing to get well over 100K on these engines. The PC is quite comfortable. Add a Laminar lip to the windshield if it has the stock height shield and buffering is greatly reduced. Granted it is no Goldwing in comfort or power. But the massive storage makes up for the *ahem* lack of power. 800cc is plenty of power for the bike. It is nimble in city traffic and can run 70+ mph for hours on end all while getting 48mpg average. Yes! 48mpg at interstate speeds. I have no issues with cold starting. Pull the enricher (not a choke - a choke starves the air....the PC has an enricher that adds fuel)...hit the start button while you are donning your riding gear and you will be ready to ride within a minute or so with no engine stumbles. As one bloke posted the cam plugs oil weep is a bastard once/if they occur but not a big deal to fix...a long Saturday will have you in business. I surmise that these couple leak/weep for eons and never show low oil on the dip stick. Sorry for the rant, but if you do get a PC you will become just as passionate. for 1500$ you cannot loose. The 89s had a few "quirks" that Honda fixed on the 90s and later models. Nothing too major, the main thing was the weak stator and rear wheel rubbing the inside of the fender well. If I were gonna take off on a trip across the US solo, I would be hard pressed not the ride the PC over the Goldwing. If the PC had a radio I could listen to as I do with my Goldwing, via the helmet intercom/speakers, I would take the PC. But then I guess I could buy a seat of nice earbuds to do the same thing...no? That should speak volumes on the comfort of the PC. In fact it it way better as a commuter bike than my Goldwing. It should be, that is how Honda designed the PC...it was originally marketed to yuppies. That is the reason is it quite, lots of storage for a briefcase, lunch, etc, and all the body panels. The suits do not like getting grease and oil on their 1000$ silk duds. I will have to disagree on your statement about the looks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the man said when he kissed the pig. Park the PC next to a BMW-something or other, as crotch rocket and a blinged out HD and the true motorcyclist will bee-line to the PC...unless there is a Ural in the mix. The weekenders will, obvioulsy, drool on the other makes and models, cause they wont know what the hell the PC is in the first place. I tell the unknowing when they ask "What kind of bike is that?" "It's a prototype green-energy hybrid that Honda is marketing in the US" "Really" "Yep. Al Gore has even approved it as safe for the environment" "No Shit!" "No shit, it's true. You should go to your Honda dealer. You can get one for nearly nothing with the tax credits from the stimulus and Obama stash" "No Shiiittt!" ...then I ride away leaving them with the look of the idiot they are on their face! I am not if you have already searched the interweb for PC800 reviews and such...if not...read on.... Douglas is a nice guy and has a ton of PC800 info on his blog: http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/pe...da-pacific-coast-pc800-links-and-information/ Some of the pic links are kaput: http://allananddebbie.4t.com/about.html http://allananddebbie.4t.com/custom.html Nice write up: http://race-the-sunset.blogspot.com/2006/11/honda-pacific-coast.html
Well, I have some great news! I went put an offer on the bike. It's all mine for the price of $1300 . It is missing a few plastic pieces that I think I can trace down and a right side mirror. Time to start the hunt! I plan to pick it up friday or saturday. I am anal on maintenance with every bike I own, so before I ride this bike much I plan to replace the hydraulic clutch fluid, brake fluid, oil, coolant, and final drive oil. It already has new spark plugs and I may hook a vacuum gauge to it and sync the carbs to make sure it is running as good as possible. I have already started planning my first trip and a good friend of mine is going to start looking for another pacific coast for him to buy so we can ride together across a few states. I will post up a couple teaser pics until I can get it home and snap some good photos with a camera.
Just looking over the pics you posted on this bike...it is well worth 1300$ even with the missing panels. Here is the defacto PC800 forum. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/ipcrc/ Yep its a crappy yahoo group, but all the PCer hang out here. Occasionally you will find a PCer that is parting out his bike. I saw one a few weeks ago where the owner was selling every panel. Look on eBay as well. As I mentioned the panels are still available via mother Honda, but they are very proud of them. A complete mirror assembly is north of 300$. The radiator cover, front rotor cover and lower cowling that are showing missing are also available. But I have seen these on eBay as well. All years of the PC800 have 95% interchangeable parts save some things on the 97-98 years. So it really doesn't matter what year bike you get the parts. The 89s had a couple items that are different on the later year models. The front wheel rotor cover is one item. On the 90s and later the attachment tabs are more robust but will fit on the 89. Dont look for 91-92-93 years...Honda didn't produce the PCs those years. Glad you got the bike. You will love it.
I have searched around on ebay for the missing parts. I just don't know what years the parts will cross over yet. I found the vent cover that covers the side of the radiator. I also found the rotor/caliper covers, but they are from a 95 (don't know if they will fit). I can get the mirror at 10 percent above cost brand new (still pretty salty). I plan to become a member on the yahoo group to gain some knowledge on the bike and maybe come across some parts for sale. Weather is supposed to be in the 50's this weekend so I will get my first ride in on saturday! Thanks for all the help so far guys!
As I mentioned, all the PC model year parts are interchangeable save a very few parts on the 97-98 models. A 95 will fit a 89. In fact all the body panels are the very same on all year models. The 97-98 lost the front fender skirt and the auto canceling turn signals, other than that they are the same as well. The 89s had weak body panel tabs so Honda fixed that on the 90 > later years but the panels will still work the tabs were beefed up but nothing changed on the frame mounting points. For the most part only the color changed from year to year, thus the method to tell what year the bike is. Since yours is blue, tell folks it came from Japan. I think Honda sold a grey-blue color over there for one year.
Great! Thanks for the info! I have found the disc/caliper cover and the radiator side vent. Now to find the piece of plastic that covers the crash bar!
The Pacific Coast is basically a 1/2 scale Goldwing with a v-twin engine. Perfect for solo touring. It is way more touring oriented than those "sport touring" bikes, and will be a lot more comfortable. It's not what I an looking for right now, but since everyone wants something different, nothing wrong with that. It is a Honda, and dead reliable. The closest thing I would compare it too today is the Silverwing. If smooth, quiet, and comfortable are your thing, the PC800 is a great bike for it. However I'm referring to a new one, or one in nearly new condition. An older one could have any number of problems. These are pretty rare bikes, which means they may be hard to get parts for, but it also means that the parts on yours are probably worth more is it does not work out for your intended purpose.
I had no intention of searching for a Pacific Coast, however I did want a bike that I could ride across the country on. I own a CBR1000RR and rode my fathers V-Rod many times, and I knew that neither of these bikes would be a good bike to tour on. I just happened to come across the deal on the pc800 so I figured I would do some quick research to find some info on the bike. From what I have found the past few days, most people who own them have attachment issues with them, which is a good thing in my book. It shows that these bikes are something that people like after owning and I hope it is the same for me! I am pretty mechanical and it seems that the issues that these bikes do have tend to be small. I have already ordered a service manual, the disc and caliper cover, the vent on the right side fairing, and a backrest. Total invested thus far is $1,416.67!!! I am probably going to end up buying the mirror and the cover for the radiator cap new. That just leaves me to find the plastic cover for the crash bar! I can have the pieces painted to match the color of the bike for the cost of the materials and a couple beers (buddy owns a body shop). My goal is to have under $1800 in a bike that is ready to ride anywhere I want and look decent doing it!
I have a e-copy of the PC800 service, owners and parts manuals if you want them. I even have the Honda Common service manual in pdf format. I took scans of all the pages and created a "book" that you can view in a browser (IE, firefox, chrome, safari, etc). My original goal was to get this posted on the PC800 web site, but figured Honda would have some copyright issues. Looking over the zipped size they are 46 mb total. I wouldn't suggest emailing such a large attachment. However I can send you a CD if you would like. I keep this e-copy on a thumb drive in my 'Stich -just in case- as I usually have my laptop or netbook with me...especially on longer trips. It sure beats lugging around a big paper manual. Let me know.
I am glad someone did post your link! I have read thru a lot of the info on your blog! Thanks for making a place for Pacific Coast information!
I took the bike out today for its first real ride! A buddy of mine just picked up a buell M2 cyclone on wednesday so we decided we would give our bikes the first real ride test. We decided to ride a road that has a few good turns as well as elevation changes to see how the bikes handled. All I can say is WOW! I thought this bike would be pretty boring to ride, but it handles quite well in the twisties! I am impressed with the bike so far! I have logged about 100 miles on the bike and I am extremely happy with my purchase so far!
I hope you get many miles to come out of your Pacific Coast! I am thoroughly convinced that I could take mine around the world twice and it would still be running as well as the day that I purchased it. In fact... some day I actually might do just that. The guys with big adventure bikes aren't the only ones who can circumnavigate the globe All of the knowledge I have gained about the PC800 came from the good people over at the IPCRC (pc800.net). I only hope that I can give back as much as everyone there has given me. Seriously they're a great group of people. If you have any questions about your bike, feel free to shoot me an email via my website or via PM on here. It might take me a few days to respond depending upon how busy I am but I will get back to you. Cheers! Douglas
I own a PC800. I'm getting it out of mothball this month (4 years) and taking it to a mechanic to get it gone over front to back. I have held on to it because I'm sold on this bike. Super comfortable. Great protection from wind and rain. Handles really nice. And trunk space for days! I attempted to do my own work on her and found out that I am no mechanic. Since then I have lamented that day and vowed when I had an appropriate amount of funds I would take her in, have her done up right and then ride the crap out of her. I promise I will never do more than a fluid check / oil change ever again. I hope I can post a ride worthy of these pages this year. I'll be riding her on the PCH this June even! Vermin, if you're out there, just wanted you to know that CACK is the awesomest reason to ever read these pages. Many good stories bro. I would have a hard time letting mine go All over like that without me, But it is truly a testament to the riders in this family. AdvRiders rock.
Well guys, I have sourced all of my remaining plastic pieces for the PC800 and they are being painted the beginning of next week! I should have her complete and ready to go soon. I have already logged about 150 miles on it and it is more fun to ride than I anticipated. I am purchasing a house so some of the "mods" (taller windshield, backrest, led lights, etc.) I wanted to do before my trip are going to be put on hold. I plan to take it on a short trip or two in the next few weeks before my maiden voyage out west. Pics will be uploaded as soon as I have all the pieces of the bodywork puzzle back together!