From 1973 to 1983, the United States was going through what’s now known as the “malaise era”. It’s not really hard to figure out why this was happening, after all, the Vietnam war had just come to a close, fuel economy/emissions regulations were stricter than ever, and political turmoil was mixing with disco dancing in a way that no one really needed. As a result of all these unique elements, automobiles of the era were slow, bland, and frankly, uninspired.
Motorcycles of this period, however, were anything but malaise and it seemed like our country had found its passion not in Automobiles but in the culture of motorcycles. This era produced some of the most legendary bikes, machines that would go on to inspire, slightly terrify, and build a permanent place in the hearts of fun-loving men and women everywhere.
There's no better way to spend a weekend than taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of vintage motorcycles racing. From a outside perspective, we've watched the vintage road race scene gain more and more traction with organizations like WERA, and AHRMA These organizations have done the best they can to recreate the golden years of vintage road racing and we tip our hats to them. Walk through the pits of one of their vintage events and you'll feel like you hopped in a time machine and went back to the 60's-70s. With these events you tend to see a trend of motorcycles that participate like the Honda CB160, CB350, Triumph daytona, Ducati Desmo, but one bike you don't see often is a Honda CBX. We caught word of a local racer in the suburbs of Columbus, OH. who was the son of MRCBX, If you're into CBX's then chances are you know who we are talking about. Through a local vintage motorcycle facebook group we connected with Robby Ringnalda to get the story on how road racing a CBX came to light.
Back in 1969, Honda unleashed the CB750, and the motorcycle world would never be the same. This wasn’t just another bike – it was a revolution on two wheels. Before the CB750 rolled in, motorcycles were seen as finicky, underpowered machines, mostly for die-hard enthusiasts. Honda shattered that image and made motorcycles cool, powerful, and accessible to everyone.
I recently got a chance to meet up with Paul Riccioli, Jr. at his shop, RPM Resto and Custom, in Hillsborough, NJ to see his 1976 Honda CB750K. We were lucky enough to be able to roll the bike out of the shop on a very unusually warm January day to shoot some photos and ask him a few questions about himself and his bike.
For many of us we all have a certain bike we owned that got away, but imagine if you built a bike in the pinnacle of the seventies chopper revolution and it never got away. Imagine if you kept it preserved for over 45 years and continued riding it all that time. That's what Keith Schupp did ever since the day he got his motor back from the now famous Russ Collins of RC Engineering.
