Honda 350 in Richmond, VA

Quite a winter day of exploring in the car (the bike is in North Carolina, though a few riding today in the Richmond area with temperatures in the 40s). Saw a lot of interesting sights, but came to a quick stop when I came across this Honda 350 on a Richmond, VA street. One of (in my opinion) great motorcycles of the 1970's, at one time it seemed like there was one of these on every corner. Sure it had drum brakes, was a small 350cc twin engine, but they sure did move along well. Be a great bike today; don't remember what the fuel mileage is, but I bet it would be fantastic. You don't see a lot of them anymore, but this one had a license plate on it.
Read some this week (to be expected in this recession) that Harley-Davidson lost 218.7 million in the last quarter. Shipments were down some 27% and worst is expected for 2010. In fact, HD has been selling not long ago acquired MV Agusta and closed out Buell (which made some fine motorcycles. Harley has also closed one of its York, Pa plants, and a number of dealerships have also closed their doors. Industry wide, sales are down across the board (with Triumph being the sole exception according to reports I have read).
Still, despite the hard times, Harley and the others are still putting out some interesting new motorcycles. I just read today that there is a new version of the Sportster called the "Fourty-Eight" and a number of new bikes. Many new motorcycles announced last year will be hitting the showroom floors of most of the major manufacturers. Will be a difficult time as many companies are scaling back; many companies have ended, or reduced racing programs, and are also cutting production of many models.
Motorcycling has a long and interesting history, and its fun to look back on the history of some of the great motorcycles of the past. Hopefully, that history will continue with many more chapters being added to what has been a great and remarkable story so far.