It was big, it was cheap, it was noisy, it was definitely rufty-tufty. 

The Honda GL500 SilverWing was a variant of the much-admired CX500. In some incarnations, it had a fairing (nicked from the GoldWing), luggage, and a Pro-Link back end like the EuroSprots models. The pillion seat could be detached separately and replaced with a two-stage top-box. I've seen pictures where it's also been replaced with a sort of low cowling effect, that may also have been able to hold a small quantity of gubbins. The colours available seemed to be either silver or wineberry, although there might also have been a sort of CB500T brown-with-gold-pinstripes effect. 

Mine was nothing like that. Blessed with an absence of tupperware, its front end exhibited the menacing machismo of a CX500 Custom - chrome, apehangers, the lot. I had a bijou bit of perspex on the front to keep the wind pressure off me at motorway speeds, and I fitted fork gaiters shortly before I sold it - not to conceal anything, just 'cos I think they're a good idea. 

The engine was completely standard CX500, good for just over the ton. It was redlined at 9,500 and pulled about 11 mph per 1000 rpm in top. The bike was an import from the US, so the speedo only read up to 85, and the headlight was permanently on. 

The wheels were reversed Comstars in black with polished edges, 19" at the front and a fat 16" at the back. The back brake was a competent enough SLS drum (once I'd adjusted it properly), and the front had a single disc with a floating twin-piston caliper. 

As you can imagine, the handling was a bit gay. The profound difference between front and rear tyres, the high C of G, the plastic front mudguard that pretended to serve as a fork brace all helped to convince me that this was not the bike on which to get one's knee down. This was not a great problem on my daily commute, as the only knee-down opportunities presented to me were the sides of cars… It was a real low-maintenance bike - the shaft drive didn't need greasing and adjusting all the time, and the rest of it didn't seem to corrode if I didn't wash it. The fact that it was covered in grease and oily filth may have helped keep the rust at bay.

It was fun in traffic - the cars all seemed to get out of the way. This could have been down to the badly-adjusted headlight, the noise (did I mention the rusty exhausts?), the generally brutal, filthy appearance or the alarming speed of approach. Honda's old V-twin motor is pleasantly torquey through the rev range and makes a nice growl when shown the whip. Acceleration away from the lights and while filtering was more than adequate, although it tailed off badly over 85-90. Engine braking was up to the standards of the front brake(!), so I had to look where I was going. This limited my opportunities for exploring the limits of the fork-dive envelope. 

Comfort-wise, it was fine around town, but the riding position was a bit upright for even medium-speed touring, and the seat put my arse to sleep after about the first hour. Fortunately, it was so stable that I could stand up, stretch, move onto the rear pegs/seat etc - on a better-designed bike, I wouldn't have had to. 

The old thing is now the property of a guy at work. He's lopped the indicators off and is considering doing something similar to the baffles