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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Guys, new week. Beautiful day. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, or bottled of water. Let's see what's happening out there.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat nothing to brag about, $5.46 a bushel. On steer calves, remember not all steer calves are created equal, but this last week in Billings, 9 head of last year models weighing 625lbs brought $4.42 a pound. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.10 on the top end per pound. But guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:Okay. It's Monday, and that means it's Jay and Joe's Motor Monday, the day we look at horsepower one Monday at a time. This episode is dedicated to Mick Mikkelsen and his son Rick Mikkelsen, formerly of Mick's Honda. Now you probably don't know this. I'm gonna tell you.
OK Solberg:I actually have a 1957 calendar, the year I was born, in my office, and it was given away by Clarence and Beulah Mikkelsen when they operated the Coast to Coast store in American Falls, Idaho. Bet you didn't know. What about that then? Clarence is the one we knew as Mick.
OK Solberg:A bible verse and then a story. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. Deuteronomy 32:7
OK Solberg:Well, father, tell me about a Honda motorcycle. Alright. Sit back children and listen to this true story. They told him he was building a motorized bicycle. It was 1948. Japan was rebuilding and a young engineer named Honda, last name.
OK Solberg:I can't pronounce the 1st name, who had once repaired and tuned engines for a living, joined with a businessman and formed Honda Motor Company. 1948. They started small piston rings, tiny 2 stroke engines bolted to bicycles, and motorcycles that were simple, reliable, and cheap enough for a war torn nation to afford.
OK Solberg:Well, by the 1950's the dream and C series machines carried commuters, farmers, and the 1st postwar entrepreneurs. By the 1960's Honda was not merely tinkering in a shed. Honda was a factory, an engineering organization, a world brand that made everything from tiny lawnmower engines to automobiles.
OK Solberg:Yes. The motorcycle came from the same company that built cars and small gasoline engines, different factories, and different teams, but one corporate heart and one fanatical commitment to engineering and reliability. Now picture 1969.
OK Solberg:The world's motorcycle map was changing. Into that moment rode a machine that many say rewrote the rule book, and that was the Honda CB-750. 4 cylinders across the front, an overhead cam, 4 carburetors singing in unison, a capacity of roughly 736 cubic centimeters, and a front disc brake.
OK Solberg:Features previously reserved for just the expensive race motorcycles. It wasn't exotic because it was rare. It was revolutionary because it was affordable and it was dependable and sold through Honda's growing dealership including in America where Honda motorcycles had begun to arrive in force in the early to mid 1960's
OK Solberg:Go ask Rick when his dad opened the shop. When the CB-750 reached US shores in 1969, it arrived like a clock that kept better time than the town's watches. For the 1st time, a mainstream manufacturer offered superbike performance with Japanese reliability and a dealer network that could actually fix the thing.
OK Solberg:Motorcyclists who had accepted compromise now found exhilaration without constant wrenching on their machine. Journalists called it the 1st superbike. Small shops that once built special high performance machines found themselves outclassed by a factory bike at a fraction of the price.
OK Solberg:Riders who had worried about breakdowns were stunned by durability. Racers adapted, designers copied, and entire expectations shifted. The effect was broad. The CB 750 accelerated Japan's rise on the global motorcycle leader market, reshaped motorcycle engineering towards multi cylinder, high revving engines, and opened sport riding to millions.
OK Solberg:It helped turn motorcycling from a niche in the mainstream culture. Cafes, clubs, races, and long roads all of a sudden seemed more inviting. Dealers that sold lawn mower engines, cars, and motorcycles under the Honda name now sold a dream of speed that didn't require a lottery win.
OK Solberg:And if you ask where that began, small workshop, a man who loved engines and a company that made both cars and gasoline engines. Remember this. In 1969, a motorcycle called the CB 750 came along and quietly but decisively changed the way the world rode. You meet the nicest people on a Honda. End of article.
OK Solberg:And know this, those CB-750's were sold right here in little old Malta, Montana by Mick and Rick. Thank you very much.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.