July 2023 - December 2024
3rd May 2022. My father and I stopped by our local fish and chip shop. While waiting for our order, we popped over the road to Raceways, a motorcycle shop where my father has bought all kinds of accessories over the years. They’re the only motorcycle shop in the local area that had some good line-up of rentals - Triumph modern classics, Honda and Kawasaki adventure bikes, and decent 125s. But out of all of them, the only one that stood out was the Honda Shadow 750 Black Spirit (also known as Phantom) in gunmetal grey. The bike just oozed cool with its chunky bobbed tyres, cruiser laidback riding position, and double chromed pipes. I took some photos of the bike and stored it in my subconscious. The idea of owning the Shadow stayed with me from that day.
Honda Shadow Black Spirit outside of Raceways
On Sunday (9th July 2023) I was washing the AJS Cadwell while my father sat on the front door step. “I’m thinking it’s time for a different bike”, I said to my father. “What about the Shadow?”, he asked. My father has a long history of motorcycles (which I will share in a future blog) and one of them was a 2003 Honda Shadow Ace in black and white. “Reliable, easy to ride, looks good, sounds good” - my father’s words were enough to convince me to start my search for the Shadow.
Within a week, I found a 2010 Honda Shadow Black Spirit on marketplace - black with grey accents, wrapped straight pipe exhausts, chrome rectangular bar end mirrors, and everything else stock. "A great canvas to work on", I thought. I message the owner to arrange a viewing, then came 16th July, my father and I drove up to Grantham. Upon seeing the bike, I knew this was the one. In the first 20 minutes of a four hour ride home, the Shadow felt so natural to ride and immediately became one with the bike.
The first job was to give the Shadow a full service, the standard oil and filter change, spark plugs and brake pads - a huge improvement and just the beginning. Keeping the Shadow as close to standard as possible was key, whilst making subtle yet noticeable changes. "Raw, yet refined" was the description I gave the Shadow, which I nicknamed 'Black Horse'. Over time, the stock seat was replaced by Tom Hurley's custom-made cross-stitched cover with medical padding to add texture and comfort, the loud, obnoxious straight pipes changed to a chrome barrel pipes from a 2009 Shadow with a MAF sensor delete (quieter, smoother at lower RPMs, roared at the high revs), headlight cowl cover, signature headlight leather 'X' and handlebar grips just like on my old Cadwell, blacked out all the grey accents, custom bracket for the leather side bag, pressed license plate, and Avon Roadrider 2 tyres with tubeless conversion (some may disagree, however, I absolutely recommend coverting to tubeless even on spoke wheels. It saved me twice from punctures).
I originally planned to keep the Shadow for a long time, however, life somehow had better plans for me. In March 2024, and I was travelling from Hanoi to Da Lat with my father and uncle on adventure bikes. It was a wonderful two week holiday and full of memorable moments - my first time travelling long distance in a fairly short time around Vietnam, visiting coffee farms and seeing the country from a new perspective. One of most life-changing moments was meeting my now partner in the last few days of the trip. As you can imagine, the two weeks was glimpse of what my life could be, a window into a future I could have. When I returned to London, I made the decision to move to Vietnam.
As a result, my orignal plan to keep the Black Horse changed. I even explored the idea of exporting my bike, however, Vietnam has strict import laws for motor vehicles and the Shadow was deemed 'too old'. Though I felt gutted at first, I told myself, "Let's make some memories". That year, I rode the Black Horse all over the country with the furthest being South Wales. As the Shadow was my daily bike, I looked forward to waking up and getting ready for work knowing I get to ride, regardless of the weather. I loved the Shadow and I finally understood why my father loved the Shadow too.
When I sold the Shadow in December, I felt like I had passed on the torch. The bike had extensive history from the time of first ownership in 2010 (I was the 7th owner). All the paperwork, from MOTs, service records, invoices of work done, were passed down from owner to owner. The record was thick and I was now part of Shadow's history book. When I showed the new owner, who was also a fan of Honda Shadows, he was amazed at the chronological order and how every owner had kept the Shadow in such condition since. It was a duty to make the Shadow the best I could and I can gladly look back, knowing I did the bike justice. Like the Cadwell, I look at old photos and remember all the great times I had. The Black Horse is the only Shadow I will own in my lifetime as there is never another that could replace the one I owned. A noble and loyal bike, and I miss it dearly.
In the next Motorcycle Archive series, I will share about my current bike - the '24 Triumph Speed Twin 900 - and the story behind it. For now, thank you for reading and ride safe.
