Honda Pacific Coast Problems – Reliable? We Will Show You

Classic touring motorcycles are always hot offers on the market. If they are in a good condition (which is extremely rare luck), they can cost approximately the same as they cost new. Yes, it's still a problem to find a good Honda Pacific Coast even if you have a lot of money to buy it. Unfortunately, the majority of them are now dead and aren't supposed a good purchase.

But if you own one and you are sure it's still in a good condition and with low mileage, you can still ride this wonderful bike for a lot of years and get pleasure. Today, we'll tell you about the Honda Pacific Coast touring motorcycle and we'll mainly concentrate on its problems and longevity.

Here are the main points of today's article:

1. Honda Pacific Coast - some facts you should know.
2. The reliability of the Pacific Coast - how long can you ride it?
3. Some common problems of the Honda Pacific Coast.
4. Maintenance trouble and cost of having this wonderful motorcycle.

Let's get started!

Honda Pacific Coast - what do we know about it?

This touring motorcycle was presented by Honda in 1989. It was over 30 years ago, and still, this tourer looks pretty good even now. In 1998, the company stopped selling this touring bike because Honda offered a couple of newer models with better technologies and design. Well, we still think that if they continued selling the Pacific Coast, they would be more successful then.

The Honda classic motorcycle appeared to be quite popular in America. By the way, the motorcycle was designed solely for the US by American specialists. The motorcycle won many awards and got many hearts of bike lovers. In 1989, it cost $7,700. And it was a really expensive choice!

But it offered some cool things:

• it was a unique motorbike with a massive body and a big trunk under the seat that you were able to close;
• the bike offered a lot of accessories for better looks, it actually was very futuristic and even now it looks pretty good;
• the 800cc engine is not bad, it is a liquid-cooled, V-twin engine with 3 valves per cylinder;
• the 5-speed transmission with a hydraulic clutch doesn't seem to be bad, too, it's pretty convenient to use;
• the steel frame was protected from rust and it was a good thing, but now you will have to take care of the motorcycle in terms of rust;
• brakes and suspension are just classic, nothing special can be said, everything is quite efficient and long-lasting;
• we should say that the motorcycle can carry 16 liters of gas and it can get up to 50 mpg which is not bad for a bike of this kind.

Also, we should pay attention to the ride quality. This is probably the best thing about this bike and this is why it is still being loved by a lot of people. The touring motorcycle was built to satisfy the needs of riders who wanted wonderful interstate rides, not just city riding. They appreciated the comfort and smoothness of this bike.

Honda Pacific Coast became one of the legends and it has influenced a lot of other models of other brands. We can't say this was the most popular bike in the class, but Honda sold a lot of PC800 models and it discontinued the project just because it came up with a better option called the Rune.

The longevity of the Honda Pacific Coast

It's hard to say whether a Honda Pacific Coast can compete with a lot of legendary American bikes to become one of the most durable tourers in the country. Well, in our opinion, it can. Given you only have the 800cc engine which is not gas-thirsty and is very reliable, you can say that this bike was one of the best choices in the class in the early 1990s.

The longevity of the Honda Pacific Coast is wonderful. We've seen owners who have already ridden their bikes for over 150,000 miles and they keep riding the Hondas with no major problems. Well, yes, they have to repair some things now and then, but it's not affecting the longevity of the motorcycle.

We could say the following:

• the motorcycle can easily go 150,000 miles and even more showing no significant issues;
• it's important to maintain the bike properly to let it live longer;
• only original oil and filters are needed to ensure wonderful longevity;
• engine cooling is important, check the system once every year to make sure it works properly;
• don't rev up the engine a lot because it is made to work at relevantly low RPM;
• also, Honda Pacific Coast will not bother you much with suspension problems;
• one important advantage is that all parts are relatively affordable, and you won't need to pay a lot for the repair.

We love this motorcycle because it doesn't contain extremely expensive parts. Well, yes, repairing a very old and high-mileage bike can still be a problem for you, but in most cases, it is not a big financial problem for a person.

One bad thing is that finding experts who could offer good diagnostics and repair is not that easy. We would go to a Honda Powersport dealer and try our luck there because all other repair shops can make it worse when you will need to do something more complicated than just changing oil and filters.

What problems should you expect from a Honda Pacific Coast?

We've read a lot of reviews and we actually didn't see a lot of problems that could be considered "common". A lot of owners say that finding some rare parts is not very easy. But you can expect it from a bike that is over 30 years old. And still, a lot of Pacific Coast models were sold in America, so finding parts is still possible.

Also, we've seen reviews saying about some problems with the PC800 bike:

1. Excessive gas consumption. If fuel disappears from the tank too fast, you should check whether you need to repair the ignition system. Also, bad fuel can be the reason for such a problem.
2. Oil consumption. Unfortunately, these engines can consume oil. But they usually start doing that at about 100,000 miles or a little earlier. If you use original Honda oil, you will not have this problem until very high mileage.
3. Engine vibration. It's annoying when you go on the highway, but you can barely do something with this because engines with 3 valves per cylinder tend to vibrate a little more. You can check engine mounts, maybe, the problem is caused by them.
4. Body rust. You can't expect a 30-year-old bike to not have any rust at all. This may be caused by age. But we know that the Honda Pacific Coast has wonderful rust protection and you won't need to refresh it. Just avoid any damage to the frame.
5. Wiring problems. The electronics system is quite simple, but the wires are old. It's not hard to locate the problems. Usually, your fuses start blowing when there is a problem with the wiring. Unfortunately, it can be really expensive to repair.
6. Transmission problems. Well, the transmission is pretty durable, but you may need to repair it at 50,000 miles. The worst part is the clutch. And once it dies, it can also kill the transmission of your vehicle.

We couldn't find any other problems with this motorcycle. We've asked the owners and they only told us that the bike was really cool. If you own one, you can ride it with no problems for a long time and for thousands of miles. But if you don't own one, buying it now can be a problem. Let's look at the market.

How to buy a used Honda Pacific Coast?

Buying a used bike is not hard at all - you just need to find a person who sells it or a dealer who has it on sale, that's it. But if we are talking about an old motorcycle, and here some problems can occur.

First of all, these bikes are expensive. Secondly, they are pretty old and can be problematic because of this.

Here are some tips if you want to buy such a motorcycle:

• look at accident records - zero accidents only;
• look at service records - good maintenance is the key;
• look at the appearance of the bike - it shouldn't look shabby;
• be careful with mileage - the best options will be with less than 50K miles;
• listen to the engine - it shouldn't rattle, shake, or vibrate excessively.

Final words

We love the Honda Pacific Coast very much. This is a pretty good motorcycle that can live long and bring joy to your everyday life. You can use it for city or interstate rides and feel comfortable on any road. But be careful if you decide to buy one - these motorcycles are very long-lasting but very old. The high-mileage bikes will have problems up to engine or transmission death which are hard and expensive to deal with.