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The recipient of most of my attention and cash is my motorcycle - a Honda Rebel (CA125). I bought it at the end of August 2000 to replace my J registered Honda 90 Cub which was stolen. It's quite a nice bike, although after a 90 it seems BIG! The twin cylinder engine is nice and smooth and seems quite torquey for a 125cc motor, it will pull in fifth from 25 mph. which I don't think is too bad. I'd been on the look out for a replacement for some time before the 90 was stolen, I decided on a custom bike since working with a guy who used to bring in copies of 'Back Street Heroes' - I'm not sure whether it was the chrome or the ladies that first attracted my attention. Following extensive research (reading a few magazines and a browse round the web) I narrowed my choice down to either the Yamaha Virago, Suzuki Intruder or the Honda Rebel. There's quite a range of custom from the Japanese manufacturers but some of these have only single cylinder engines which although cheaper to buy and maintain are inherently more prone to vibration and possibly don't accelerate as well as a twin cylinder motor. After visiting a local dealer who had a fair selection of custom bikes on offer I decided the Honda Rebel was probably the best choice for me, the one he had on display at £2399 was excellent but way over my budget so I decided I would have to seek out a private sale. During that weekend looking in the Bike Trader I found a Rebel for sale in Blackpool, I spoke to the owner, checked with the police that the bike wasn't stolen and then arranged with my brother to drive me over there the next day (cheers Paul!). After a good look round the bike and quick test ride I decided to take the plunge and buy it, I managed to buy the red Rebel for £1150, I thought it wasn't a bad price to pay for a R registered bike with 13000 on the clock. However I knew that it needed a new back tyre and a set of pads for the front brake, in fact I'm lucky that it doesn't need a new disc - the pads were down to the metal!
So having bought the bike it was a long ride back home, Blackpool to Sheffield without using the motorway is a real pain - in fact including stops for a cuppa it's about 4 hours worth of pain. If you think 3 hours is a long time to take to travel 100 miles bear these points in mind - I haven't EVER rode a bike with a clutch except to pass my CBT. the bikes top speed is around 65 mph. (try riding a custom bike at that sort of speed for any distance) , the route is an absolute pain - that's why they built motorways wasn't it?
Now that I've got the bike back home and started to dig a little deeper I'm not sure if the guy was lying about having it serviced or whether he was ripped off. When I came to change the front pads I saw just what bad shape the whole caliper was in (I didn't use the front brake at all during the trip of pain for fear of destroying the disc). In the end I've stripped the whole lot and fitted new seals, pistons and pads, I'm waiting for a seal kit for the master cylinder as I write this. But this is not the end of my financial pain it's also needed a new air filter, brake light switch, spark plugs and tax disc holder (£6 for a stainless and chrome jobbie!), shortly it will be needing a new chain - by the rust that's on it at the moment I think Leonardo DiCaprio must have it around neck when he down with the Titanic! So whilst waiting for the seal kit to arrive I stripped a few bit's and bobs off the bike and wax oiled the frame and under the rear mudguard. The rear tyre's going to cost around £65 with free fitting if I remove the wheel and take it in, if the bike shop has to remove the wheel they charge a hours labour at about £21, I didn't think this was bad but decided I be better off buying a paddock stand and removing the wheel myself - the paddock stand only cost £35.
Above:- I brushed all the dirt off the undersider of the rear mudguard which left it looking like this. Below:- After waxoyling with Finnigans it looked like this.
and this:-
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