The Bikeshite Thread

[Cavcraft]

Expected a struggle to find a UK speedo for this, but 3 turned up in a couple of days, so bought the one that looked the best...

...wasn't the hardest job to do, though typically one of the little 8mm headed nuts went AWOL. Had some new ones kicking about though, so easily sorted....

For reasons, unknown (to me) the UK rev counter has another 2,000 revs and red lines at 9 and 10K. Clearly if I fit that, it'll go shit loads faster.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Coming up at Brightwells this week

At no reserve this could be a bargain

[MiniMinorMk3]

No underpants required

Lot 205: Classic Motoring Lot Bidding Ends: Wednesday 13th September 2023 at 9:14PM £1,200-1,400 - Brightwells

[Jerzy Woking]

On 9/10/2023 at 3:38 PM, twosmoke300 said:

In case any wonders what the limit of a CB500X with standard tyres is - it’s about 100yds before this 

No tyres would have got you through that!

Looks like extraction was simple the reverse of inclusion...

[twosmoke300]

My 250x would have breezed through it . Took some bloody lifting out I know that . Fair play to Honda , they make bloody good grab handles

 

[Jerzy Woking]

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Coming up at Brightwells this week

At no reserve this could be a bargain

I liked those in preference to the disc braked, ram air GT500, but thought the T350 my mate had was so much nicer to ride, felt much quicker than the 250 Hustler and the GT250, and much less bulky than the T500.

It's a memory I have of them some 44 years after last riding them that is still in my mind, so they made an impression of some sorts.

[Jerzy Woking]

Just now, twosmoke300 said:

My 250x would have breezed through it . Took some bloody lifting out I know that . Fair play to Honda , they make bloody good grab handles

 

I'll take light weight over higher power in a few circumstances, including deep mud!

[tom13]

6 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Coming up at Brightwells this week

At no reserve this could be a bargain

Exactly the same as my dad's that. Very short run that had the rack on the tank. 

[twosmoke300]

Extreme enduro bike and tourer all in one 😂

[tom13]

39 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

Extreme enduro bike and tourer all in one 😂

Looks cleaner now as well.

[Cavcraft]

Bit boring, but the new side panel(s) arrived for the CB50 today. A tip off about the CG125 ones on AliExpress came good, though only two (of 3) lugs fit, they do look much better than the C200 one currently fitted. Even the colour (despite being metallic) isn't a million miles out of bed...

 

The C200 meanwhile conked out again this morning. Left it a while, started ok but packed up a little later on. Seems to re-start ok if left a couple of minutes, but it's not ideal, obvs. It was due a bit more messing about with anyhow,  some things were getting annoying. Firstly, the rear number plate unit had worked loose and rattled round annoyingly/hung low. Luckily it only wanted tightening up, so once sorted the new improved* anti-mud flap rattling device was fitted. Mk1 was a cut-in-half handlebar grip taped to the back of the number plate using insulation tape. It worked, but actually looked too shit and was coming apart. Version 2 included cutting a push bike inner tube, folding it over and using strong (fancy and expensive) glue. And insulation tape. It looks better (ok, just not as shit) and maybe will hold up for a while. It's stopped the metal screws of the extra rear light bouncing back against the mudguard, which was annoying.

The exhaust rear mount was always a load of bollocks: it made the heat shield rattle and it never tightened up  properly anyhow. Jettisoned that, found a better bolt and used some spacers (bigger nuts and washers) which seems to have done the job. Not in time to save the bottom half of the side panel though, which had melted onto the exhaust which was touching it. Cleaned and lubed the chain, then moved onto the carb: Took the float bowl off and it was pretty shit inside (yellowy petrol with some crap in it) so cleaned the float bowl and jets and will have to get a new fuel filter and flush the petrol tank out. Some random bits of spray were added to the bike, just because, really. Oh, I found a random old pushbike light kicking about, so mounted that to the back of the exhaust heat shield. Obvs, being plastic on a hot exhaust, nothing could possibly go wrong. Will look into moving it and maybe trying to wire it to the back light and brake light. ..

 

Really need to get the carb off the CB50 next, give it a good bath then see if it'll run properly afterwards.

[UltraWomble]

Leyland car / bike / thumper static engine show in the park...

 

 

[UltraWomble]

[andy18s]

Rare beasty for sale..

[Cavcraft]

On 9/17/2023 at 12:40 PM, UltraWomble said:

Leyland car / bike / thumper static engine show in the park...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't know how much it cost to get in,  but it must have been worth it just to see that Honda MB.

[UltraWomble]

3 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Don't know how much it cost to get in,  but it must have been worth it just to see that Honda MB.

Free!

[RayMK]

@UltraWomble I have not seen a Honda SS125 with that style of exhaust.  Perhaps it was an option for the US market.  My friend bought a brand new SS125, same colour, in 1970. I bought a CZ175 the following year.  A couple of years later we planned to take the bikes on a camping holiday to Scotland.  We had enjoyed the previous camping holiday up there with me on my '67 Peugeot BB CT moped and him on his recently acquired SS125. I'm not sure how he managed to stay sane following me at 28mph.  His journey started at Fair Oak near Southampton, meeting me at Nocton Hall (Lincs), and we set off on the long haul to near Braemar where we camped wild for a couple of nights.  Next stop was a campsite at Inverness for one or two nights, then to a campsite near Portree on the Isle of Skye.  With me buying the CZ, we hoped for better journey times with more closely matched machines for the next holiday.  However, on my way down to Fair Oak my CZ started to lose power. Investigation by the roadside revealed that the dynamo assembly, which carried the points cam at its outer end, was a bit loose despite the securing bolt being tight.  It transpired that the taper on the crank end had fatigued and was 90% cracked where the location peg hole was - which pegged the dynamo/points cam in the correct position.  I pushed the CZ a mile or so to a phone box and phoned my friend.  He came out on his SS125 and we decided the obvious thing to do was for him to tow me back to his place.  This hazardous exploit was successfully completed (15 miles or so) without being stopped by the plod or either of us falling off.  Holiday plan B was hatched. Next day, all of the camping gear on my CZ was strapped to the carrier on his SS125 and his stuff was strapped to the SS125's tank.  In this heavily loaded state, we compromised and headed to Wales instead of Scotland.   The trip there was uneventful but we thought Wales was an anti-climax so, next day we loaded up again and headed for Fort William - Glen Nevis to be exact.  We got as far as a campsite near Gretna Green by mid evening.  Next day we reached Glen Nevis and camped wild for about 5 nights.

One characteristic of the SS125 with me on pillion plus all of the gear was that it could only reach 50-55mph, but my friend found that if he slip streamed an HGV it gave a boost which enabled the Honda to get past and then maintain an indicated 70mph at a constant 10K rpm or thereabouts.  It screamed along like a turbine!  I have thus experienced at least 1000 miles on the pillion of a Honda SS125.  A gallant machine indeed.  In due course I fixed my CZ with a new crankshaft and inspected the taper quite frequently.  The new crank began to show signs of doing the same thing again many thousands of miles later in 1974. I therefore   part exchanged it for a Reliant Regal 3-25 and a new motoring episode started with my new wife.    

Memories.  All triggered by your photo 😀.  Apologies if you've seen parts of this story which I've posted before.

[Snake Charmer]

@RayMK CL125 with the upswept pipes from late 60's. 🙂

[twosmoke300]

Did my first enduro race since before lockdown on Sunday . Talk about a baptism of fire . It pissed down the night before and all morning up to and inc the race . 
But I survived and kept doing for the 2.5 hrs . 
Poor bike 😂

Just getting the van out of the field was a mission .

But I enjoyed feeling the paddock buzz and banter again .

Oh and my legs are in tatters 

 

[tom13]

1 hour ago, twosmoke300 said:

Did my first enduro race since before lockdown on Sunday . Talk about a baptism of fire . It pissed down the night before and all morning up to and inc the race . 
But I survived and kept doing for the 2.5 hrs . 
Poor bike 😂

Just getting the van out of the field was a mission .

But I enjoyed feeling the paddock buzz and banter again .

Oh and my legs are in tatters 

 

Which one did you do and are trials rears mandatory for all events down there? I remember going to St Blazey a few years ago and thinking it very strange they all had them on.

[twosmoke300]

The Colwith Chase . Technically a Time and observation trial but I think that is just so they can run it on a Trials licence . Also hence the trials tyre .

Im a fan of the X11 trials tyre but on sunday the amount of mud made them a pain in the ass.

20 of the 60 riders failed to finish so I was quite happy to go the 2.5 hrs for a finish.

[tom13]

50 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

The Colwith Chase . Technically a Time and observation trial but I think that is just so they can run it on a Trials licence . Also hence the trials tyre .

Im a fan of the X11 trials tyre but on sunday the amount of mud made them a pain in the ass.

20 of the 60 riders failed to finish so I was quite happy to go the 2.5 hrs for a finish.

I thought it was to preserve the ground a bit more?

Trials tyres in proper sloppy mud are a pain.

[twosmoke300]

47 minutes ago, tom13 said:

I thought it was to preserve the ground a bit more?

Trials tyres in proper sloppy mud are a pain.

That's also what they say ( mainly to appease land owners I think) but I'm not convinced as you just spin more.

Was the first time i've wanted a bit more power than the ol 250x . Just on the muddy uphill fields when are just pinned wide open with your ass on the rear light ! I was struggling to keep it lit up in 3rd . But 99% of the time its a perfect motor for local tight tracks and doesn't beat you up after a couple of hours like 300 smokers or 450's do.

 

[Dave_Q]

Parked next to an absolute pimpmobile at work today.

Super minty Honda Vision, I'm sure despite the expansion exhaust it still only does about 35 but you'd look and sound cool doing it

[Jerzy Woking]

On 9/13/2023 at 7:54 PM, Cavcraft said:

Bit boring, but the new side panel(s) arrived for the CB50 today. A tip off about the CG125 ones on AliExpress came good, though only two (of 3) lugs fit, they do look much better than the C200 one currently fitted. Even the colour (despite being metallic) isn't a million miles out of bed...

 

The C200 meanwhile conked out again this morning. Left it a while, started ok but packed up a little later on. Seems to re-start ok if left a couple of minutes, but it's not ideal, obvs. It was due a bit more messing about with anyhow,  some things were getting annoying. Firstly, the rear number plate unit had worked loose and rattled round annoyingly/hung low. Luckily it only wanted tightening up, so once sorted the new improved* anti-mud flap rattling device was fitted. Mk1 was a cut-in-half handlebar grip taped to the back of the number plate using insulation tape. It worked, but actually looked too shit and was coming apart. Version 2 included cutting a push bike inner tube, folding it over and using strong (fancy and expensive) glue. And insulation tape. It looks better (ok, just not as shit) and maybe will hold up for a while. It's stopped the metal screws of the extra rear light bouncing back against the mudguard, which was annoying.

The exhaust rear mount was always a load of bollocks: it made the heat shield rattle and it never tightened up  properly anyhow. Jettisoned that, found a better bolt and used some spacers (bigger nuts and washers) which seems to have done the job. Not in time to save the bottom half of the side panel though, which had melted onto the exhaust which was touching it. Cleaned and lubed the chain, then moved onto the carb: Took the float bowl off and it was pretty shit inside (yellowy petrol with some crap in it) so cleaned the float bowl and jets and will have to get a new fuel filter and flush the petrol tank out. Some random bits of spray were added to the bike, just because, really. Oh, I found a random old pushbike light kicking about, so mounted that to the back of the exhaust heat shield. Obvs, being plastic on a hot exhaust, nothing could possibly go wrong. Will look into moving it and maybe trying to wire it to the back light and brake light. ..

 

Really need to get the carb off the CB50 next, give it a good bath then see if it'll run properly afterwards.

I expect that the inlet valve is a bit tight on the C200, when it gets hot it closes right up, and won't start until it has cooled a bit, and the valve gap gets a bit bigger.

Had this same issue on my Yamaha Vity 125 when I rode it down to Czechia. Stop the engine and it would not restart for about 10 to 20 minutes. Got back and when I checked the valves, the inlet was way, way to tight.

[Cavcraft]

2 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I expect that the inlet valve is a bit tight on the C200, when it gets hot it closes right up, and won't start until it has cooled a bit, and the valve gap gets a bit bigger.

Had this same issue on my Yamaha Vity 125 when I rode it down to Czechia. Stop the engine and it would not restart for about 10 to 20 minutes. Got back and when I checked the valves, the inlet was way, way to tight.

Thank you! 

 

The carb has started leaking fuel (again) so currently sort of half off until the weather gets better. Wil look into the valve thing, thanks once again.

[tom13]

4 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

Parked next to an absolute pimpmobile at work today.

Super minty Honda Vision, I'm sure despite the expansion exhaust it still only does about 35 but you'd look and sound cool doing it

Need more pics!

[hairnet]

came off hols to take knackered honda for an oil change and a check of the suspension as it wasnt behaving itself - behaving oddly over the same bits of road and just no being squashy - me thinking the linkage or the bushes were fucked

no thatll be a shock then - they desribed it as the shock will move so far then lock up hence it feels like its gone hard (fnarr)

oh well - not like its spent on every week is it

consumable so fair enuff (no the pic isnt from today )

[hairnet]

Oh.

[catsinthewelder]

Popped to the supermarket at the weekend and found an old bike meet at the brewery next door.

Suggested to the Mrs that if I passed my test I could get myself an old bike that wouldn't be any faster than my 125 but would be a lot cooler.  She didn't say no.

Took mine to work this afternoon as it was the first trip I was sure not to have a passenger.  Risked a trip without leathers as it was almost all on lanes so not really over 30mph.  Should probably charge the battery as kick starting it everywhere is getting tiresome.  Perhaps old bikes aren't for me 🤣