steve1462

Hi all,

well at the age of 26 i finaly decided it was time to get a motorbike. Living in england (south coast,portsmouth) i thought it would be nice to take in the coastal roads and scenery on a custom. started looking at the honda shadow 125, purely for the size (im 6ft4") however the second hand value of those beauties is mad!

then thought about buying a new chinese copy like the jinlun, then after months of agonising and nail biting a guy round the corner from me (half a mile away!!) put his 1996 honda rebel 125 on freeads. only 7k miles, and got it for only £500!

ok, well fair enough, im awaiting a new chain and sprocket to replace the old worn one, and did an oil change straight away, refined the timings etc (many thanks to a bike mechanic friend!) but hey, nothing expensive as it had a new set of tyres only 200 miles ago.

ive seen that 99.9% of the parts for the 250 fit the 125, so looking into changing the handlebars for something a bit less "scooped back" as the factory standard ones hurt my wrists after a while, i blame it on my monkey like long arms.
pannier rails, enginge protection bars, new indicators and some mod's to the rear fender to take away the pillion seat, and place the brake light under the fender as opposed to sat on the back.
new light bracket to put a few spotlights on front, mirrors, paiontjob.... crikey, my wishlist is adding up already!

obviously being my first bike, i want to make it look fantastic, so im thinking of keeping my eye out for a bargain 250cc engine that i can grab, and slot it into my 125 frame once ive passed my main test. saves me having to sell her to fund a bigger bike.

well, il get some shots up once ive given her a damn good clean, polish etc ..

steve

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JunkyardDog

Welcome. Congratulations on the Rebel. You made the right choice. Chinese bikes are JUNK. I know, I had one, and have worked on several others. You can change the bars to anything you like, the only thing to watch out for is make sure the cables are long enough. Sounds like drag bars might suit you. I notice you said you moved the tail light under the edge of the rear fender. I did the same thing. I removed the complete license plate bracket/light/reflector from under the rear fender, mounted the license plate vertically by the left axle, then removed the stock tail light, and installed an aftermarket light underneath the rear fender. Unfortunately, this left some big ugly holes and recesses on the rear fender, which I just plugged up for now. I also removed all the turn signals (legal in my state), and use arm signals.

The 250 engine will indeed fit in the 125 frame, though you may have a problem finding one in the U.K. Do they even sell a 250 Rebel there? Jerry.

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flitecontrol

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the bike. You can loosen up the bar clamps and rotate the bars away from you to change the distance between you and the bars. May not be enough to suit you, but it's worth a try.

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I'm keepin' all the left over parts. I'm gonna use 'em to build another bike!

2001 Rebel 250, 1989 Vulcan 750
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Buickguy

Welcome aboard!
Congratulations on a very nice bike.
We look forward to the pictures.

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1987 CMX250C Rebel

2002 FSC600 SilverWing

1983 Yamaha Midnight Virago XV920MK

Put your bike's year and size in your signature.
It helps others help you.

aceattorney

Grats on the purchase, and looking forward to some pics! Folks here are incredibly knowledgeable, experienced, and most importantly, FRIENDLY!

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macbff

Sounds like a nice purchase a lot of work that you want to do to get it set up really nice. I hope everything works out for you in your endeavor and get those pics up so we can all see.

Shawn

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Guba

Welcome steve, you sound like you have a game plan.

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Some days beer tastes good...other days beer tastes better!

'07 Rebel 250 26,000 miles

steve1462

i did move the handlebars forward, however its not quite enough to makeit comfortable on journeys longer than 20 miles or so. Drag style handlebars seem to be the best option, just a quick check to make sure i need 7/8 ones?

I havnt done the rear fender tailight change yet, that will b next month as she's currently up on a stand having new exhaust gaskets and collets and one of the exhaust bolts sheared off.
Any suggestions on where to source an under-fender tailight? Suggestions would b greatly appreciated.

As soon as she's home il upload some pics.

Cheers for the support, steve

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igjosh

Congrats on the new bike .

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my rebel 85
http://www.hondarebelforum.com/pictu...&pictureid=461

EUS

Wow, great deal on the bike, This is the place for you if you are gonna be working on your bike. These guys are a wealth of inforamtion. Ohh and welcome

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