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Blue's Rebel Alterations

6K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  65cabriolet 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,

After wanting to ride for many years I purchased my first motorcycle last June: a deep blue 1985 Honda 250 Rebel with ~7500 original kilometers, with no mods except for the bags, windshield and aftermarket brake/clutch levers.
I spent a wonderful first summer learning to ride, where I put over 2500kms on the bike in all kinds of conditions from city streets to country lanes, rain or shine.
Surprisingly, the bike seems to fit me quite well on account of my slightly strange body proportions (long arms & torso/short legs).

I originally planned to keep her completely original, on account of all the other projects I have going on, but the urge to change a few things slowly set in.
Having helped restore classic cars and wrench on hot-rods since I was a kid, I'm not going to follow any particular style, though I may draw on a few elements here and there. Mostly I just want to do what feels right both in terms of looks and ergonomics, while taking my time and keeping the bike running so I can commute. I'll keep this "build thread" going to chronicle what I've done.

Unlike many, the rear fender is one of my favorite design cues, and is here to stay.

Here she is as I got her in June:







I started by buying a service manual, cleaning the air-filter, draining the puke tube, and doing an oil change to Castrol ActEvo (Equal to or better than the service manual requirements).
I then drove her for about a week before deciding that 1: I wanted to try with the windshield removed, mainly for looks, and quickly done. 2: The saddle-bags were not much use to me, as I usually bring a backpack in with me and don't like fumbling with the buckles. They came off quite easily, though removing the bag holders left two unfilled holes in the fender bracket.



The NOS bolts were not available from the dealer, so I bought 4 stainless steel bolts of matching thread size, ground the heads down and polished them on the buffing wheel to look like factory ones. Which left her looking like so:



More updates soon!

Cheers!

-Blue
 
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#3 ·
@SoakedKarma: Thanks m8! Nothing crazy yet.

Next I ordered NOS Honda engine cover bolts to replace the rather rusty ones that were there. Also cleaned up most of the dirty rust residue on the cover with a cotton wheel on a dremel.







There you have the before pics. I'm rather bad at remembering to take after pics, so take my word for it :grin2:
 
#4 ·
FWIW there are aftermarket outfits offering those engine bolts in colors such as blue...check some of the outfits like J&P Cycles and Dennis Kirk etc.
 
#5 ·
@Shadow Shack: Thanks! I'll be sure to check those out!

So about 3 weeks into ownership, I rode into town to do some regular errands, and parked at my usual "safe" spot at the very back of the library lot. I was gone for half an hour and came back to my bike looking like this:



In sum: Broken left turn signal stalk (taped up in the pic so I could get home), cracked license plate, bent license plate bracket, broken reflector & chrome trim, broken license plate light and bulb.
The turn signal didn't bother me too much, since I'd been wanting to change them. However, upon looking on Ebay, the reflector trim and plate light assembly were going in the 100USD range.
Being from Canada, and having to deal with exchange rates, shipping fees, duties, and broker fees, not to mention the wait time to get the part where I wouldn't be able to ride, I decided to make my own instead. I'd never liked the look of the protruding stock one anyways.

Stripped everything out first and freed the loom from the plate bracket. Decided to take care of surface rust on the inside of the fender.



Wire brushed, treated with Dupont rust inhibitor, primed, and rattle-canned black (after being all masked up of course). The grommets were taken out for this process.



Toyed around making an aluminum spacer plate but ended up not using it

 
#7 ·
@flitecontrol: From the way things were bent, it seems someone must have parked along side and not checked their front-end swing when pulling back out. How they managed to not knock the bike over is quite a mystery. Very frustrating. From driving classic cars around I've come to realize that many people are hard-wired to go park right up against bright shiny things, even when they're way out at the pack of an empty lot. :nonono:

After some trial-error, I decided to use the stock bracket as a starting point so as to retain the stock insulated wiring connector box and anti-vibration mount system.



Cut off all the protrusions with an angle-grinder, keeping just the box. Chrome was flaking anyways, so I hit it with a wire-wheel, primed, and rattle-canned a first coat onto it.



I wanted the new plate mount to site as high as possible, so as to expose more of the rear tire and make the bike look bigger. I'm aware that some people relocate the tail-light under the rear fender, but I'm relatively fond of the stock toaster-style light.

I cut an aluminum plate to match the license and fender contour (with some room left for reflectors), scribed a line in it with a cut-off wheel to get a sharp bend, and slowly bent it using a bunch of clamps on a flat steel bar with a sharp edge. I repeatedly tested it on the bike until I got the angle I wanted.



Picked up a standard universal license plate light at the local store. Much sleeker than the original Rebel one.

 
#8 ·
Update: Finalized the shape of the plate mount. Although it appears to have a bunch of random holes at the top, they do all serve a purpose.



Mounted to the electrical connection box via threaded holes, lots of loc-tite and notched threads.

 
#10 ·
@flitecontrol: Perks of using aluminum: the whole assembly weighs the same, if not less, than the original steel tabs. I had to do a little overkill, and secure the plate at all 4 corners, since it now rests higher and much closer to the rear wheel. I wouldn't want someone to nudge/bend the plate down, and then have it catch in the tire.

Finalized sanding and shaping the bracket assembly, then sprayed it with my absolute favorite rattle can: VHT valve-cover wrinkle paint. I really love this stuff because it forms a tough, almost rubber-like, coating that bonds really well to aluminum (unlike many other spray cans and primers). It also produces a cool factory-ish finish, and should help the license plate bracket disappear a bit more. The only disadvantage is that it takes a solid 48 hours before you can handle the part without leaving finger marks, and a good 5 days before it's rock hard.



Assembled the license plate light and added some reflectors (on the sides this time, instead of the bottom).

 
#11 ·
Finally mounted on the bike. Cut open a small rubber hose to act as welting between the bracket and the fender to dampen vibration.



Plate on. It has a small crack, but there's nothing I can do about it. Going to pick up two more acorn nuts to bolt the bottom of the plate down securely.



I'd post a before pic for comparison, but since you all have rebels it's kind of redundant. This new one looks much less clunky overall, and sits tighter with the bike.
 
#12 ·
Looks nice. Two of my favorite features of the original 1985-1987 Rebel are the pullback bars and the chrome battery box. I wish there was a way to put that battery box on my late model.

I am 59, and have also been into vintage cars all my life, and currently own 2. I love the looks of vintage cars, and perhaps just as important, I love their lack of modern computer garbage, safety and emissions crap. I love simplicity and style.

I am on my 4th Rebel, a new 2016. I used to have saddlebags on most of my bikes, mostly to carry stuff to repair flat tires. But I am now disabled, and seriously doubt my ability to repair a flat on a tube type tire out on the side of the road. I now have a road service plan. I do have a luggage rack and backrest on my 2016, both from MC Enterprises.
 
#13 ·
I'm a big proponent of carrying a rain suit, kickstand disks for parking on soft ground, and water/soda/juice/etc to stay hydrated, and at least an external battery & cable for the cell phone. I find saddle bags easier than a backpack, haven't tried a sissy-bar bag yet but I'm sure that would work as well.
 
#15 ·
@JerryH: I too love the chrome battery box on the 85. I plan on attaching a tool roll with some essentials, but I find the saddle-bags too cumbersome for the use I make of them. What classic cars do you own?

The next thing to fix (well upgrade actually), are the really awkward looking rear turn signals, one of which also got broken during the hit.

I purchased these biker's choice 162395 bullet style turn signals from Fortnine, and right out of the box they look amazing, with great chrome, and a really nice clear lens.

Very important point is that I got the FRONT turn signals, even though they're going on the back, due to the unique way the rebel's wire runs separately from the mounting post.



They did not come with any mounting studs. I made the ones pictured, which have OEM rebel turn signal stalk threads on one end, and thread into the lights at the other. I also made little spacer washers out of polished stainless steel tubing.
 
#16 ·
The turn signals turned out quite good, and I was especially happy with the size. Not intrusive, but still big enough to be noticeable, unlike many other bullet signals on the market. I mounted them (with their custom studs and spacers) in the original hole intended for the rebel turn signal, and looped the wire under the stalk to fit in the original wiring hole (i.e. These new signals have the wire in front of the stud while the rebel ones had the wire behind the stud). Another way to do it is to drill out the wiring hole so it can accommodate the stud, but I prefer to tamper with the bike as little as possible. Very easy to do either way.

Before on the right vs. after on the left. (Also bottom acorn nuts added to license plate).


Top view


Both mounted. Love the new look.
 
#19 ·
I sincerely apologize for the amount of unbridled hipsterism that's about to ensue.

One of the first things I do when getting a new vehicle is to get a second set of keys made, and immediately lock away the originals for safe-keeping. Try as I might, I could not get a hold of a honda rebel key blank, but figured whatever the local locksmith had should do. I dropped both the ignition and gas cap keys off.

When I picked them up, I was presented with two gigantic keys, with hilts that must have measured over 1" by 1".

So I set to work, grinding off about 3/4 of the handle on each key.


It was a rainy day, and I was quite bored, so I decided to make a wooden hilt for the ignition key (using African Bloodwood).



And since the lock key likes to flop around on my gas cap, I decided to cover it with leather. The two halves of wood are also seen being epoxied together in this pic.


Leather getting epoxied


Wood key dry, then sanded down to its final thickness (same as the OEM key).


 
#20 ·
Nice.
 
#24 ·
Forgot to post this last time: Both keys finished and mounted on a ring, along with a custom leather cord/fob I made (so I can grab them out of my pocket easily but also not scratch the tank).





Bonus: A more recent pic of the little Rebel.



That's it for this year. Will surely be up to more shenanigans come summer. Already have a new chain waiting to be mounted, and a set of sprockets on order.
 
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