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
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