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One Man's quest to achieve something worthwhile by doing something faintly ridiculous... |
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Raising money and
awareness for:
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| CRY | |
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Registered
Charity No. 1050845
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The Bike
(Otherwise known as 'Pimp my Honda'...)
This page is all about the awesome machine that I'm undertaking my tour on. It will provide pictures and details of the all the bits and pieces that I do to the bike in order to get it ready for the long journey ahead.
My chosen bike is the famous Honda Cub90. This is a bored-out version of the original Honda Cub50, first introduced in 1958. Apart from minor cosmetic changes and a revamp of the electrical system, little has changed in that time. It also holds the honour of being the best selling motorcycle of all time. To the non-biker (in whose eyes perhaps all bikes look the same), I suppose it could be described as a scooter, but when I think of scooters, I always conjure up images of Lambrettas, Vespas and Mods.
My reasons for choosing this bike? Well, though I've laid them out in detail on the The Mission page, it's basically for the challenge. I could have done the trip on a much bigger, more comfortable bike, but that would make it too easy and, in my opinion, much less worthy of your sponsorship. There is of course also the comedy value of a sixteen-stone, shaven headed biker putting along on a stepthrough...
Awesome, huh? It took a while to find a decent one, but after much scouring of classifieds and eBay, one turned up in a village a few miles from my home. There's a little rust here and there, the carburettor is leaking petrol and the chain needs some oil (amongst other things), but on the whole it seems a fairly sound bike. It's of 1987 vintage (the same year I left school!), and as such will be almost exactly twenty years old as I head off on the ride. For the last ten years it's been stored in the previous owner's garage, unused and untaxed. Just before it was put into long-term storage, it had a new set of tyres, but these have begun to perish, so a new pair will have to be fitted. When you have a colossal 4.5bhp at your disposal, good tyres are a must!
This is what it looked like as and when I bought it back in May 2006, but there are several modifications to be done. One useful piece of advice I have had is to fit a single seat. Whilst this sounds ridiculous, it has a very sensible purpose behind it. The fuel tank is located under the seat on these bikes, and with luggage strapped on the pillion, everything would have to be removed every time a refuel was necessary. Whilst these bikes do seriously good mileage to the gallon (though how good it will be with a fat bloke, his tent and all his gear piled on it is another matter entirely...), the tank only holds five litres, so petrol stops are something that's going to be happening with some regularity.
The single seat also comes with another rack that fits where the pillion seat would normally be, making for easier luggage attachment. I can jam all the bigger stuff I'm taking with me, such as the tent, roll mat, etc. here.
This site created by CeeGee web design. All content © Chris Gordon 2006-7
