Mileage wise I reckon I’ve now caught up and overtaken you RobH 42,653km on the clock at the MOT station.
^^Never do a rebuild with pattern parts, those fork seals lasted a whole 24 months
As you can see some days the weather was better than others, sadly when I was sat on the summit of Gospel Pass (the highest paved road in Wales) it was a bit of a bust for the sun but thankfully stayed dry
I know a NSR is never going to be anyone’s first choice for long days out touring, and this “part time show pony” has been out and about so much it needed to be re shod before the MOT ! …..soft compound Dunlop Alfamax-14’s was never going to be a wise choice and I’ve chewed through both a front and a rear tyre in twelve months, but I love the old dog and shes still turns heads sparking conversations with complete strangers, even if they just want to hear the sound of a two stroke whilst standing in a wonderful cloud of blue haze -gleefully sniffing up lungs full of oily hydrocarbons and waxing lyrical about 1980’s antics on 350LC’s or TZR125’s and how wonderful Castrol R smelt back in the day.
Even got stalked by an Auzzie tourist in Morten in the Marsh who spotted my helmet whilst I was in a coffee shop and followed me back to my bike, he was even more enamoured that a “Pom” was riding around on a Gardner replica rather than a more fashionable Doohan one and told me that back in the day he had actually watched Gardner at Phillip Islands inaugural 500cc race… which Gardner won. On the flip side I’ve also been accused by a Harley rider of riding a bike with a lawn mower engine and a joker on a Triumph Rocket reckoned his starting motor was bigger and had more torque than my quarter litre (both were retards with very questionable taste in motorcycles)
Sunny days in the Cotswolds
The Show Pony made the front cover of the Honda owners club magazine “Golden Wing” which was an unexpected surprise
As part of the rebuild process I replaced the very dead battery with a weight weenie Lithium Ion one and never gave it any more thought until someone planted a seed in my mind concerning my over reliance on a 38 year old regulator and the potential that it could over charge the Lithium battery leading to me sitting on top of a massive Flare or Roman candle, so for peace of mind I’ve retro fitted a voltmeter and thanks to a bit of 3D printing now have a bracket that tucks it away at the bottom of the clocks.
Mounted on a spare set of clocks I bought just for the foam surround
In order to future proof myself (code for being a hoarder) I came across a full set of OEM panels including a petrol tank, radiator cowl and front mud guard, The seller was upfront about there being no keys to open the tank and as a result had no idea if it was rusty inside, in a Doctor Peppers moment “What’s the worst that can happen” I took a gamble on the bundle and pulled the trigger. (the price was more than fair)
Thinking I was most likely going to resort to an electric drill or a screw driver to force open lock I purchased a replacement locking cap for the tank
However having found a local locksmith he skilfully picked the lock for the princely sum of £20 and in no time at all he sent me a pic of the inside - it was like new inside zero rust (Result) I’d go as far to say being locked may have actually done me a massive favour (keeping it closed = zero rust and I got it for a good price)
Winner winner -chicken dinner !
Having access to a full set of spare panels that have already been painted my minds been working over overtime, I’m going to attempt a full 1988 Niall McKenzie HB Honda replica – it has to be his 1988 rig as thats the only year the talented Jock had gold wheels on his bike, All other years they were white plus the exhaust pipes are the same configuration as my bike which is also a 88 model
Poetry in motion
And Steve Alee at GT Performance Engineering doppelgänger or should I say Mr Niall MacKenzie
Option #2
Now this might make a few of you twitch like mad
A 50/50 “Half and Half” - one side Rothmans and the other side HB Honda with a zip painted down the middle like the RD I saw at a recent show…. I am genuinely tempted and the voices in my head are speaking to me ever louder!
The Bi-Polar Yamaha
An Inspired choice …or the thought pattern of a Looney Tune on acid ?
_________________
Nick
Rebuild project NSR250 MC18 R4J