The Dying Art Of Bodging

Blog Date - 03 April 2012

Eeeeeee….by gum.  When I were a lad we wus poor, proper poor, not like these poor kids of today with their iPhone’s and Faceache thingies.  Well…to be honest I had a fairly average upbringing, my Dad had a car and we lived in a good area, but we didn’t have much spare cash, that’s all.  I got everything I needed and some things I wanted, but I can’t say I was spoilt.

So why did I learn to bodge?  I was always into my BMX bikes and being somewhat useless at doing tricks things would get broken.  I learnt how to repair things otherwise the pocket money would not cover the relentless damage.  I also enjoy bodging.  I enjoy making things out of scrap bits of metal, screwing bits of wood together to hang spare bits on and saving pennies by bodging up parts rather than replacing them with costly new ones.

I used to have a CD 200 Benly.  It was a great bike but, well, you know, it’s not really a Harley is it.  I fitted a back rack but I wanted a sissy bar, so I bent some old tube I had into a “U” shape and got a mate to weld it to the back rack.  Using a bit of wood and bits of an old leather jacket I made a sissy pad too.  Looking back it looked terrible, but at the time I thought I was cooler than Dennis Hopper on his Cheesy Rider Chopper.  That same bike also got a pair of ape hangers…

My CD 200 Benly.  Note the home made sissy bar welded to the rack...and the white mudguard off some unknown machine...and the ape hanger handlebars.  Won a few rat bike competitions with this machine...

When my son was 5 I decided it was far too much like hard work taking him on the bus.  I knew the law stated before he could sit on the back of my bike he needed to be able to reach the footpegs.  So I got some old footpegs from a breakers, some nuts and bolts and I bolted the pegs to the frame underneath the seat.  He could now reach them with his little legs.  He’s 21 now, he doesn’t need them any more…

My 125, my current commuter, has become bodge city.  It’s an old a tired bike now so I really am loathed to spend serious money on it when I suspect it may give up permanently soon.  As such anything that’s not quite right gets bodged.  To protect the linkage on the read suspension there’s a piece of old inner tube.  The same inner tube is fitted over the forks to protect the chrome on the stanchions.  The exhaust is now fully stainless, it has a jubilee clip as a wrist rest and a bicycle speedometer.

The rear linkage of the CLR 125.  The old inner tube is bolted to the airbox at the top and the chainguard at the bottom.  It works a treat keeping the mud off the linkage.

My DIY wrist rest.  This allows me to relax my grip on the throttle yet still keep the (limited) power on.  It helps to keep my hands warm, relaxing my grip.

The digital bicycle speedo, showing the time at the moment.  The worm drive broke on the front wheel but for a tenner this does the job just fine.  There's no light though, the black thing above the speedo is in fact a blue LED light so I can see how fast I'm (not) going when it's dark.

My FAVE!  The DIY exhaust bodge.  It's a CBR 125 can that's been down the road, some flexible stainless tube and a lot of blood, sweat and tears.  Works a treat though, and is now all stainless.  Sorted.

This is now standard fitment on all my bikes.  Old inner tubes, cut to size, then zip-tied over the fork stanchions.  It protects the chrome from stones and muck, yet leave the forks visible for inspection.   

You don’t see that much bodging these days.  People have too much money, even in these hard times.  They have their bikes serviced and repaired by professional mechanics who fit original or replacement parts.  If someone doesn’t like the look of their bike they “improve” it with aftermarket trimmings like tank protectors and spotlights.  Either that or they buy a new one they do like.  If you want a Harley you buy a Harley, you don’t try to make your Benly look like a Harley.

Even if I had a lot of spare cash I think I’d still bodge.  I’m tighter than cramp and I enjoy making something out of nothing.  Here’s to those of you who have the exhaust lockwired on, upside-down CG 125 handlebars on your CBF 600 and side panels made from old jerry cans.  Keep up the good work.
 

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