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Motorcycle In The Living Room
Blog Date - 03 September 2012
How can you tell when a biker lives alone? Where there's a bike in the living room.
Spot the biker cliches in this image...naff settee...check...naff guitar...check...motorcycle in the living room...check...unused mountain bike...check... I dare not show you the rest of the room, far too many cliches.
OK...ok...ok...let me explain. The CLR 125 is getting on. I reckon it's got about 40,000 miles under it's belt so for a 125 that's a fair old mileage. Recently a member of the club passed her test and almost immediately went out and bought a CBF 600 which meant her CBF 125 was going begging. As my CLR was getting old it seemed a good opportunity to get a newer bike and as the deal was about the right price I went for it. That of course left the question as to what to do with the CLR 125.
Now any sensible man, presumably sensible enough to live with a partner, would arrange to sell the CLR at a knock down price or perhaps spend the time breaking it and selling the bits on Ebay. I chuffing HATE Ebay. You advertise say the handlebars, making it clear in both pictures and the text that they're rusty and old and come off a CLR 125. You get 20 messages asking if they'll fit anything from a CG 125 right through to a GSXR 1000. How the hell would I know? Then finally some plonker bids on them and you sell them for 99 pence, plus postage.
You then spend an age wrapping the damn things, going to the post office and queuing for an hour to find out you've quoted the wrong price. You post the thing at a loss to yourself and go home miserable. 2 days later you get a message from Ebay, the buyer's complaining that they're rusty and they don't fit his GSXR 1000. It's a waste of time, energy and money. I'd rather just give the stuff to the blooming scrap man.
As for selling it at a knock down price...why? It has got 6 months MOT and tax and I reckon I could ask maybe £300 for it. But then I'd have to explain that the speedo doesn't work and I've been using a bicycle speedo for the last 20,000 miles. I'd have to clean the thing, that's a weeks work there alone. I'd have to explain the DIY exhaust and all the other bodge jobs on it. It's the embarrassment of penny-pinching repairs that I can't face,
Finally...the BIKE IS RIGHT! It starts, runs, is perfectly serviceable and I have made all the bodges and alterations to get it just the way I want it. I could not REPLACE the bike for less than say £700, but it's WORTH about £300. And those are my reasons. I'm happy with my new CBF 125 and I'm sure over the next few years I'll bodge and repair and wear the damn thing out. But when all else fails the CLR will still be there in the living room...ready to go after a few small jobs.
Now...you can't simply throw your bike into the house. IT IS A FIRE RISK! Your insurance company will not look well upon you burning the house down as you were having a fag next to your petrol tank in the living room. So, I have removed the petrol tank, that will live in the shed. I have also removed the battery, I'll keep that on a solar powered trickle charge. I have also drained the carburetor. If anyone else can think of any safety issues, please let me know.
Now...if you are really stupid and want to buy a 40,000 mile CLR 125 full of diy bodges and you would be happy to give me £700, email me at renwithnell@hotmail.com.
Reader's Comments
Tom McQ said :-
You've started, so you should finish. Show the rest of the cliches :-))
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
said :-
im not going to show this artical mark it will only give him ideas for when i go away with the girls .......x
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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