Home
Repair And Restoration
CBF 250 Cat C Project
Stephen Latchford provides the information and the images, Ren Withnell writes it up.
Well Stephen Latchford, aka "Latchy" has been at it again. On these very pages he's told us about his FS1E and GPZ 600 R restoration projects. Both these bikes were rusty old sheds in need of a lot of loving care, spare parts and time. Since then he's purchased a brand new Triumph Street Triple which he loves then there's the reliable, cheap to run and trustworthy CG 125 for commuting duties. Trouble is Latchy's one of those guys who likes to have another project to work on and both his current bikes were mint, low mileage and in perfect order. Boring.
Rather than a full restoration project this time he thought he'd have a go at recycling a wreck, a write off. Ebay soon had him eyeing up a "Cat C" CBF 250 with front end damage and 17,000 miles on the clock. The CBF appealed to him as his CG 125 just lacks that little extra power to get him up to a 70 mph motorway cruising speed. The CBF should manage that no problem. Along with the extra ooomph it's still light, cheap to run and being a Honda it ought to be reliable. For the princely sum of £650 his purchase was made.
As advertised, it doesn't look too bad does it?
For an additional £40 the motorcycle shop agreed to deliver the bike to his house and soon the bike was in his garage. Initial assessment revealed the following damage :-
Bent front forks
Twisted/bent bottom fork yoke
Cracked clock housing
Smashed clock trim
Bent handlebars
Bent/broken headlamp brackets
Broken brake and clutch levers
Missing mirror
Dented tank
Bent gear lever
Missing tail light lens
Broken front mudguard
Reading this it sounds like a disaster! Don't worry dear reader Latchy's a bit of an Ebay master having trawled the net for many parts for many restoration projects. If there's anyone that can find a bargain it'll be him. He's a lucky git, I always end up paying over the odds for rubbish.
The first job was to remove all the damaged items. This was easy enough, so then it's time to see which parts he can get off Ebay and which parts he'll need to buy new. Being lucky he sourced a replacement pair of straight forks complete with straight yokes for a mere £40. He also found a second hand mudguard and some handlebars of a Suzuki Bandit that should do the job. He did have to get a new clock trim from Honda along with some bespoke screws and brand new levers. This was enough to get going.
It looks rather sad and hopeless at this stage.
The replacement forks slipped right in with a blob of grease on the bearings. That was an easy job and took merely minutes. The clock housing was cracked so Latchy fixed it with Plastech. That made for a good strong repair but left the crack still showing. Latchy likes his bikes pretty and that would never do. He got some carbon fibre print sheeting and must have spent an age covering the awkwardly shaped clock housing, to great effect. I wouldn't have the patience.
How do you go from this...
...to this!?
With the new clock trim on the clocks, the clocks on the bike and the replacement straight forks, everything was starting to come together. The Bandit bars were fitted, the second hand mudguard, the new levers and the original front wheel. Now it looked like he had a real bike at last. However the bent headlamp brackets were letting the side down. No matter, using an old one as a template he cut out some new ones from sheet aluminium. Rather than just fit them he polished the ally until he could see his face it in. He must have too much spare time.
I mean...I'd have just cleaned them with a dirty rag.
Whilst pondering what to do about the dints in the tank he thought it's time to start it up and make sure it's mechanically sound. The battery was dead. A new one was fitted and with a prod of the button it burst into life...then promptly spewed it's life blood over the garage floor. The small narrow oil cooler had a hole in it, damn and blast. Of course Ebay had the solution and Latchy had the patience to find the right one at the right price. With that fitted the beast came to life once again and this time did not bleed profusely.
It looks much better and much more complete now.
As a matter of good practice he checked and shimmed the tappets to make sure they were within tolerance, and gave the clutch basket a touch of filing to ensure a smooth operation. A little jaunt around the block proved the bike worked well save for the speedo. The CBF 250 has a strange set up. It is an electronic clock with a mechanical drive to a pickup mounted just below the clocks. This little item, the pickup or sensor unit, costs almost £200! Of course...Ebay again. That fixed that and the speedo started to record speeds again.
Now not only do they look pretty, they work too!
Latchy was planning to use the bike as a commuter, to replace his trusty CG 125. He claims he could have lived with the dints in the tank but I know better, he would have had to fill, smooth, paint and lacquer the tank, he's like that. He's also a lucky git. He managed to pick up a brand spanking new tank in the matching colour off Ebay. £200? £100? £50? Nope, £21 the scabby sod. I daresay even he did not believe his luck this time. The tank came to him in good order all the way from Jersey and was soon fitted. He of course had to paint the plastic trims to match.
He sold the CG 125! How could he! Unforgivable in my opinion, he claims he's poor and he needed the cash. This meant the 250 needed to be pressed into service so it was time to MOT it. He was nervous about this, although I don't know why. He's been fixing up motorcycles for years and knows everything an MOT tester is looking for and much more besides. Sure enough it passed with flying colours.
This is the finished motorcycle. Clean, smart and in full working order.
So now he has a CBF 250, much like yours truly, except his is clean, shiny and ticks over properly. He spent, in total, £950 on his repair project including the motorcycle. This is £450 less than I spent, around £500 less than the going rate for this kind of bike in this condition. I want to call him lucky. But...but he puts in the effort that I don't. The time to make things right, to fix them properly and to finish them correctly and with care. He also is prepared to spend time and wait for the right items to come up at the right price on Ebay and other sources. He has patience. It's his patience that brings him "luck" and that's what I envy, his patience.
Reader's Comments
Tom McQ said :-
That's a GREAT job Steve. Come and sort mine out now :-)
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Sharon said :-
Join the queue Tom. I have already booked Ste's skills to do my front mudguard. Just waiting to see if I can stop falling off first though :-)
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Donovan said :-
Really good job. I own a Cbf 250. Love it, cheap to run and reliable.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
said :-
Could you please explain the technique how to cover the clock cover with the carbon fibre print sheeting as shown on the after effect?
15/09/2016 08:16:46 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
I'll ask Steve to drop in on this page, maybe he'll tell you!
15/09/2016 09:54:23 UTC
said :-
looking forward!!!
15/09/2016 10:03:27 UTC
Steve latchford said :-
Just peel off the backing and use heat from either a hair dryer or heat gun on a low setting to soften the vinyl and then stretch and mould it on the piece you are covering.
Good fun actually.
15/09/2016 11:52:16 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
For additional info...Steve tells me it's called 3d adhesive vinyl and there's lots of it for sale on eBay
15/09/2016 13:14:56 UTC
said :-
Sounds good!! Thanks for the info!!
17/09/2016 18:50:21 UTC
keith said :-
hi can you repair lights on both cbf250 clocks 2007
01/10/2022 20:08:28 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Hi keith - Are you asking is it possible or can "we" do it for you? Yes it's possible to repair them, I'd start with replacing the bulbs. As to whether Latch could do it for you? Latchy does this for pleasure it's not his business.
03/10/2022 08:56:24 UTC
Mark said :-
Currently finishing a restoration on a CBF 250, great little bikes. If mine looks as nice as the one above I'll be well happy. Nice one?
23/02/2023 21:07:55 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Share a before and after picture Mark.
23/02/2023 21:50:42 UTC
Mark said :-
I'll get my kids to teach me about uploading ??
26/02/2023 19:59:07 UTC
Justin homes said :-
Well I now own her in Brixham .Running well glad to know clearances have been done.Great job
16/01/2024 20:13:28 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'll let Latchy know his 250 is well and good down in that there Devon. I've holidayed in Brixham, know it well.
17/01/2024 20:41:53 UTC
Name
Comment
Add a RELEVANT link (not required)
Upload an image (not required) -
Uploading...
Home
Repair And Restoration