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Monday, April 11, 2011

TWO AND A HALF YEARS!

I just realised that I started this project two and a half years ago. That's ridiculous! I've been trying to figure out why this "quick refurb" has taken longer than previous "rebuilds". For example, my BEAUTIFUL 400/4 took around 6 months to complete.

Needless to say, one of the biggest obstacles to speedy refurbs is time. Working 5 days a week kind of interferes with hobbies. Mind you, that still leaves the weekends. Trouble is, I have a static caravan on the edge of the Trough Of Bowland and every Friday after work, I head over there on the bike and come back Sunday evening. So that only leaves weekday evenings - and I'm not always in the mood for farting around in the garage after 9 hours at work. That doesn't explain why the 400 was completed quickly and the 250 wasn't.

Another possible reason for it dragging on is that I just didn't perhaps take things as seriously with the CB250N. It was supposed to be a low cost "in the background" kind of exercise. Well it certainly was in the background!!  But now it's time to sort the bladdy thing out. It's sitting there looking all gorgeous but doesn't run. As you know (if you've followed this blog for any length of time), I've tried everything to sort out the problem. The only thing which remains is the alternator/pickup. It just has to be that! (How many times have I said that)?

I guess we'll know for sure when that alternator arrives.

4 comments:

Klaas De Craemer said...

Well I spent more than 3 years on my CB250N and it still has issues. You're way ahead of me :D haha
Similarly, I can only work about 1 day in the week on it...

But keep going, after all, what can possibly still be an issue on a simple bike like that :)

Anonymous said...

Im gald you havent given up Tom. Had the same problem on mine and it turned out to be a dead stator/pickup. I got a refrub one and it worked perfectly. It took me nearly a year to get it looking how I wanted and a bit longer to get it running as I wanted.

http://www.zen101072.zen.co.uk is mine.
Nowhere near as nice as yours matey but It'll do me. I went to part-ex it last week against a new bike and come the day, I couldnt part with it .. I had to find more cash lol

I admire your sheer bloody mindedness but IT WILL be worth it. I get a real buzz out of riding mine. Good luck Tom

Tom McQuiggan said...

Cheers guys!

Klaas De Craemer said...

MadDogMcQ, what exhausts have you put on your cb250?
I bought replicas at wemoto.co.uk some time ago (probably the same as offered on davidsilverspares) but my local mechanic has doubts concerning the internal pattern (being too restrictive).

Bike Details

Honda CB250N Superdream
Reg No : ORH746W (ORH 746 W)
Reg Date : 1980
Orig Colour : Blue
New Colour : Black
Current Owner : Tom McQuiggan
Current Location : Horwich, Bolton, UK.