Blimey, that was cheap

http://tinyurl.com/y6doz2

Honda CD125 Benly for £205. Number One Son turns 17 soon.....

 

I don't know about your son, but at 17 I wouldn't have been seen dead on
a Benly. The AR125 was more my kind of thing.

 

They were shite as well.

TZR125L(F), YKIMS (1)

(1) Yes, even if you have to buy a shagged out one and do a load of
work to it, as one of these in good running order is worth decent money
these days.

 

But an AR125 looked like a mini GPz900R. Which is mainly what the appeal
was.

 

Whereas the TZR looked exactly like its bigger 250 brother (1) and
would do an indicated ton without blowing up every five minutes (2) for
the sake of 10 minutes of spannering.

And the AR125 looked more like a GPz305 'Scorpion' than the GPz900R.

"Mmm... nice wheels".

(1) Which was, and still, a nice looking bike.

(2) Mainly because unlike anything else on the market at the time, when
derestricted, everything was set up correctly - the carburation was set
for the exhaust which in turn was set up for full power use. Things
like the AR125 relied on some spotty oik thinking 'that'll do' when
rejetting a carb to match whatever abortion of an aftermarket pipe
they'd fitted to the bike.

 

The very first TZR125s sold here were 1987 D reg - not many were sold
on a D plate, but only because they were launched mid 1987.

No idea when the AR125 was officially launched, but I seem to remember
seeing a B plate one at some stage in the past.

The point is... the AR125 was still being sold (1) long after 1987, and
with little other than cosmetic improvements over the earlier
revisions, with it expected to directly compete with the TZR125, and
with a price tag that wasn't that far removed from that of a TZR, IIRC.

(1) Albeit in tiny numbers - the spotty oiks of that time weren't that
stupid (2).

(2) Well, apart from buying the NS125R in their droves.

 

I had a four year old DT100 at 17 (paid for by me) but to be honest
/anything/ with an engine would have done.

Still does.

 

Agreed, but when you've got next to no dosh, and your DT50MX is worth
about £400, and you're looking at a decent nick 125, with an electric
starter[1], and £200 in your pocket....

OK, so insurance will be a bit more, but wtf.

Also, you can crash a Benly and not GAF.

[1] This is something he thinks is cool and desirable. [2]
[2] So did I, when my first bike was kickstart only.

 

Suppose you have a point.

I ended up with a GP100 [1], after having had a play on my brother's
RXS100 [2]

[1] Red, it was
[2] Blue, ended up being SMIDSYd and written off.

 

I had an RD250E - paid for it meself.

I was the poor kid, at school and didn't half turn them green with envy,
when I rolled up on my 2 year-old example.... They were all on brand new
supernightmares and the like, all paid for by mummy and daddy.

We used to have after school races - £5 a time, winner takes all.

I was the rich kid all of a sudden... ;-)

 

I had a Z200 too, after starting off on a Fizzie (DX). By that time my
mates were on X7s or RD250s (one jammy sod had an LC) but my little Kwak
was reliable, easy to work on and fairly cheap to run. Didn't care that
it was shit brown and unfashionable, it used to get me from home in
Derby to Uni in Newcastle at the legal limit without missing a beat,
which is what I needed it for.

 

I did my CBT on one of those.
Compared to the scooter I was using for daily transport at the time it
weighed a ton but it was surprisingly good fun.



--
Alex

"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away"

www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

 

SteveH tossed off:

I really wanted a CD175 when I was 17.
Ended up with a Morris Minor.

Nuff said, really

--
Dan L

1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Indeed. The most uncool bike in existence. Even a twenty year old
bantam or tiger cub was cooler.

I just assumed he'd missed a zero off the age.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Champ tossed off:

Yeah, I know. I think it was the chrome panels on the tank.

Heh, sort of the 4 wheeled equivalent of a CD175.

I seem to be getting younger.



--
Dan L

1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Ace tossed off:

Oi, I was a late developer, that's all.



--
Dan L

1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11