I don't know how many Honda CD175's I've owned. Twenty years ago I started out on one. Moved on to bigger and better machines, but often had a hack CD to hand for winter work and for when I was between serious machines. When one wore out, another was acquired, and it ended up I had about ten of the discarded things clogging up my garage! I probably had more spare parts than Honda UK!
There are two types. The sixties version with a pressed steel frame, no down-tubes and an engine that had its top end inclined forward - if you replaced the hefty mudguards and squinted it actually looked quite butch. Not something that could be said for the later, well known model, which was dumpy anyway you looked at it.
My latest one is a 1969 CD175, 30,000 miles on the clock, quite a lot of surface rust and a desperate need for a new(ish) set of consumables. Mine for £275. I've seen CD's advertised at as much as £1000, so this was a bargain in CD terms. After I fitted some used consumables from my stock, I was looking forward to testing out the little Honda twin.
The early models are much faster than the later ones. 85 against 70mph! Mine wouldn't do more than 60mph! It only had a four speed box and needed to be wound up through the gears otherwise it lost so many revs that it couldn't break into the real power. Honda were quite cunning in the design, as it will plod along rather happily at lower revs and if you don't know about the high rev power you might conclude that the engine was mild if incredibly reliable.
Thus it's possible to buy a bike off a commuter that has never been thrashed despite the high mileage on the clock. Honda designed the airfilter, hidden inside the pressed steel frame and accessed by taking the seat off, so that it clogged up with age, choking off the high rev power but letting the engine plod away nicely. Sure enough, mine was all clogged up. The engine won't run without the filter, although removal of the silencers' baffles doesn't make much difference.
I had a used airfilter in better shape, bunged it in and headed for my favourite country road. The high speed performance was transformed, the bike happy to bounce along at 75mph, topping out at an indicated 90mph! In reality this was probably 80 to 85mph. The CD doesn't have a rev counter but it's pretty obvious when the redline's breached because a grinding vibration assaults the chassis, in contrast to the normal smoothness.
It might seem a little odd to thrash such an old bike, but these Hondas thrive on revs and seem to run better the harder the throttle's used. The later CD175 has the same kind of low rev power but goes dead when it's thrashed, it just doesn't want to know about revs. Both share the same single carb design, I suspect the newer bike's either choked at the carb and/or has milder cam lobes.
Both have just a single set of points to serve the two cylinders (a dead spark occurring on the downstroke as well as the real spark), neither needs regular setting. If starting becomes difficult it's often the condenser going dead, letting the points burn out. The single carb obviously needs no attention and the four valves can be left for tens of thousands of miles - like the spark plugs, they are easily accessible without ripping the bike apart. The camchain tensioner needs the occasional tweak.
The only area of concern's oil changes - every 500 miles as there's no external filter. Honda designed the gearbox to turn full of false neutrals if the oil changes aren't done (or at least it seems that way) so there's really no choice in the matter. Novices will find the gearbox full of false neutrals but you get used to it, eventually being able to feed the gears in!
Generally, the engines are well designed and tough for the first 50,000 miles even when thrashed. Given regular oil changes and mild use they can do amazing mileages, but commuters do tend to neglect them a bit. The first signs of engine demise are found in smoke out of the engine breather. Occasionally, the camchain snaps without warning but I've never had this problem even on engines which have done more than 75000 miles. Must be the occasional tensioner tweak and regular oil changes.
Handling is limited by the lack of damping in the suspension - just about anything available from the breakers offers a massive improvement. The frame itself is very strong, with the engine forming a stressed member. The front SLS brake fades from high speed use, whilst the rear can lock up on wet roads, sending the bike into an interesting skid. Once used to the CD, though, it can be thrown around with gay abandon, although it's a good idea to remove the centrestand to stop its prong pivoting the bike into the nearest ditch. It kills the restricted learners dead, much to their annoyance given the aged appearance!
One real limitation comes from the appalling six volt electrics - the front light would be laughable if it wasn't so dangerous. Indicators are trash that last for less than six months and the horn's a pathetic squeak. The only one I converted to twelve volts burnt out its alternator! Rectifiers can burn out and bulbs blow. By this time, the wiring's also falling apart but it's a pretty simple circuit.
Rust attacks the wheel rims, silencers and handlebars, although the pressed steel frame seems immune to corrosion and the petrol tank only goes off because fuel leaks out of the cap when it's fully filled. Rust from inside the tank clogs the reserve switch, meaning it's easy to end up in the middle of nowhere with no motive power. As most recent Jap's seem to return to dust in less than ten years, the quality of these old Honda's isn't in doubt! If the 125 law hadn't come in, loads more would probably have survived. As it is, they never recovered from the indifference of that period.
It's the mixture of surprising performance and staid appearance that appeals to me. The bike isn't particularly frugal - 50 to 60mpg - unlike the sluggardly later model, but the rest of the consumables cost next to nothing as I always fit used stuff. It doesn't really mind cheap Taiwanese tyres and it's hard to break even the flimsiest of chains. Basically, we're talking a cheap and cheerful bike that offers a surprising amount of fun.
Dave Small
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A 1968 Honda CD175 for thirty notes was too good a chance to miss. Even if the engine didn't work and the bike looked like it had been run into ground. The mileage was an open question, the speedo didn't work. Back home, out with the plugs to find there was no spark. This wasn't too surprising, the plugs looked so covered in crud that they'd been there for a couple of decades. New plugs did not produce a spark. The points were so worn they hardly moved when the cam lobe hit them. New points produced a weak spark. A new condensor got the spark a nice deep blue colour.
I adjusted the valves, put in some new oil and gave the camchain tensioner a tweak. The twin cylinder OHC engines are dead simple to work on with the aid of a Haynes manual. There wasn't an electric start, so I had to spend half an hour on the kickstart. Despite some encouraging noises the motor was unwilling to burst into life. I took out the plugs, heated them on the gas stove and shoved them back in. Handling red hot plugs is not much fun and I nearly cross-threaded one in the cylinder head. Second kick we were in business.
Took a while to warm up but then ticked over okay and pulled nicely during a quick blast up the lane. The motor was relatively quiet; I'd heard nearly new GPz305s that made more of a racket. The chassis was blurred with rust but otherwise surprisingly sound. The tyres and chain were far from needing replacement, so all I had to do was remove the corrosion and touch up the paint. The MOT certificate wasn't a problem despite the lack of baffles in the much patched silencers.
The CD looks less than appealing at first glance, with a pressed steel frame and large mudguards. The angled forward cylinders does make it look quite modern from certain angles but the dull grey paint put it firmly in the commuter camp. I was therefore somewhat surprised to find that the old heap burnt off a TZR125, making the bemused rider look like he was riding a fifty.
As the speedo didn't work I never knew exactly how fast the horrible Honda went. But flat out motorway work revealed that the bike could keep up with the slow lane, occasionally needing to burst into the middle lane to overtake something like a Metro driven by some old dame. At least 75mph, then, maybe as much as 80mph. The Honda wallowed slightly flat out but it never seemed to be dangerous, despite cheapo tyres and suspension that was 25 years old.
One problem with the suspension was that there was not much movement, each and every bump was fed through to my backside and arms. For this reason, the bike was more enjoyable flat out on the motorway than being thrown around the back roads. There was an annoying tendency to run wide through bends and to dig the centrestand into the tarmac when leant over at extreme angles.
The latter would attempt to flick the bike off the road, but was easily remedied with a flick of the buttocks and modified cornering line. In town the CD was narrow, nimble, and showed a surprising turn of acceleration in races with enraged cagers. The only problem was the four speed gearbox, which had large gaps between ratios and was dead easy to throw into false neutrals. But there was a lot of feel in the box and after a while I was able to successfully work my way through the gears; I was used to old hacks with temperamental motors.
After a month I was impressed enough to persuade a mate with a spray gun to do a quick respray in black. He only charged me for the paint, the bike ended up looking rather good, only spoilt by rusty rims and exhaust. Both were treated to a wire brushing and a dose of black Hammerite, which if not exactly an immaculate finish was a great improvement.
The bike needed loads of fuel poured in the tank (I guess 50-60mpg) and continuous topping up of the sump. A small amount of oil was burnt out of the exhaust and a little leaked out of the gearbox seals and cylinder head gasket. The engine bolts looked so virgin and so corroded that I could believe the engine had never been touched internally by human hand. If that was so, it speaks volumes about how tough they used to make old Hondas.
In six months I must have done about 5000 miles, buzzing around at weekends and commuting to work in the week. The only problem I had with the CD was that fuel would piss out of the single carb every so often. Easily fixed by playing around with the float height. Oh, and one of the cylinders would cut out for no apparent reason and then clear up just as suddenly.
I sold the bike for £275 as I'd found a cheap CB400/4. The day before the new owner turned up I went for a final thrash on the CD, with a friend on the 400. Up this nearly deserted dual carriageway we screamed. I had to thrash the Honda in third to keep the bigger Honda in sight. With my head down on the clock, I held the throttle wide open, the engine surprising me by continuing to rev. There's no rev counter so the only way I knew I was in the red was the way the whole bike blurred beneath me from the vibes.
It was usually rather smooth despite having pistons that moved up and down in unison. When the vibes became unbearable I changed up to fourth, then moved my feet to the pillion pegs (themselves on the swinging arm). I was one with the machine, the throttle still open, the bike ever so slowly gaining speed. With the heavy dose of vibes once again afflicting the chassis, we drew abreast of the CB400/4 and edged ahead. Once I was clear of the four, I rolled the throttle close, amazed at the little Honda and slightly sad to see it go.
Admittedly, if I'd held the speed for any longer I would have suffered a bout of seasickness and probably blown the engine to pieces. My mate on the CB never would admit what kind of speed he was doing when I overtook, but he looked at the CD in amazement when we came to a stop, demanding to know what I'd done to the motor.
In the nineties the CD is just about adequate fare for modern roads, back in the sixties it must have been quite an amazing giant killer. Buying and selling the CD175 goes to prove that it's still possible to buy a bike for next to nothing, fix it up, have some fun and then sell it on at a nice profit.
Phil Goodwin
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The local dealer was having a closing down sale. Everything had to go, best offers accepted. The three wideboys who ran the place seemed to have got religion. Shaved heads and beards halfway down their chests. Perhaps they wanted the punters to feel sorry for them. I couldn't stop the laughter bubbling out at their absurd appearance.
To this day I'm not sure what mixture of madness and magic made me hand over a hundred notes for three non-running Honda CD175s. Remember these early seventies twins, the Japanese equivalent of the MZ 250 with a heart of gold but only a little more performance than a restricted 125? 17 horses, four gears and the kind of looks that make you want to throw up. Some poor wretches actually think they are classic motorcycles.
They all sported more than 60,000 miles, none of the motors having a chance of starting up. It took a month to strip them down, pick out the best bits and create one working engine. Even then the match between pistons and bores was not perfect, but in the context of hack motorcycling it was adequate.
The cycle parts were good for a laugh. The only thing made out of steel that wasn't rusted through was the frame. I had three good ones but only one logbook so it was pretty easy to chose which one to use. I didn't spend much on cycle parts as I had an adequate selection from past endeavours; even ended up doing a swap with some CD fanatic for a good tank and guards, so from a distance the resurrected rat looks quite authentic.
The front end's off a 185 Benly, the rear shocks replaced by a pair of Girling's finest (circa 1965, though) and the bars genuine Vincent patterns! I was quite proud of the front lamp, a car unit fitted into the CD's shell with 90 watts of main beam to cut a path through the night. Er, yes, the CD did have 6V electrics but as the wiring was rotted it was easy enough to fit a 12V regulator/rectifier and upgrade everything to suit.
The horn was pinched from an abandoned artic (well, it'd been parked outside my house for two weeks so I assumed it was abandoned) and a large car battery was located in the top box. Indicators? Who needs them! The alternator puts out sod all power but the battery holds sufficient charge to keep the light going for half an hour and the horn for two minutes!
Starting the reluctant engine was only possible after paying out for a brand new pair of spark plugs. An expense repeated every 3000 miles. The alternative was to spend about an hour pumping away on the kickstart. Bump starts proved remarkably difficult, as the bike would try to fall on its side whenever I jumped on the saddle.
Once the engine was running much blipping of the throttle and juggling of the choke was needed for the first ten minutes. With just a single carb there shouldn't have been much hassle, but a float needle that stuck open, thus swamping the engine in petrol, provided many a memorable moment of insanity. I cured it eventually but only after two fires and losing more fuel over the engine than ever went through the combustion process. Would you believe 30mpg?
Oh, these are rotten engines. Strong enough mechanically, I suppose, but utterly miserly in the way they produce power. Gutless at low revs, they need to be ridden everywhere with the throttle to the stop and there are such huge gaps between ratios in the dreadful four speed gearbox that once a gearchange is accomplished the motor's back to sulking in the lower reaches of the rev range.
As this sudden lost of power would often happen whilst trying to overtake some cage it would really make me mad! I'd stamp the lever back down a gear with the throttle to the stop and my heart in my mouth. Half the time the bike would hit a false neutral, making the engine strain at what felt like 20,000 revs in so much noise that cages would swerve off the road assuming their engine was blowing up, and with so much vibration my poor old marital tackle was chaffed against the back of the shuddering petrol tank, rendered useless for days afterwards.
Even with the carb fixed the motor was only turning in 45mpg when thrashed and about 60mpg when I decided the only thing to do was pretend I was ninety years old and potter through town like I was on a bloody C50. Riding any bike in a slow and sane manner is an open invitation to cagers to try to knock you off the road. No chance of that, though, as the CD was worth sod all I was quite happy to bash it into erring cagers, the newer the better, then scamper off up the road at an indecent clip. Strangely, when aided by fear and adrenalin the gearchange worked precisely and I could almost put 75mph on the clock. Jolly good fun, or what?
Handling was a bit strange but it usually went where it was pointed when upright, only deflected by the larger of the potholes which made the whole bike shudder horribly. Cornering was limited by the Chinese tyres and running wide through the faster bends. Hitting bumps in such a state required a boot down and a vicious wrench on the bars. It took a while to get to grips with the hack, but most of its nastiness was predictable.
I came to enjoy the massive back wheel slides in the wet, the disappearing braking could be laughed off, but I had to draw the line at total engine failure when the ignition went dead due to water ingress. Not only did it leave me at the mercy of the cagers it'd also leave me sitting in wet underwear after spending a load of dosh on cans of WD40, refusing to start until at least half an hours worth of prayers were said.
Some black, tar-like gunge acquired from a building site and applied to the coil seemed to do the trick, but the landlady was in a rage for well over a week over all the mess in her garden. I told her it would keep the dogs away but she didn't seem impressed. This was nothing, though, to the time I'd 'watered' her geraniums with old engine oil. The can sort of fell out of my hands as I walked past them!
There was never any point taking the CD for an MOT, even in the unlikely event of a pass I could never buy a tax disc because insurance was way beyond my means. As the bike did attract the attention of the plod, not least because the silencers were missing (although I had stuck the baffles up the downpipes), it meant I always had to be on my guard and willing to take unlikely escape routes.
One time we rattled down about twenty stone steps, the bike zig-zagging all over the shop and myself suffering bruised ribs. Another, I ran the bike through a wooden fence, across someone's nice bit of lawn and out the other side through another bit of fence. Luckily, the wood was crappy, just splintered and shattered without doing any damage to the bike.
Despite this wanton vandalism, the CD ran for over 8000 miles with only the odd oil change, regular spark plug swap and occasional kick of the tyres. The end came from that old Honda bogey - the camchain. I'd bodged the tensioner to stop the rattles but one false neutral excess was too much. The chain snapped, the valves tangled and took out the pistons. On striping down, I found that the four bearing crankshaft was the only thing that wasn't trashed.
The chassis was good, or at least not so terrible that I could afford to throw it away. CD175s are getting on, these days, so it was down to the breakers searching for a replacement. I almost bought an RD350LC motor. That would've been something, but good sense won out and a CD125 Benly motor was carried home in my haversack. What a hassle I had getting the damn thing to fit but after a week of swearing I was back on the road.
The gearbox was brilliant, the lack of vibes soothing and the performance utterly pathetic. I don't know if it was this bad new but she would only go up to 65mph, a mere 50mph being more normal unless I was willing to ride with a deathwish. The engine had cost £100 so I felt cheated.
Still, it went back and forth to work every day in complete reliability, always coming to life with a half-hearted kick, and doing 95mpg. A miser's dream. I used it for two months, the time it took to get the bike registered as a 12hp learner. A remarkable improvement in handling occurred when I stripped down the forks and replaced the springs - the old ones looked like each had been sourced from a different bike! No wonder it'd been a bit weird. As a 12hp learner the old rat was suddenly very valuable and I had no trouble copping 300 notes. That meant I'd had a year's biking for nothing. Neat!
Mark Groves
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Problems, problems, problems. Okay, I'd only paid £150 for the CD175 but within a hundred miles I was in trouble. The first sign was petrol pouring out of the single carb. Off with the float bowl, adjust float height by pure instinct and bung it all back together. Fine until the fuel ran out. I nonchalantly went for reserve only to find the engine's burping deepening. I pulled off the road before I was run down and ripped the fuel pipe out. Just the slightest dribble dropped out.
I kept going by leaning the bike over on its side so that fuel could flow into the tap half of the tank. Got me to a gas station. A full tank of petrol meant that the fuel sprayed out of the cap, explaining the blistered paint and 55mpg. When I later tore the tap out the reserve half had a gauze filter full of crud, bits of the petrol tank rusting. Easily cleaned out but it clogged up every 50 miles or so. In the end, I pulled the gauze off and fitted an in-line filter, which took minutes rather than hours to clean out.
I've never come across another bike with such a vicious gearbox. Not only was there no feel to the lever, which ended up knocking the box into false neutrals all the time, but also there were huge gaps between the ratios. Every time I wound the little twin up to full revs I'd lurch into the next gear only to end up with a deep exhaust note and a marked reluctance to rev. The CD was so slow that even restricted 125's could burn it off. The only moment of excitement was when I'd hit a false neutral with the throttle held wide open...the engine felt really frantic with vibration trying to split open the petrol tank and my feet buzzed off the pegs. It never seemed to do any damage to the engine which defined itself as extremely tough.
Even the 70mph top speed caused the back end to wallow all over the place, which had my bowels feeling loose. Even more distracting was the front SLS drum brake. It worked alright at town speeds but 40 or 50mph stops had the braking fading away to nothing. Brown trouser time as the obstacle I was hoping to avoid rushed towards me. The Honda wasn't heavy but by some trick of the steering it was tough going to change direction rapidly. Usually I managed to avoid hitting things as I didn't want to spend any money replacing the spindly forks and marginal tubular frame.
The suspension was something of a joke as age had worn it into a softness that had everything down on the stops just under my own eleven stone. The seat was large and well sprung, which saved my backside and spine from the worst of the pot-holes. It contributed to a lack of steering accuracy that made the CD difficult to navigate through the ruined road surfaces, a strangely modern obstacle course given the huge amounts of money that the government steals in taxation.
After the first couple of weeks which seemed full of hassles, bike and I sort of settled down to life together. The regular daily commute into work, some weekend work and the odd dual carriageway blast to clean the old girl out. Huge mudguards and full chainguard made the bike as practical as an MZ. The machine came with one of those huge clear screens that was marvellous in the wet or cold but made the front end twitch every time I went over 40mph. I took it off fast but use it in winter.
It was with the wet, cold spell at the end of autumn that starting became poor. Unlike the CB175, the CD only has a kickstart. It needed so much use that the shaft kept coming loose, which ended up stripping its retaining bolt's thread. I had to spend hours, and about six drill bits, before I was able to drill right through the lever to fit a nut and bolt. Some bikes end up with the kickstart (or gear lever) welded on to their shafts.
I cleaned up the points, went over the wiring and tried an MZ coil (the electrics are a pathetic six volts) but the only thing to help was new spark plugs every 500 miles...in the cheap hacking game an outrageous expense! A new coil or set of points might've cured the starting but I compromised by cleaning up the plugs every 200 miles, which allowed them to last a more acceptable 1500 miles.
The electrics weren't in the least impressive. A horn that wouldn't have been acceptable to most cyclists and a front light that made most moped efforts luxurious. I just couldn't see where I was going on unlit roads and the flickering rear lamp was an open invitation for any cagers in the area to back end me. When I tried to upgrade the front lamp either the new bulb blew or the battery rapidly drained off.
I ended up in a ditch once and with the front wheel lodged in a man-hole after the cover had disappeared! Both times I was rudely awoken by being thrown over the handlebars. It happened so fast that the first I knew about it was head-butting the ground. As I was wearing an open-face lid and goggles it hurt, reprofiling my nose and scarring my face. You see a hell of a lot of action on old hacks of this type!
So, I had a bike with no lights, little more by way of braking and the kind of dull looks that made the uninitiated laugh out loud. On the other hand, it cost sod all and ran for 18000 miles without any major expenses. If the clock could be believed, that meant it'd done 75,456 miles until the engine gave up in a big way.
I'd noticed that the top end was rattling a bit more than normal but wasn't too concerned. I should have been, as it presaged both the tensioner and camchain breaking up. The bike gave a lurch, a bang, then free-wheeled when I hit the clutch lever. However, it wasn't the clutch that freed it but the drive chain breaking. The latter left a couple of holes in the back of the crankcases whilst the broken camchain and tensioner finished off the tired engine internals.
For some reason, which I can't figure out now, I actually pushed the bike all of eight miles to my home. Actually, the chassis wasn't in bad shape and the tyres were newish, so that must've been it. A used motor was found for the extravagant sum of fifty quid and was fitted within an hour. It even started easily but the performance was very poor, with a 60mph top whack, and the alternator didn't work. I could've used the old one but it was easier to charge up a car battery every night and carry it around in the top box.
The major hassle was the monotonous vibration, present at all revs, that left both feet and hands shaking. It was okay for the short hop to work but ruled out any serious motorcycling. I tried to find another engine but they were all nearly dead. Some sods wanted up to 500 notes for low mileage bikes, ridiculous given that you can buy a nice Benly for that kind of money.
I decided that CD175's were a bit of a lost cause at this stage of the game. I sold mine for £200 with the spare engine, which meant I had a few years of motorcycling for next to nothing. If they appeal to you, and you find a nice 'un, buy it by all means but don't expect anything special. Me? I bought a cheap CD250U that had minor crash damage. Once I fixed it up I then had a bike that was about ten times better than the CD175; superior on fuel and consumables as well as being faster. Time had moved on and the CD175 has had its day.
Nick Goldman
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I purchased the CD back in May '88 for the sum of £300. It had 5000 miles on the clock, was V registered and was very CDish. The bike had a Michelin M38 fitted the wrong way round on the rear but it was almost due for replacement so I left it. It didn't make a lot of difference to the handling except when going through a patch of freshly spilt thick oil.
The first long, 165 mile, trip was greeted with torrential rain all the way there. My Belstaff became like a funnel and seemed to suck more water in, my boots were no better and the dye in the gloves had run, making my hands blacker than engine oil. Initial impressions once the rain had cleared, were that she went around corners quite well and serious enjoyment could be had.
Except, that one morning she refused to start. I went back in the house and by the time I'd tried again she had changed her mind and went first prod of the button.
I fitted a Rickman handlebar fairing and had a Pirelli MT15 put on the rear wheel. These MT15s give good service and last for around 8000 miles. The fairing proved to be a real winner during the winter as it kept all the wind off my hands and face.
All went well until some idiot woman tried to defy the laws of physics and coexist on my bit of physical territory. I went flying up across the central grass reservation towards the other carriageway. The AA took us home that night. The woman didn't stop and the plod were not interested.
In the summer I was hit from behind whilst waiting at a roundabout so I used this accident to repair the damage from the other one. The other insurance company played all the usual games until I got ratty with their head man which finally produced a cheque for the full amount. I managed to obtain a new Honda rear mudguard which wasn't really damaged but had split so badly it had only half an inch of metal holding it together (£90 for a new one). Despite large dollops of chrome protector the carrier developed a bad case of the brown fever within a few weeks of its fitment.
The little four stroke twin got me through two Toy Runs at Christmas, various trips to Donnington, Mallory and general commuting. Last month I hit a bus that left it too late to try to turn in front of me but that claim is proceeding nicely at the moment.
Four star petrol is used, unleaded was tried but gave rough results and apparently caused an oil leak in my mate's CD125! Very little oil is burnt although some of it is lost through a duff seal on the left-hand side. NGK CR7HS plugs seem to be supplied with the right gap size and are replaced with the points whenever I think about it. I am very fussy about oil changes and use Shell four stroke oil every 1000 miles. Timing and camchain adjustment is carried out occasionally. The valves have been done once in 11000 miles.
Drive chain and sprockets were replaced at 17000 miles, although the new chain is terrible needing frequent adjustment.Very few problems have been experienced except when it occasionally refuses to start. Due to badly worn points. During foggy weather the carb slide tends to stick open.
All round then, these are good commuters that are adequate for the odd run. Maintenance is minimal as is cleaning, whilst reliability is excellent. Mine has 21000 miles on the clock and has been on the deck three times now but only needs a little persuasion to come back into shape and away we go again.
Shaun Malin
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I purchased the CD back in May '88 for the sum of £300. It had 5000 miles on the clock, was V registered and was very CDish. The bike had a Michelin M38 fitted the wrong way round on the rear but it was almost due for replacement so I left it. It didn't make a lot of difference to the handling except when going through a patch of freshly spilt thick oil.
The first long, 165 mile, trip was greeted with torrential rain all the way there. My Belstaff became like a funnel and seemed to suck more water in, my boots were no better and the dye in the gloves had run, making my hands blacker than engine oil. Initial impressions once the rain had cleared, were that she went around corners quite well and serious enjoyment could be had.
Except, that one morning she refused to start. I went back in the house and by the time I'd tried again she had changed her mind and went first prod of the button.
I fitted a Rickman handlebar fairing and had a Pirelli MT15 put on the rear wheel. These MT15s give good service and last for around 8000 miles. The fairing proved to be a real winner during the winter as it kept all the wind off my hands and face.
All went well until some idiot woman tried to defy the laws of physics and coexist on my bit of physical territory. I went flying up across the central grass reservation towards the other carriageway. The AA took us home that night. The woman didn't stop and the plod were not interested.
In the summer I was hit from behind whilst waiting at a roundabout so I used this accident to repair the damage from the other one. The other insurance company played all the usual games until I got ratty with their head man which finally produced a cheque for the full amount. I managed to obtain a new Honda rear mudguard which wasn't really damaged but had split so badly it had only half an inch of metal holding it together (£90 for a new one). Despite large dollops of chrome protector the carrier developed a bad case of the brown fever within a few weeks of its fitment.
The little four stroke twin got me through two Toy Runs at Christmas, various trips to Donnington, Mallory and general commuting. Last month I hit a bus that left it too late to try to turn in front of me but that claim is proceeding nicely at the moment.
Four star petrol is used, unleaded was tried but gave rough results and apparently caused an oil leak in my mate's CD125! Very little oil is burnt although some of it is lost through a duff seal on the left-hand side. NGK CR7HS plugs seem to be supplied with the right gap size and are replaced with the points whenever I think about it. I am very fussy about oil changes and use Shell four stroke oil every 1000 miles. Timing and camchain adjustment is carried out occasionally. The valves have been done once in 11000 miles.
Drive chain and sprockets were replaced at 17000 miles, although the new chain is terrible needing frequent adjustment.Very few problems have been experienced except when it occasionally refuses to start. Due to badly worn points. During foggy weather the carb slide tends to stick open.
All round then, these are good commuters that are adequate for the odd run. Maintenance is minimal as is cleaning, whilst reliability is excellent. Mine has 21000 miles on the clock and has been on the deck three times now but only needs a little persuasion to come back into shape and away we go again.
Shaun Malin