Scratching on a Honda CD200 Benly

Seeing as Mrs Thatcher is about to cut my fortnightly supply of beer tokens I’ve decided to do my bit for enterprise culture by writing for the UMG. I know there have been at least two articles on the CD but this is one from a different angle and will hopefully give succour to those scratchers who are terminally broke.

After selling my KH250 cos I couldn’t afford 28mpg and a set of plugs every two months, I was left with the grand sum of £160. That sort of cash won’t buy too many desirable bikes, but it’s sufficient for one of Honda’s most boringly reliable bikes. Swallowing pride, and much to the amusement of my LC and X7 riding mates, one miserable day in June 86 I turned up on a dirty red, 17000 mile, Sydney - stop laughing, it might yet happen to you.

Now, I’m an optimist, so sod them, because life must go on, even after purchasing a CD. Everyone knows how reliable are these old workhorses, but do they know how much fun they can be? I doubt it very much obviously, I'll have to re-educate them.

In the last two years I have covered 18000 miles on this trusty steed and actually managed to enjoy most of them! About a third of them have been spent on the motorway in the vain hope of finding employment.

Motorways and Benlys are not usually a good combination, but an average of 60-65mph is quite possible in all weather conditions, except up very steep hills. The bike regularly does Manchester to Bristol in just over three hours at a cost of £3.50 in petrol - a combination most bikes would have difficulty imitating.
But unless you're in a hurry or you're a bit of a masochist, motorways are best avoided.

The real fun starts on fast A roads. Yes, I know Sydney has zero ground clearance thanks to the pegs and exhausts, but this can be compensated for with a little practice and loss of a few brain cells (talking of exhausts they go every six months unless soaked in oil). Scratching is possible by taking the correct line through sweeping bends, the lack of ground clearance can largely be ignored, the pegs touch down but pivot up, until the rust buckets (silencers) hit the tarmac and try to lift the wheel off the ground. Real madness will eventually get the main stand touching down, which is back off time.

Once you’ve perfected the art of ignoring the lack of clearance a multitude of problems tend to crop up, mostly centred on the frame and suspension. The frame tubing is better suited to deck chair manufacture and the suspension is unbelievably soft - saying it’s under-damped is like saying Mrs Thatcher cares for nurses.

Despite this it never wobbles or shakes its head, it does wallow in corners and pogos merrily away over bumps. The amount of dive under heavy braking suggests that the drum is tremendously powerful. But, these are not just features of the CD, and will be apparent in most bikes in the commuter bracket.
The brakes are actually adequate and after 30000 miles and 7 years are still on the original shoes with plenty of life left.

Performance is pretty awful, acceleration on par with a sports 125 and a top speed of 75mph, but, luckily, you don’t have to do 152mph to enjoy yourself on a motorcycle. Around town, even the CD200 will upset Sharron and Trevor in their XR2; it’s great fun dropping the clutch at the lights before the bloke on the GPz has noticed because he’s too busy posing. Just watch him wind his bike up to 11000rpm simply because he can’t take the embarrassment of being behind a Benly.

Acceleration up to 55mph is OK (just) but beyond this speed it’s fourth gear only fast riding is a matter of careful throttle control, back off just a little too much and a disproportionate amount of hard earned speed disappears. On the open road the little Honda will buzz along between 60 and 70mph and unless the road is very long or straight only determined maniacs in their tin boxes will get past if you’re in the right frame of mind,

Perhaps this story has shed a new light on the Benly, just because the riders are skint and wear donkey jackets doesn’t mean we don’t ride bikes for fun. Part of the fun is confounding peoples expectations of its performance, part is the fun of the overcoming awkward handling and part of the fun just can’t be expressed, it has to be experienced - but only if you can get into the right mood.

However, this article is in need of a health warning of some sort - you should never attempt such anti-social antics unless the bike is equipped with the best quality tyres you can afford, is in basically good condition and the road is bone dry. Have fun.

R Humphris