Why do some sellers encourage buyers to destroy a good car?

[Tony Griffiths]

A friend built a JZR 3-wheeler some years ago and fitted it with a standard Honda CX engine - having been advised by the company owner that they went a lot better with one of those than the much larger Moto Guzzi unit. And, boy, did it go with a quite staggering performance, pretty respectable road-holding and dirt cheap on parts. When the said friend went to Stockport to collect all the second-hand Ford escort hubs and brakes and odds and ends, the guy rummaged in the back, came back with them and said, "That'll be £12". Which was rather less then expected, to say the least. He never did get round to fitting a 100 bhp 650cc Turbocharged CX unit - thank goodness. Those Honda CX units were lovely engines. I had a new CX650 Eurosport in 1982 and road it down to the South of France in one go. In contrast to my previous Norton, this would hold 100 mph+ for as long as you liked and yet, after that, would tick over like the proverbial sewing machine with not an oil leak to be seen. Try that on the Norton and it would have been going home in a van after a hundred miles, less the myriad of parts that had vibrated off beforehand, to say nothing of the rider needing several new fillings and being infertile for a good ten days....

[Reckless Rat]

I know someone has done an A7 special with a CX engine. I do like Hondas, they are generally unburstable. I wonder if an ST 1100 V4 would fit in my RP...

and whether I'd be able to stop it.

[Howard Wright]

Hi Bruce

You can’t stop it.  Dreaming that is  .

Cheers

Howard

[Reckless Rat]

Just like the song in "South Pacific"

I know we've drifted a bit off post, but what the hell. It's cold and there's nothing else to do, not even here. Don't believe anyone that tells you that life in the south of France is nothing but G&Ts on the terrace and sunbathing. OK I was sunbathing this morning with the Mem'Sahib when we had our tiffin on the terrace. It was 4°. It was sunny but I was wearing my quilted lumber jacket and a beany as well as having the patio heater lit just behind us... you just gotta do it as the Yanks say.

Now, I mentioned Hondas earlier. We had Hondas and BMWs at work and without a doubt the Hondas were the most reliable. The BMWs were good, but lacked that Japanese "je ne sais quoi". In the early 80s I had a Suzuki GS550 which I used for commuting. It was a very, very clean bike I had bought off of one our mechanics and it had never ever been wet. I couldn't in all fairness put it through a British winter. After 7 years it still had the nickel plating on the hose clips. Mick Lewis, of Lewis Leathers used to buy and sell bikes and stuff at auction and I went to see him at his place in Chesterfield to see whether he had something cheap and nasty to see me through the winter. Most of the lads had an MZ125 or similarb as a winter hack. He said to me, "I've got this Honda moped. It's OK but the kick start is stuck. If you can get it going give me £50." It was two years old. I got it going, for nowt and I've still got it.

I used it every day for several winters, rain hail or snow. It still runs like the day I bought it and the only thing I've had to change in all that time is the exhaust box, but that was because I trashed it doing some off road larks with a pal....

Apparently there are only a handful of them left, so during lockdown I gave it a make-over (lick o' paint) - it does bugger all for your street cred if you're seen riding it, but it goes like a dingbat up to 30mph (restricted):

[Ilmoro]

A friend built a JZR 3-wheeler some years ago and fitted it with a standard Honda CX engine - having been advised by the company owner that they went a lot better with one of those than the much larger Moto Guzzi unit. And, boy, did it go with a quite staggering performance, pretty respectable road-holding and dirt cheap on parts. When the said friend went to Stockport to collect all the second-hand Ford escort hubs and brakes and odds and ends, the guy rummaged in the back, came back with them and said, "That'll be £12". Which was rather less then expected, to say the least. He never did get round to fitting a 100 bhp 650cc Turbocharged CX unit - thank goodness. Those Honda CX units were lovely engines. I had a new CX650 Eurosport in 1982 and road it down to the South of France in one go. In contrast to my previous Norton, this would hold 100 mph+ for as long as you liked and yet, after that, would tick over like the proverbial sewing machine with not an oil leak to be seen. Try that on the Norton and it would have been going home in a van after a hundred miles, less the myriad of parts that had vibrated off beforehand - to say nothing of the rider needing several new fillings and being infertile for a good ten days....

The friend wasn't called Andrew was he?

[Duncan Grimmond]

Reckers, you should look at the new turn-key Pembleton V Sport

https://www.pembleton.co.uk/v-sport

Better price and far better three-wheeler, Guzzi V-twin and front wheel drive...

[Terry McGrath]

O.T. again. Reckers mentioned the MZ motorbike. I had the 250cc version and foolishly fitted fairings and leg-guards. Bombing back from Oulton Park one scorching day down the M6 the engine seized in the middle lane. The back wheel stopped at 70mph and I slid all over the busy 3 lanes until in unseized itself at about 15mph. Amazingly I stayed upright.
I trust myself on 2 wheels these days only with my Brockhouse Corgi. Park it on the pavement and the shopping goes in the basket I fitted to the handlbars.

[John Gould]

Many thanks for the Pembleton link Duncan.
Fabulous.
I’ve just instructed Wiggins to cancel the Ferrari order !

[dickie65]

Just to bring this thread full circle.

It Makes The Vendor Feel Special ( They have Special Needs )

As an aside my nephew has just started a craze to collect Honda Melodys, he and his mates have rescued a few of them.

[Tony Griffiths]

A friend built a JZR 3-wheeler some years ago and fitted it with a standard Honda CX engine - having been advised by the company owner that they went a lot better with one of those than the much larger Moto Guzzi unit. And, boy, did it go with a quite staggering performance, pretty respectable road-holding and dirt cheap on parts. When the said friend went to Stockport to collect all the second-hand Ford escort hubs and brakes and odds and ends, the guy rummaged in the back, came back with them and said, "That'll be £12". Which was rather less then expected, to say the least. He never did get round to fitting a 100 bhp 650cc Turbocharged CX unit - thank goodness. Those Honda CX units were lovely engines. I had a new CX650 Eurosport in 1982 and road it down to the South of France in one go. In contrast to my previous Norton, this would hold 100 mph+ for as long as you liked and yet, after that, would tick over like the proverbial sewing machine with not an oil leak to be seen. Try that on the Norton and it would have been going home in a van after a hundred miles, less the myriad of parts that had vibrated off beforehand - to say nothing of the rider needing several new fillings and being infertile for a good ten days....

The friend wasn't called Andrew was he?

No...but he lives not far away and has an A7...