Is it just me or do non-running bikes seem to attract other non-running bikes? The enfield project is coming together, so the cx decides to join it in idleness by first blowing the head gasket. Then springing a leak from the radiator. Now it's decided to refuse to top up the battery with sparks and lights. I think it was just jealous of the attention being paid to another bike. I've also just been offered a free honda 250, which is naturally also not a runner. Not being able to refuse a bargain (! a free bike is a free bike) I am now facing the prospect of owning three bikes, none of which work. Can anyone beat this? Personally it's still a bit short of my record in a shared house which came to 9 bikes with 1 runner :) BTW this is why I missed Matlock :( Hopefully next time if I can beat at least one of them into submission...

You going into the scrap business abctrev?                                                                                                                                                                             

hey mate a honda not running  if you said harley that i could understand .... but a honda ..... a honda  are you sure its a honda ....................                                                                                                                                                                              

aha!                                                                                                                                                                                      

keep quitet you ,di this is a serious                                                                                                                                                                              

nowt wrong with harleys......have you seen the size of thier spares book?  Designed to be kept on the road not thrown away like jap stuff. For instance you can order pistons/rings/bearing rollers the next size up for a harley to take up the wear......try doing that with Honda. Also if you need just one switch for the switch gear you can buy it...not the whole thing like Honda!   I know the old jokes about harleys being unreliable and yes I'm guilty of throwing a few around too. My Honda has been off the road several times thanks to stupid electrical faults or waiting on parts. My mates 1986 1200 sportster is only off the road when hes changing the oil....once a year!...his parts are cheaper, built better and no stupidly complicated electronics.   I'm begining to see why he keeps it, from 0-60 its quicker than my 750 and it don't handle too shabby either. Tomorrow I'm going up to Sycamore H-D to play on a new 1200.....sometimes you just have to try something else so you know whats about.   Now if you had said Ducati!...................well theres another one with alledged reliability issues. My mates m reg 900ss has now done 70,000 yes 70,000 miles!.....only big problems were recalls for new head studs..he uses that every permissable day bar ice and snow.  I guess in the end its horses for courses and people tend to stick to what they know, we could all learn a thing or two by trying something that little less mainstream sometimes.                                                                                                                                                                             

You should always have one bike for tinkering with and doing up, and another for riding. I'm the same as abctrev, with a 250 Superdream in the back. It runs, and shouldn't be too far off being MoT-able, but it's just finding the time...                                                                                                                                                                             

I know exactly what you mean. In my garage are 5 bikes, only two of which I could drag out and use, and one of those (Yamaha 250) is in desperate need of a rebore. The SV650 had a front wheel bearing collapse on Friday evening on the way home from work, bastard thing nearly had me off too. The Gixer is mostly in bits under the bench, the CBR600 is complete but needs a battery and fork seals to get an MOT. All I have legal and running are the Daytona and the 250 SpazzTrakka.

Oh, there's a really manky ZXR750 in there as well, also a non-runner that I have promised a mate I'll get running and ready for an MOT... I only hope he realises it'll be next summer before he can use it.

I forgot the grotty Chinese minimoto belonging to a friend of no. 2 son. He's run it with straight petrol rather than two-strole mix, and I suspect he's knacked the piston rings. I trip over the dam thing on every trip to the freezer....                                                                                                                                                                             

Well, glad it's not just me that manages to acquire these characterful (?) bikes. Hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel (that isn't an oncoming headlight) and I'll be able to sort the cx out at the weekend :) Then on to the enfield. Then on to the 250. Then probably on to the enfield some more, all the while keeping fingers, toes and anything else crossed that the cx doesn't throw another hissy fit and break. Oh, well, you've got to have a hobby!