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ROD¹ said :-
Ref: Honda cmx 500 Rebel hire.
I could only find one in the UK
£188 and would need a few days away as it's darn sarff.
https://www.farnhamhonda.co.uk/hire-bikes...
18/08/2025 10:35:20 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ren I think we're all different , for me I had an '05 Transalp that caused serious hip pain as can the slight feet forward attitude of my Enfield but the slight rearset of my CBR500 is currently the most comfortable. Years ago I had a quick spin on a Honda 750 Magna , peachy smooth motor , loads of go , a long sweeping motorway bend involved some puckering of various parts of my anatomy followed by more when braking on the exit slip road (single disc, flexing forks) and even more when attempting to navigate a roundabout at the end of the slip road, this was on a warm dry day. The owner had serious issues just riding in the wet.
Nigel
18/08/2025 15:06:29 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ren , alternatively what about clamping a set of universal highway pegs to your 500X crashbars ...
Nigel
https://www.rg-racing.com/browsebike/Universal/Universal/All/HWP0002BK/...
18/08/2025 15:12:52 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Now - I'm gunna be getting all serious and controversial.
Upt', an ex policeperson, suggests that the chances of being pulled up for standing on the pegs is slim to none. And yet... you're also quite unlikely to be pulled for smoking/vaping and there is no law forbidding smoking or vaping while driving. BUT. There are laws about keeping proper control of the vehicle and these can be used to "kind of" make smoking/vaping illegal. I call these kind of laws catch all laws.
There's no law saying you can't ride a motorcycle in flip-flops but given the right mood and wrong circumstances I reckon a successful prosecution could be brought for not being able to control the bike properly as shifting gears would be painful. I've heard tales that you can't wear sandals while driving because they might get caught up in the pedals!
99.99% of the time you'll be fine. It's when it's not fine. Knocked off the bike while standing up? Your fault, you could have steered out of the way if you'd been sat down and in full control of the bike. I honestly fear that if I were stopped at the lights and rear ended some prat-assed lawyer is going to argue I wasn't fully in control of my bike as I have a built up left boot. I know I know I know I know... but it's there - these stories are rare, terribly rare, but not impossible.
Same with the highway pegs nab301! Can't operate the brake lever when your foot is nowhere near the brake lever.
All this being said. Life is short and for living and you simply cannot cover every single possible outcome. I have the engine bars... I think highway pegs are a good call. If nothing else it'll help me understand how different seating positions help/hinder my comfort.
But... £95 PLUS VAT!!! Are you mad nab301? Temu, £10, that's better.
18/08/2025 17:03:32 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Don't highway pegs come with some sort of extensions to brake & gear levers? Plus, how can you say someone standing on the footrests isn't in control? Ask a trials rider whether they're in control when standing - in fact that's exactly why they do it. Unlike the GS riders Upt' refers to.
19/08/2025 09:53:09 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ian, I think the forward pegs Ed refers too are just accessory footrests that clip on the frame/bars. They have no brake or gear lever compatibility. I would think traditionally made for the US interstate market.
Upt.
19/08/2025 11:01:56 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, hadn't thought about that as I hadn't looked at the link. Assumptions again! I suppose if you do hundreds of miles on freeways and never have to slow down or change gear there's some point to them.
I can't imagine a much worse way to use a bike however.
19/08/2025 11:46:47 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Yes some folks bucket list includes Route 66. I'd pay someone else to do it for me.
Not Ed though.
I was driving in Nevade once and we picked a spot in the distance to measure how far away it may be, yes we were bored. 12 flaming miles and not a single input required from moi. Straight and level, 12 miles?
Not another vehicle, person or building in sight.
19/08/2025 18:49:27 UTC
Glyn said :-
Something I never considered in the past was the comfort of a bike. I could jump on any machine, thrash it about and never worry about how I might be in pain or in some discomfort or other after I got off or later that day. The Suzuki gives me back ache and I probably couldn’t ride it more than 20 miles before a break. So I don’t think I will be able to cruise the cruiser. The TZR has much less effect on my back but the weight of my upper body is very painful on my hands. The ZZR1100 was generally something I could live with and I put a few thousand miles on that. The BMW 1100 gave me severe pains in my right leg and groine. Are bikes trying to tell me something?
25/08/2025 17:48:37 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I've never spent a lot of time on a cruiser style bike but I can't think how they can be comfortable because all the weight goes through your arris and not your legs and arms. A slightly forward leaning position has always provided the best results for me.
26/08/2025 11:00:44 UTC
Glyn said :-
That makes sense, so why do they call them Cruisers then? My imagination gives me images of thousands of Harleys making that Route 66 5k mile trip you mentioned in an earlier post.
26/08/2025 11:59:06 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I suppose if you have a backrest and suitably padded seating area, plus feet forward (maybe on footboards rather than footrests) it could be rather like sitting on a Laz-ee-boy (sp?) watching the super bowl. Like others here I prefer a slight forward lean with a bar rise of 2-3" although on a fully faired bike like the Tiger and V-Strom I had I preferred higher bars as there's no wind to lean on. I am surprised that the forward footrests on the B'Zuki are quite comfortable.
I have actually been on part of route 66 though in a massive RV not on a bike. It was a most dispiriting experience. It's no longer a major road so it's potholed and many of the various roadside "attractions" are seedy and run down. One of the amusing things about major routes in the USA (although I'm not too sure about the "U" in that term) is the massive roadside hoardings telling you about a taco bell or dunkin donuts 60 miles ahead.
26/08/2025 12:32:22 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I got to ride the Rebel. There will be a proper report on my findings soon.
28/08/2025 07:57:26 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ren , looking forward to the review , was it anything like this...
Nigel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBs3oIU0-sE...
28/08/2025 17:13:48 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Nope - nothing like that nab301! I've just published my experience on the hip aspect on the Rebel, an actual review of the bike will be forthcoming.
29/08/2025 09:22:17 UTC
Glyn said :-
I enjoyed that link Nigel. I do like people racing unsuitable things. Not sure I would want to try that on my Intruder. Such an event would have been a fitting end to the Ed’s Honda 125. What did happen to that?
30/08/2025 09:07:05 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Ahhh. The Honda CBF125 with 100,000 miles.
Not much happened Glyn. I had lost interest in the 125 around 80-90 thousand miles but I was determined to reach the 100,000 mark. As such I ploughed on and kept it going with an endless feed of oil. Then it happened as you know - the magic of the clock returning to 00000.0 WOOHOO!!!
...And nothing changed, nothing at all. No-one was interested save for a few readers on here saying "well done". I was not lofted high by throngs of 125 owners. Honda did not contact me yearning to add my CBF125 to the hall of fame. Magazines never called wanting to hear my tales of daring do. Nothing, not a mufty.
The bike languishes in the shed. I took the engine out to have a look inside, save for worn rings it could go on infinitely. So the engine is in bits in the living room. The chassis is in bits in the shed. I've sold a few bits and bobs here and there, thrown away a few other worn out bits and sooner or later I'll have to scrap what's left. There endeth a 10 year 100,000 mile adventure.
01/09/2025 08:21:33 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
A shame to scrap it. Why not give it to some impecunious youth to rebuild?
01/09/2025 09:52:14 UTC
Glyn said :-
There is a tinge of sadness there Ren. I’m glad you’ve still got it and it’s in your shed not mine. I remember 50 years ago when we had an Austin A35 that reached 100k miles in the middle of the New Forest. We knew we needed to mark the occasion somehow So we stopped it right there and folded the front doors back onto the wings ( the leather straps had long gone) and the three youths present linked arms with a door on each end and sang it Auld Langsine. It seemed appropriate at the time although I fail to see the reason today. It was very unusual back then to have a vehicle reach that sort of distance. A few years later I bought a Toyota and they claimed they would send you a certificate when it reached 100k miles. Given the reliability of those cars this was something they soon stopped doing.
01/09/2025 10:33:34 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Sadness? Yes Glyn, possibly vanity on my behalf too for thinking I was some kind of special for achieving 100k on a 125.
I am learning that being sentimental does not serve me well. I have too many things I keep for 2 reasons. 1 "It'll come in handy that" for things like bits of wood and part of a broken side panel from I bike I've not owned for 15 years. 2 "That's from when..." for things like trinkets and pictures and toys.
I am at risk of becoming a hoarder like you see on telly. I am slowly but surely working through my junk and binning a good portion of it. And I *need* to feel the same about the 125. Yes we shared a lot of miles, yes we created a lot of memories together, yes it was a faithful friend. But it is an old, broken and worn out motorcycle. A collection of metal and plastic. It has served it's purpose, it is now junk.
I'll find a way of disposing of it. I'll see if there's a local yoof who might want the engine to take apart and learn with but not the whole bike Ian. A yoof would have to spend WAY more than a serviceable 125 costs to get my 125 back on the road, it's a false economy.
02/09/2025 08:32:11 UTC
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