2009 Year in Review - Looking back on the Rebel

Well, 2010 may just be the year the Rebel goes to some new owner, if the plan plays out as originally created. Sigh. I'll miss that bike and I really hope it goes to some one who will appreciate it as much as I did. It's a great old bike. Those Hondas just keep on rolling. So, this seems like the appropriate time to reflect on all the good times.
The photo above is of the Rebel's speedometer and odometer on September 12, 2009. I bought the GS on September 11, 2009. I put about 15,000 miles on that bike in the 3 years that I rode it. That's pretty darn good! More than I thought I had but I'm not surprised. The commute alone is about 1,000 miles per month if I ride every day.

We didn't do any camping or overnight trips anywhere, although there was one time I left the bike were it was due to the weather. A couple more times I probably should have. We've seen Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park a couple of times, been as far south as Castle Rock and as far north as Loveland. Been as far east as that Colfax ride and as far west as the RMNP Alpine visitor's center. Been as high as 11,796 feet at that same visitor's center. Rode in the rain, and the lightning (!), fair weather and foul, dark of night and many sunny days too. Saw dirt, though only in a parking lot. Went two-up with my niece. Carried some large loads but nothing too heavy. Dropped it only twice , in the garage and the driveway, both times forgetting to put the sidestand down. Farkled it up with a windshield, hand guards, spotlights, hard side bags, and various other soft luggage bags. Changed the front and rear tires once each, the chain and sprocket once as well. I think I washed it once or twice. :-)

Looking back, I didn't really have very set goals for 2009. There were two posts but not much content to either. Some vague reference to the unfulfilled mountain pass goal, which remains unfulfilled I think. Technically we did go over a pass, just not a marked one. I was hoping to have a documented pass photo. I'm sure the GS will cover that one for me. And there was another vague reference to making a long trip, another unfulfilled goal that I plan to meet on the GS. So, I guess, 2009 was more about the ride than about the destination.

I enjoyed it for the most part. I do recall a lot of thinking about the GS and feeling as though I'd "out grown" the Rebel. But, also, at the same time, feeling as though the Rebel was the perfect bike for me in a lot of ways. It did everything I asked it to do. Never left me stranded. Didn't cost much to maintain. And, I really had fun riding it. The GS has taken that to a whole new level though. The riding style is more comfortable. It's brand new, which is fabulous. But, in general, I think it will meet all of the same requirements that the Rebel did, aside from being cheap to maintain of course. (I'll certainly miss that part!)

Here are a couple of shots from my last ride on the Rebel. This was a ride to an off site staff meeting up the canyon a bit from Boulder. For some reason I didn't even blog about it. Two weeks later, I bought the GS.

The road is calling and the Rebel is ready. In a couple of months, it may have it's own Craig's List ad out there. I'll link to it here when that happens.

Happy New Year! Keep the shiny side up!

:-)

Its (nearly) aliiiive!!!!!!

Moto Photo Blog-o-Rama: Canyons, Chasms, Mountains

Rocky Mountain National Park, me and my 450 Rebel, hubby's CX 500. That was a nice ride and was our longest ride at the time at a little over 100 miles. :-)

I saw this photo theme on: http://bolty.net/

Tha Dance of the Rebels

My lovely hubby has been hard at work on the two parts bike Rebels. You may recall, we purchased a non-running 450 a year or more ago. The idea was it would be spare parts for the daily runner. Or, if we felt so inspired, a practice wrenching bike for me, or even better, a bike hubby could get going for us to sell. Of course, it sat for a while before any of those things came to pass. We did scavenge a few parts from it here and there though. Then, we purchased another 450 for parts. This one had been wrecked in the late 1990s but did have a running engine. No title with it but the first parts bike did come with a title. So, the new plan was to swap out all the good parts to make the titled parts bike a runner. That is where we are now. (And by we, I mean hubby.)
Above is the wrecked bike as hubby was preparing to remove the engine. The original owner (who I think bought it new) t-boned a car. The forks are mashed, the front fender was mangled (long since tossed by us), the gas tank has a massive dent in it where the rider landed on it (ouch!), and once the engine was out, we discovered a crack in the frame.

Below is the parts bike with the engine, among other things, already removed. Hubby thinks the engine is fine and that the starter might be bad. So, he is swapping out all of the keyed bits from the wrecked bike.

Both bikes came with trashed gas tanks. The parts bike had a tank from a 250 that was rusty and had many dents in it. I gave that to some one for the cost of shipping. The wrecked bike, in addition to the big dent, was also rusty inside. This bike had been stored outside since the wreck. Hubby said there was water coming from some of the parts as he removed them. All in all, the thing is in pretty good shape though. Mostly cosmetic issues aside from the wrecked issues. Between the two bikes, there is definitely a very nice running 450 in there. They both had very low miles as well. We'll need to replace the front tire but the rear was brand new when we got the parts bike. So, we'll leave that up to the next owner I think.

Below is the parts bike with the new engine in it. We plan to use the Tank brand gas tank that I bought new last year. (It's not attached yet.) They now have the console in stock so I should probably order one before they raise the prices again. I'll be glad not to need to do business with them any more. What a pain.


Oh, in the midst of this project, hubby also replaced the rear shocks on my daily runner with a pair from one of these parts bikes. He's so fabulous!

There's more completed since these photos were taken so I'll try to keep the updates coming. I'm hoping this blog will be a nice resource for anyone interested in buying one of these 450s. Hubby works faster than I can get photos documenting the job. :-)

G650GS: There and Back Again

So, my new bike deserves a new blog. Plus, this blog is all about the Rebel, so I don't want to steal it's thunder. :-)
http://g650gs.blogspot.com/
Not much there yet but there will be. :-)

Got a new bike!!!!!

2009 BMW G650GS

Oil Leak

See the bolt to the left of center? See the drop of oil clinging to it? And the spot of oil below on the lever? It runs down the lever to the end and drips. Not a lot. That spot in the bottom image is after it sat all day. But, I think most of it comes off as I'm riding. You can see it all caked on the sides of the engine. It's also all over the front and underneath. Bummer. Should probably pay more attention to this. Especially since this isn't new. :-(