I didn’t to see how hot it would get!
Verdict is in: I need one 
I had a fan on while I slept last night. Confusingly slept better than I normally do!
I was not aware of the Bluebird there, I lived in Chelsea for a while and the only Bluebird café I knew was on Kings Road!
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There is also the more famous bluebird in Nashville
Ah yes! How could I forget…
Lol! Yer I have a similar set of issues with the dueaville.
To replace the starter motor youbhave to take off the entire exhaust system!!
I do wonder who designs these some times.
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I dread to think what the labour charge for that is.
The 250 is now 16 years old and thoughts have been turning towards a replacement. The latest ride to catch my eye is Honda’s ‘New Tourer’ the NT1100. A road going version of the CRF1100 Africa Twin which is little bit Deauville meets Pan European with a hint of CBF1000. The problem is the more I look into it the less attractive it gets.
The good - it comes as standard with cruise control, heated grips, panniers etc. Performance is about the same as The 250 but there is a claimed 10% improvement on fuel economy and 25% improvement on tank range.
The bad - service parts costs such as £92 for x2 air filters, £120 for x2 spark plugs, and that is supply only!
The ugly - Honda recommend engine oil change at 8,000 miles and engine oil filter change at 16,000 miles?
Compared to The 250’s £15 air filter, £30 x4 spark plugs and the big plus for me is, if you’re allowed spanners, the ease in which it can be serviced and maintained at home by the home mechanic without the need of any special tools or diagnostic equipment.
I’m really struggling to justify parting with the hard earned when there’s probably more years left in the 250 than left in me.
Go on, have a guess? Mot, service, front brake pads, front tyre, air filter.
£600
And the rest!
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Grand?
Almost.
Reminds me of my CB500 days. Couple of hundred for a service and £800 for all the parts they had to replace.
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I’ve just carried out a major service on The 250: engine oil, oil filter, spark plugs, replacement valve shims, air filter, front brake lever and front tyre £182.52 plus a couple of days spannering.
Happy days
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There’s no law that says you’re not allowed to service your new bike yourself. Depends what’s a higher priority for you.
Sell-ability I guess, if that’s even a word. If I am buying a used vehicle I would take it with a pinch of salt someone telling me that yeah they did all the service themselves and always kept it up to date. But then I guess anyone can stamp a book and say it was serviced by a dealership.
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lol! I had that happen to me, spoke to a guy on the phone said it was all regularly serviced and all stamped. When I got there and looked at the service book, he’d marked the dates he did the services…
I duly walked away
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Having served a Motor Vehicle Technicians apprenticeship with Rootes (light commercials) and Honda (motorcycles) I have always maintained and serviced all my own vehicles. I keep detailed documentation and receipts for all work carried out as well as photographing the major procedures such as replacement cam belts, valve clearance adjustments etc. There can be no doubt of the service history unlike looking at several stamps in a service book.
‘Full Service History’ means squat in the used car business. I have a good friend who was running a Maserati Quattroporte. He hit bad times with divorce and then his landlord not renewing his business’s lease. The Maserati was neglected, it went many years without servicing; this is a car that is supposed to be expensively serviced every year.
Eventually economic reality persuaded him the car had to be sold. I went with him when he did the deal with one of London’s well respected Maserati independents. I won’t name the specialist here but a couple of weeks later he listed my friend’s car for sale, at top dollar, with beautiful photos of a well-valeted car, as Full Service History. I knew that car was missing four years of servicing.