Copyright (c) umgweb.com 1998
The CD200 Benly is a twin cylinder four stroke commuter with vague sixties styling. I was actually attracted to the bike by the peculiar chromed mock air intakes on the sidepanels and the metal fork shrouds, but I still don't know why. Mine was one of the deep maroon red ones. I liked the colour a lot, perhaps because it was the same as my Rudge.
Friends who rode 400s and 750s all seemed to think I should have got something larger but I was easily pleased. I had wanted a bike for commuting and a solid, reliable little commuter I had got.
After a while I began to use it for longer journeys. It happily buzzed along at 60 to 65mph with a top speed of about 75mph. This required a week's diet and a following wind to achieve. In retrospect, I might have been more successful with the kind of diet that produced a following wind. However, since it also required an ungainly position and snot on the speedo, my licence was always fairly safe.
Soon, I started to take advantage of my new found freedom and I started to explore away from the boundaries of London. It comfortably took me to Oxford, Bristol, Norwich and Birmingham. The only problem with long journeys was numb fingers due to handlebar vibration and the sickening way it would wallow around motorway bends when travelling with a pillion. It always seemed to give me about 70 or 80mpg, regardless of the load it was carrying.
Performance is not the most dynamic in the world but the seat is broad and comfortably padded. I always consider this an important feature of a bike since nature has not endowed me with much natural padding of my own.
On one trip to Birmingham in early March, in snow, with a new girlfriend (I believe in throwing my pillions in at the deep end; she made me join the RAC), I suffered the one major problem with the bike. I think there must be some law which says that the act of checking a bike the night before a long journey is bound to either reveal some major fault or cause one. This time it was the petrol tank which had rusted internally just above the seam and chose that moment to split.
I had to jury-rig a Bantam tank in its place. A nice old pensioner in Brum told me how he used to own one of these and wasn't it so much better than the Japanese stuff. I hadn't the heart to tell him that, in this case, it was only the tank that was better.
I subsequently had another tank go in the same place and suspect it is caused by water in the tank - whether this comes from condensation or from dodgy petrol I don't know. The third tank got one of those epoxy coatings and a fuel filter. I was working as a carpenter at that time and the bike was my daily transport all over London. The engine is surprisingly good at coping with a load and never complained at the amount it regularly had to pull. I've seen one used to pull a sidecar full of ladders by a window cleaner from Kent whose round covered South London.
I occasionally used my Honda to collect pieces of wood for work. Six feet was the longest I could manage and the only other limit was whether I could straddle the wood to reach the back brake and gear levers.
I regularly used it to transport my tools to wherever I was working by strapping them on the pillion perch. The engine never complained but the chain tended to stretch at an alarming rate. The full enclosure meant this wasn't very obvious and I am indebted to Hamrax Motors for rescuing me without too many rude comments when the chain jumped off one very heavily loaded night on a West London roundabout.
The full chain casing became a conventional chainguard after this, the rate of deterioration of the chain increased. If you want a practical commuter, keep the chain fully enclosed. Chain demise was doubtless hastened by the ease with which the bike did wheelies - it's really simple, all you do is strap to the pillion seat two toolboxes of carpentry tools, an electric drill, jig-saw, a four foot level, a bag of saws, plus a top box full of various screws, nails, extension leads, a radio and various butties; and then you strap on one of those marvellous folding workbenches. Top speed isn't much, though.
The demise of this splendid little bike occurred on New Year's Ever, 1985, when I tried to board a bus through the exit doors whilst still riding the bike and without waiting for the bus to stop. Yes, one of those big red things with two floors and an annoying habit of never turning up when you need one and, no, I didn't see it.
This, perhaps not surprisingly, slightly shook my confidence since I was sober, not in a hurry, on a clear, dry road and still don't remember a thing. My only consolation was that the person who drove me back several weeks later, so that I could complete my insurance form, nearly did exactly the same thing in daylight. I was very lucky and celebrated New Year on my back on a hospital trolley with some whisky from a medical hip flask.
The bike was rescued by a South London bike dealer who shall remain nameless. Should anybody else suffer such a fate, and I very much hope that if you do, you are as lucky as I, then get your bike back as soon as possible. I waited until I was less dejected before bothering about it. I also believed the dealer when he said the bike was repairable and the frame was okay. I should have guessed by the way I had to pay for storage and recovery charges before I was allowed to see the bike.
The front end was just a bent and mangled mess. The most substantial part of the headstock was bent and there was ominous crazing of the frame paint everywhere else I looked. More dejection followed. This is just another way of saying that I was really pissed off with it and slung the remains in a distant corner of the garage.
Several months later I was offered a non running CD200 with 13000 miles on the clock. This victim of a divorce had stood in a back garden for several years and was offered cheap because the engine had seized during that time. I bunged in my original engine and, after replacing a few rusted pieces from my pile of scrap, I was owner of another CD200. This then acted as back up transport to a rather tired BMW combo which had progressed from carpenter's van to family transport.
I didn't feel the same way about this CD as I had about my first. Perhaps because I wasn't so proud about it, I didn't service it as regularly as I should have. I was on my way to college on it one day when it crossed my mind that I hadn't serviced it for some time. I was thinking about how marvellous the engine was, how it always started regardless of the weather and how it had never been any trouble in the 30,000 miles I had done. I was just getting to the point where you promise yourself that you will actually get round to changing the oil this weekend when....a loud clattering noise from the engine signified that the engine had decided that this weekend was too far away and too late.
The camshaft runs in the head unless you don't change the oil regularly. Then it escapes and runs around the head. I have taken this as a lesson for all subsequent bikes and keep their moving bits all neatly enslaved with regular doses of slippery stuff.
In conclusion, the CD200 Benly is a good, solid, reliable little bike, which if regularly serviced should last a good few miles. My engine lasted 33000 miles and, whilst the head was irredeemable, the pistons and bores were still within tolerances and the rest of the engine has been saved for spares. They commute well, require little attention and are comfortable enough for long journeys.
Richard Glynn
I bought my first ever motorcycle, a Honda CM125, just over one year ago. I had my heart set on one of these machines, mainly due to the relative street cred this learner legal bikes offers the novice (and of course bystanders). Obviously, one or two other people think the same way, hence the high values they command. After searching through the pages of my local Auto Trader for some time, and a couple of unsuccessful attempts (they’d been sold within a couple of hours of publication), I at last found the bike which I had been looking for. Was it all worth it? Well, read on.
It stood there gleaming in the mid afternoon sun, a C reg model in pretty much perfect condition with only 8000 miles on the clock. It was love at first sight and so I paid over the odds (£700). I wobbled the seventy miles home; even my mother had to admit that it was a pretty looking thing upon my arrival.
I clocked up 7000 miles in the year that I owned her and she never let me down. She did on average 80 miles to the gallon, so you can get 200 miles out of a full tank, including reserve. The worst ever figure being 70 and the best 90mpg, although I am sure you could get 100mpg if you really piddled along.
Oil consumption was negligible and I changed this every 1250 miles as per the Haynes manual; there was never any need for topping up. Every 1000 miles or so the air filter needs cleaning which is a simple operation, even to such a mechanical philistine as myself. Routine maintenance such as chain adjustment is also quite straightforward, which is just as well really as this needed doing quite often.
The final drive chain needed replacing at 13000 miles, although I could have got away with removing a link but at £15 it wasn’t worth the hassle. The rear sprocket also needed replacing at 15000 miles, although I left this to the dealer who bought it from me. The front tyre was new when I bought the bike and both Metzelers still had plenty of life in them when I sold her. The front tyre had only cost £30 but I imagine the rear would be fairly expensive to replace.
Both front and rear brakes are drums and need the shoes replacing every 5 to 7000 miles depending on how you ride. The front brake has a tendency to seize during the winter months but dismantling and cleaning this up is a fairly simple operation. The front could really do with a disc as you have to squeeze hard to stop and even harder in those small every day occurrences that crop up (like cars pulling out of junctions directly in front of you at 30 yards). Still, the rear brake is good and resulted in me failing my part two test the first time after doing a 180 degree turn for my emergency stop!
The only problem that I ever encountered with my CM was with the electrics. For some reason, never quite fully understood, the lights began to cut out on full beam but were fine on dip. A new bulb made no difference. So, knowing even less about electrics than I do about mechanics, I took the bike to an auto-electrician....after much testing and fiddling they solved the problem. For a while, then the lights began to cut out on dip but were fine on full beam. In retrospect, this was probably something to do with the switch. However, apart from this, the lights are quite good for the type of speeds attainable on a CM125 and rarely blow bulbs.
Handling was rather strange, as on all custom bikes, but okay provided corners were taken at sensible speeds (ie 30mph) and in the upright position! Straight line stability was good at most speeds, probably down to the fork rake and relatively long wheelbase for a 125. There wasn’t enough power to enjoy either fast A roads or motorways, but hugely expensive cars were put in their proper place in towns. Anyway, I had no problem getting around the cones on my part one and passed that first time, which wasn’t bad as I’m pretty useless at that sort of thing generally. The riding position is comfortable although I found the seat a bit too low for my 6’2" stature.
The seat itself was very comfortable - I’ve endured two 300 mile trips in one go without any aches or pains (although I’m young and agile) - and never split (the seat that is, not me) as some of the early models I’ve seen have tended to do. The rack on the back is also exceptionally useful and whilst the bike is capable of carrying quite large loads, two up makes the going very difficult, especially up hills and the handling becomes very weird if you insist on cornering at anything approaching a fast speed.
The only major expense ever necessary was that of replacing the exhaust at 15000 miles. Both split at exactly the same place and time, just after the seam welded between the silencers and pipes. This is common on CM125s (and CBs), due to moisture collecting in the silencer. A cheap solution would be to just replace the silencers but no aftermarket company does any pattern silencers (as they do for the CM250 at £60 a pair). A complete new exhaust system cost me £130. Beware, the gasket on the balancer pipe is an essential unless you want to sound like a tractor. The finish and quality was not so good as the original exhaust and one dealer tried to charge me £290 for the same thing....shop around!
The finish on the bike stayed very good despite the machine being left outside and being ridden through all weathers. The only places rust cropped up were under the tank and in the usual places such as the kickstart and underside of the frame, although this was minor. Incidentally, there is both a side and main stand on these bikes, the latter being very sturdy and useful for maintenance purposes.
The engine, a four stroke twin, is rather complex for such a small machine but never gave me many problems. It is nice and smooth at low speeds but one has to rev it hard to get any semblance of performance out of it and vibrations start to occur over 50mph, together with a strained whine. The bike is thus well suited to traffic speeds in and around town but not to motorways, where a long upward stretch can reduce top speed to 50mph and a real excess of vibration.
The gearbox is clunky but decisive and there is a useful neutral indicator light on one of the clocks (together with indicator and main beam lights) to save the novice those embarrassing kangaroo hops when stationary. At about 12000 miles the bike started to jump out of gear and get false neutrals occasionally, but this was just the valve clearances which needed adjusting (Well... ED). I got a friend to help me with this but it isn’t too difficult if you’ve got a Haynes manual handy.
All the finish on the cylinder heads and engine castings was beginning to wear off towards the end of my ownership. If you have the time and patience, you can strip this off completely with fine emery paper and polish it up with good results. I had a go on the casing to the rear wheel drum but it took ages and I wasn’t planing on keeping the vehicle much longer.
All in all, the Honda CM125 is a good bike (learner or not) since it is reliable, economical and has a big bike feel to it. The styling is a matter of taste but I liked it and the finish is better than average. My only complaints are the low seat height and lack of power, although the latter is no bad thing for someone new to motorcycling. I have just sold the bike to a dealer for £800 which would have given me a profit of £100 had it not been for the exhaust. However, this bike owes me nothing and I owe it a lot for never letting me down, being extremely economical and all the fun it has given me. I also never fell off it which, given my lack of experience, says a lot about the bike’s stability and general road worthiness.
Charles Pease
It all started, this strange affair with commuter Honda twins, with a 1985 Honda CD125. This was a cheapo, used as a DR hack for two years and 48000 miles. The neglect had been so total that the machine was difficult to discern under a layer of blatant corrosion. The bike had refused to start one day, so was slung to the back of the DR's garage whilst he went about his dubious business on a slightly less rusty RS250. Mine for 25 quid.
I was of an age when I could tackle the corrosion with a fury of enthusiasm. The problem with the engine turned out to be a spark plug that had stripped its thread. Taking out the engine, half the engine bolts snapped off and the head studs rotated in their threads. It was cheaper to buy a helicoil kit than pay the dealer to do the job. The quality of the alloy in these engines is pathetic but none of the major components were so worn out that they could not be used again.
I felt pretty proud when the CD was finally reassembled. Painted and polished it looked, once again, like a two year old bike should. Took half a day to get the engine running. The bike felt quite fast but very crude, with some fierce vibes and rather too much leaping around at the back end. Top speed turned out to be 70mph on the clock.
The next few weeks went by rather pleasantly, the Honda revealing itself as a tireless commuter that was more than a match for most of the caged population. Fuel was frugally consumed at 80 to 90mpg and starting was usually a first kick affair.
First problem was the silencer breaking off. It had been cunningly patched with a bit of tin foil and couple of jubilee clips which finally gave in to the ravages of time. Half the silencer bounced down the road, what didn't dissolve into rust was pulverised by following cars. For a tenner the breaker provided a mangey if whole replacement.
Two weeks later the bike stalled dead in the middle of traffic. I screamed insanely at the mute machine to no effect whilst the cagers created a cacophony on their horns. Further investigation, in the gutter, revealed that the battery was dead. A few notes to a breaker solved that one, but he warned not to expect a long life. The horn and lights were so pathetic that I couldn't figure why the battery was so stressed..... perhaps it was the vibes.
After six months, with 56000 miles done, I could feel the edge going off the power. I had enjoyed my time with the 125, mostly ridden in town the soggy suspension never had a chance to exact its revenge. The breaker had warned me that eventually the big-ends would seize and take out the con-rods.
As I'd done nothing to the engine after the rebuild, other than change the oil, I figured it was time to get out while I was still ahead of the game. On a Saturday morning I'd sold the CD125 for £250 and in the afternoon bought a 1979 CD185 for £175. The bike was a clean runner with 38000 miles under its tyres. I was surprised that it was no faster than the 125 but, then, fuel was on the better side of 90mpg for most of the time.
This was bike was ridden in complete neglect mode, save for the odd oil change when the gearbox became full of false neutrals, for nearly 10,000 miles. Didn't touch the engine internals or even bother to check the fully enclosed chain. Like the 125, the handling and brakes were just adequate for commuting chores. Spirited riding on A-roads was likely to end up testing the Benly's ability as an off-roader.
My disinclination to do any cleaning soon led to a blitz of corrosion and I was pretty sure that if I did try to take out any engine screws I'd end up with either a broken screw or ruined thread. So I left the mill to its own devices.
For a while it seemed to thrive on this neglect. I was fifty miles from home when the engine started making a noise like a machine gun. It didn't last for long, the terrible heap grinding to a halt with an expensive sounding grating noise. Turned out a valve had dropped.....god knows how long ago it had last been adjusted. Still, I sold off what was left of the bike for £75, which meant I'd had some serious mileage for next to nothing.
Time to get serious. A 1985 CD200 Benly with only 9000 miles in pristine condition. After the old rats it felt brilliant, with a surprising turn of speed, putting 85mph on the clock after being screamed through the gears. The gearbox felt less precise than the older bikes and the vertical twins vibes hit the pegs and bars above 60mph.....nothing so serious as to make me want to back off.
More serious was the lack of ground clearance, I was soon scraping the pegs and stand prongs. Sometimes one of the prongs would catch on the ground sending the chassis into a horrifying lurch than only a quick wrench on the bars could stop from throwing the bouncing Honda down the road. Neither the power nor the suspension was up to taking a passenger.
As well as lacking ground clearance the Honda also likes to run wide in corners, to a degree overcome by hanging off the bike whilst keeping it as upright as possible. Car drivers have been known to toot their horns at this curious sight but I didn't give a damn.
The weaves and wobbles only get out of control above 70mph when the tyres are down to about 2mm of tread.....the original Jap rubber that was still on the bike was quickly junked when the first wet bit of road revealed it was like riding on ice. Just about anything that the breaker has on offer can be bunged on the rims to good effect as long as they are not too worn.
The engine was remarkably quiet when I bought the CD, so I determined to pay more than my normal attention to maintenance. Plugs had to be changed every 10,000 miles to avoid poor starting. The valves and points adjusted every 3500 and the latter replaced every 12-13000 miles. The single carb never needed to be touched. The enclosed drive chain lasted a remarkable 20,000 miles whilst tyres usually bettered 12000 miles - they were always used to begin with and I suspect a new set might last for as much 20,000 miles.
The frugality of life with the Honda was further enhanced by a remarkable economy. I quite often did better than 100mpg, 120mpg being the absolute best. Caning the engine mercilessly would bring it down to a still acceptable 80mpg.
The Benly was used mostly for commuting in heavy traffic. The occasional long run revealed that not much more than 65mph could be maintained.....the handling and vibes became too nasty if much more was dialled in for anything other than short blasts. Doubtless, some fairly cheap fixes to the suspension would've sorted the handling but I never bothered as my riding was mostly town based.
By the time 34000 miles were on the clock I had the feeling that things were going to turn expensive. The bike had so far been a miser's dream, requiring hardly any expense in two years of faultlessly reliable service. But when the gears started to occasionally leap out of third and fourth I knew that the durability limits of the engine were being reached. It was not exactly amusing to find myself suddenly cruising along powerless in the middle of heavy traffic. The machine had to go. As this coincided with a move of house that meant I could walk to work, it wasn't the great loss it could've been.
As a cheap hack to ride into the ground and then dump any of the high mileage CDs will do well, but expect them to be well worn out by the time 50,000 miles are on the clock - definitely living on borrowed time.
The CD200 seems the best of the bunch with a useful turn of speed and frugal manners. Again, after 50,000 miles there's not much life left and corrosion has become rampant. Spares are cheap from breakers and still available. If a good one turns up I'd buy it!
Pete Crown
There are lots of worse ways of getting around London than on a nice Honda CM125 Custom. This is a little 12hp twin with a single carb, that depends on revs for power, but has a large feel for a 125 and the luxury of an electric start. The Custom styling is very mild, with a large seat and high, high bars.
I bought the bike as a nearly new, immaculate 2000 miler back in '85 and in the last ten years haven't had many problems doing over 40,000 miles and keeping the CM in good shape. The primary purpose of the Honda was the ten minute commute back and forth to work (about an hour in the car) every day and the odd holiday saunter.
Top speed was about 70mph, which required some quite hard thrashing through the gears, although it would hold that speed against some quite harsh conditions if I was willing to contort myself around the ape-hangers. Someone at Honda must have a strange sense of humour to fit such huge bars, they made for awkward turning even in town.
However, the human body is adaptable and I was soon able to adopt a posture that suited them, at least in town, which is where the Honda spent the vast majority of its time. With 325lbs of mass, not even the slightly kicked out front end could make for heavy steering. The main obstacle to forward motion being the ease with which the bars would take off car mirrors.
You can imagine how angry that made car drivers who were already fuming from being stuck in traffic jams. There was absolutely nothing they could do as I roared off into the distance. Biking equals freedom even in snarled up cities. One time I was stopped by a cop stepping out into my path. I wasn't sure if I was going to stop or even if I could stop in time. I ended up with the front guard between his legs. He sort of quivered as he got himself under control.
The cager turned up then, waving the decapitated mirror under my nose. The cop was rather young and seemed at a loss with what he could charge me, probably overwhelmed with horror at the thought of all the paperwork he'd have to go through. I agreed to give the cager twenty quid to buy a new mirror and we all went our separate ways. I think I got the worst deal!
Later in the day I was in a luckier mood. I was offered a CM that had crashed after the motor had seized. I wanted to do a custom paint job to the tank and panels, which were all intact on the crashed machine. I could do the work at my leisure and there were bound to be lots of other bits I could salvage from the £30 bargain.
I was even happier when I realised I'd acquired a pair of nearly new Michelins with which to replace the nearly worn out OE tyres, which had some interesting reactions to damp roads. Tyres lasted well on the mild mannered CM, at least 12000 miles, sometimes more than 15000 miles.
The old fashioned chrome rims made tyre changes relatively easy and I even managed to replace an inner-tube at the side of the road. I was always relieved when I avoided holing the tube. Learning to change tyres was necessary because I either bought cheap mail order rubber or whatever nearly new stuff the local breaker had on offer. It saved a fiver a wheel if I did the work myself.
The only time I really messed up was when I forgot to tighten up the back spindle. It was just friction holding the wheel in place. The first time I gave the throttle some aggro I felt like I'd been gang-banged! The back tyre whacked against the swinging arm and the bike felt like it wanted to go in two different directions at the same time. A most unnerving experience but there was no long term damage.
The chassis was a bit of a mixed bag. The chrome, except on the exhaust, was good. The paint on the frame started peeling off after about five years but was easy to patch up. The engine alloy was good except on the side-cases which eventually lost their lacquer and went white. The only way to reclaim them was bead-blasting and much polishing. The suspension was never really brilliant, went off gradually with age but never, within the context of its minimal weight and speed, became very dangerous. Despite the lack of gaiters there was no fork pitting and the seals are still original. Not half bad on a bike that was used all year round.
One moment of madness occurred when the chain snapped. There wasn't much life left it in, admittedly, having lasted for over 20,000 miles. One of those cheap items that responded well to having links removed! It snapped at 60mph in the motorway slow lane. The chain completely destroyed the chainguard, which was preferable to having the crankcases or my leg wrecked!
It took me far too long to work out that free-wheeling in the motorway slow lane was not conducive to a long and happy life. The squealing brakes and desperate horns woke me up from my gormless state, allowing my escape to the hard shoulder. It was at moments like this that membership of the AA made perfect sense! However, a half mile push to the slip road and two hours worth of hitch-hiking overcame that particular lack of common sense. I now carry a spare chain (an ancient one) at all times.
The exhaust didn't actually fall off. The silencers came close to departing from the bike after six years of rusting through. The downpipes were covered in rust and didn't look like they would last much longer. Lots could be written about Japanese exhausts but I was lucky to find a complete new system for £75 via MCN's classified ads. I've kept it nicely polished and it's lasted well so far.
The spare engine from the crashed bike had few bits I could salvage, due to a broken camchain that'd caused valves to hit pistons and then bits of pistons to mash the rest off the mill. The alternator and a few gearbox parts were the most that I could extract that were still in a usable condition.
I've known some rotten old Honda twins in my time and wasn't that surprised when the gearbox started to go off as 30,000 miles were approached. The first to second change was almost impossible to complete without going into the real neutral. The rest of the box was rather vague. Lamentably, the engine did need rapid use of the box to move at even a moderate pace. If you missed a change a hell of a lot of the momentum was lost by the time the gear was found, making it necessary to change down and start the process all over again - an adequate definition of a vicious circle.
It took about three months of this abuse for it to dawn on me that I could use the selectors from the old motor, which I hadn't even bothered to remove. Happily, there was still enough oil left on them to stop them corroding away to nothing. That done, the gearchange was back to its normal notchy if precise self.
The rest of the motor was okay which I assume was the reward for my 750 mile oil changes. As I came across quite a few rat CM's that had done less than 20,000 miles, I think frequent oil changes are the answer to longevity. This is not progress, though, exactly the same could be said of sixties Honda twins!
For the kind of riding I do I'm perfectly happy with my CM. It's incredibly cheap to run, has hardly ever given me cause for concern and looks like it'll last for a few more years. It's also still quite valuable as they are very popular with learners!
Keith Waller