My Honda CX500, a bike wich brought me great memories. And yet after 10 years I almost sold my beloved motorcycle. Luckily I came to my senses just in time.
For as long as I can remember I have been passionate about motorcycles. Even before I was legally allowed to drive I already owned (and drove a little bit) a motorcycle. I’ve gotten my motorcycle licence as soon as I turned 18, even before I got my car licence. But that all ended temporarily in 2005 when I was forced to stop driving for a while.
But the heart wants what the heart wants… And the next season I couldn’t help myself anymore. I just had to have another motorcycle, and so i bought a 1980’s Honda CX500. The bike cost me a reasonable 200 euro’s and in return I received a non-running ugly duckling CX500. Ugly duckling? Yes, because this was even before all the cafe racer conversions that made the CX such a desirable bike. Back then the CX was considered a ugly bike and not conform “the standard”. But I didn’t care, because I gotten everything I searched for, a V-twin bike with a shaft drive.
So I took my time, took apart the bike and rebuild it again. And the reason why the bike wasn’t running? Just some corrosion in the bike’s kill switch that caused a short circuit and a drop in price for me 😉 For the next couple of years I owned and drove the CX500 with much pleasure. With as absolute highlight a 3 week roadtrip over the France Alpes.
The end…?
Until it became 2015. I hadn’t used the bike much anymore in the years prior and it was sitting collecting dust in the garage. By that time the cafe racer scene had taken off and the CX was considered a highly desirable bike for a conversion. I considered doing a conversion myself, but I figured I could better use the money. And so I put the CX up for sale. I asked a reasonable 850 euro and soon I received an email.
The sender of the email started explaining how he wanted to convert the CX to a scrambler. Yes, of all the conversions you can do with a CX the scrambler was the least likely. But hey! It would be fine with me, as longs as he was willing to pay 😛 . He offered me 750 euro for the bike. Although I had told myself i wouldn’t sell it for less then 850 euro I offered him to split the difference and agree on 800 euro. Seems fair right? Wrong, at least that was his opinion. He started complaining about how much a conversion would cost, and that he had to spend so much money. So… you are willing to spend a lot of money for the conversion… but 50 euro extra for my beloved bike is too much?
After a few emails back and forward i had enough of it. I made my decision. This bike meant so much to me that I was gonna keep it myself and the bike would stay with me forever! I wasn’t sure yet how, but I would find another way of coming up with the money, and I would covert the bike myself.
Regrets
I guess that guy did came to regret his decision. Because that evening I received another email from the same guy. He told me I was right, and that he was willing to pay the 800 euro. When I said no he was even willing to pay me the full asking price of 850 euro. But by that time it was too late. I told him that his actions made me realize how important this bike has been to me and that I would never consider selling it anymore.
Soon after that I started taking the CX apart for my own conversion. I put up for sale all the parts that I took off the bike and that I wouldn’t need anymore. And so far I’m still happy with my decision. Not only have I managed to collect around 525 euro from the sold parts. I also still have my bike! So moral of the story: don’t cheap out if your planning to spend anyway 😉 . And for anyone looking, I still have some parts left lying around. Feel free to contact me if your interested in:
- Rear light with fairing
- Rear mudguard
- Headlamp
- Headlamp fairing
- Air filter housing
- Exhaust
- Toolbox
- Mirrors
- Handlebar
- Closing mechanism buddyseat
