The newest bike in the garage is a 2002 Rebel 250 with 255 original miles.
No really. Here's how...
In early 2002, a biker bought his wife a Rebel 250 (date of manufacture: 8/2001) hoping she'd ride with him. Apparently they went out on a weekend ride, came home, she parked it in the garage and never touched it again. He was ticked off and wouldn't let her sell it.
Flash forward to last fall (2018) and he's passed and she wants rid of it. At least that's the story she told me. She said "I dunno, it might even start if you charge it up"... I said "It would be a sin to try and start this bike as it sits - you'll do 10,000 miles worth of wear in a minute of cranking it over at this point."
Good news: under the dust & grime, it's near-perfect cosmetically.
Bad news: it was parked in 2002 with a tank full of ethanol-laced gas, the petcock left open, and the original OEM oil in the pan.
So I buy it for a song and a smile. I de-rust the tank, clean & rebuild the carb, flush the engine a few times, juice up the pistons with some diesel, and slap in a new battery. She starts right up like a champ.
Mind you, it was a 'labor of love' from the get-go. New Rebels are so cheap that old ones have nearly no value. Even paying $200 for it, I was never gonna flip it for a profit considering my time & materials.
I thought about 'preserving' it with the super-low miles toward the day it might be rare or desirable. But given how prolific Rebels are, I don't think I'll live that long.
So it becomes the bike my kids learn on and start with. Heck, I may even putt around town on it a bit myself.
PS - "newest" bike in the garage is also literally true. The next-'newest' one is my '96 Harley, followed by the '91 ST1100... and they get swiftly older from there.
No really. Here's how...
In early 2002, a biker bought his wife a Rebel 250 (date of manufacture: 8/2001) hoping she'd ride with him. Apparently they went out on a weekend ride, came home, she parked it in the garage and never touched it again. He was ticked off and wouldn't let her sell it.
Flash forward to last fall (2018) and he's passed and she wants rid of it. At least that's the story she told me. She said "I dunno, it might even start if you charge it up"... I said "It would be a sin to try and start this bike as it sits - you'll do 10,000 miles worth of wear in a minute of cranking it over at this point."
Good news: under the dust & grime, it's near-perfect cosmetically.
Bad news: it was parked in 2002 with a tank full of ethanol-laced gas, the petcock left open, and the original OEM oil in the pan.
So I buy it for a song and a smile. I de-rust the tank, clean & rebuild the carb, flush the engine a few times, juice up the pistons with some diesel, and slap in a new battery. She starts right up like a champ.
Mind you, it was a 'labor of love' from the get-go. New Rebels are so cheap that old ones have nearly no value. Even paying $200 for it, I was never gonna flip it for a profit considering my time & materials.
I thought about 'preserving' it with the super-low miles toward the day it might be rare or desirable. But given how prolific Rebels are, I don't think I'll live that long.
So it becomes the bike my kids learn on and start with. Heck, I may even putt around town on it a bit myself.
PS - "newest" bike in the garage is also literally true. The next-'newest' one is my '96 Harley, followed by the '91 ST1100... and they get swiftly older from there.
