Well after getting well and truly soaked yesterday on the ride home from work, today's weather made a very pleasant change. I received a call yesterday afternoon from Mike saying he had a bike I may want to look at. It was a 2009 Honda Hornet with 30,000+ miles on the clock, all done by the one owner. It was certainly worth a look.
From a distance the bike looked okay and I was riding it before Mike and his team had a chance to tidy it up a little. At the time of riding the headlight didn't work (so I used full beam instead), the right fork seal appeared to be weeping and the bike was generally pretty grubby, which in truth didn't really bother me. So what did I think? Well, the good points first; the engine is superb. It has a really high rev limit and pulls evenly through the rev range, with a lovely addictive raspy exhaust note. The riding position is very comfy with weight taken pretty evenly through the feet, hands and bum, however to start with I did find the handlebar position a little high, but I think this was more to do with coming straight from my 1098s. Finally the brakes are excellent and there is plenty of feel at the lever.
Now the bad bits, but before I start I should point out that this bike is a well used example of a 2009 bike that has clearly been used every day in all weather, so some of what I say in the next few lines may be seemed as being a little unkind. I've already mentioned the possible blown front fork seal, non working headlight and general dirtiness of the bike, but what I haven't mentioned is that the bike was showing some serious signs of wear and tear.
Now the bad bits, but before I start I should point out that this bike is a well used example of a 2009 bike that has clearly been used every day in all weather, so some of what I say in the next few lines may be seemed as being a little unkind. I've already mentioned the possible blown front fork seal, non working headlight and general dirtiness of the bike, but what I haven't mentioned is that the bike was showing some serious signs of wear and tear.
One of the rear indicators was taped on, the rear brake pedal was rusty, one of the engine cases was showing signs of corrosion, the previous owner couldn't apply a tank pad, I struggled with one of the keys to open the seat and even then it was a struggle to get it off, so much so that I gave up and the clutch had an exceedingly long travel. But the thing that annoyed me most was that at 5000rpm, which was the perfect rev range for the engine, the front bikini fairing vibrated horribly.
As a winter hack, its perfect, but I would have to spend more getting set up the way I would have wanted, ie heated grips, better tyres, refreshing the rear shock. I won't say how much the bike was up for, but personally I didn't think it would have been a good investment.
As a winter hack, its perfect, but I would have to spend more getting set up the way I would have wanted, ie heated grips, better tyres, refreshing the rear shock. I won't say how much the bike was up for, but personally I didn't think it would have been a good investment.
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