Honda RC31 (Bros) Site

I looked around locally for quite a while and after some searching in local papers I found one that wasn't too far away but needed a bit of TLC.  Fine by me as winter was getting a grip and I like tinkering.  A phone call to the owner revealed that it was basically sound but there was an engine rattle that he had been told was the camchains.  He was prepared to negotiate and wanted to shift it before Christmas 2001.  I persuaded my brother to give me lift over there (50 miles away) with his Mercedes Sprinter van 'just in case I decided to buy it'.  One look, a quick test ride and the waving of some 'folding compensation' at the owner saw us driving home with my newly acquired possession and at a price that was a good deal less than anything else I had seen advertised!

It needed a new seat covering, which I made myself with some upholstery vinyl from a local store.
The exhaust pipes were a little rusty, so a rub down with some emery cloth and a respray with silver VHT (Very High Temperature) paint from my local auto parts store made them useable again.  The previous owner had hacked the pipes about to use the Kerker can instead of the original collector/silencer, it was blowing and even the original silencer would no longer fit.  It gave an enormous backfire on the overrun as well.  I corrected this by making a new 2 into 1 joiner pipe from bits of pipe from the skip of a local tyre and exhaust centre!!  I can now use either the Kerker, which sounds great or the original (for the purposes of an MOT).
Oh yes, the 'camchain rattle' had disappeared now that the pipes were correctly sealed and securely tightened to the engine!!

After a few evenings and a couple of weekends work it looked like this.

 brosrs1.jpg (196481 bytes) Click on the image to see a larger version.
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So, in early March 2002 the sun was shining and it was off to the MOT test centre with the Bros for its check up.
After fitting a rear reflector and adjusting the headstock bearings I had a shiny new ticket.
The bike has been great to ride and can really be flicked around the local roads.
I tell you, you can have more fun up to 70 miles an hour than you ever can after it (at least legally).  Anyway, if I wanted to burn up the long straight roads I would get a VFR800 or something similar.
The Bros is somewhat forgiving as it handles pretty well and probably makes up for my deficiencies.
It is simple to maintain as well, and for me the maintenance is all part of the enjoyment of motorcycling.

Some pics are here

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