On Apr 19, 10:16*am, A.Cl...@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk wrote:
> Thus spake SteveH (italian...@gmail.com) unto the assembled multitudes:
>
> >> In a moment of weakness I bid for a pile of crap otherwise known as
> >> eBay item 220766700748 which may or may not have enough good bits
> >> to make a working Superdream 400.
> > Bwahahahahaha.
> > You ****.
>
> I'll not hear a word said against Superdreams. *Well, not many anyway. I had
> one for 3 years. *It was pretty reliable. * So what if the exhausts and front
> mudguard rotted away before my eyes. So what if the rear hub virtually
> self-destructed. *So what if the steering head bearings wore out in
> doublequick time. So what if the camchain tensioner never worked. *So what if
> the Comstar wheels were lethal in crosswinds. So what if the cambox coverstuds
> stripped the first time I took them off. * So what if the bottom end went
> and I ended up having to fit a Dream engine from a scrappie. *Er....
>
> Come to think of it... god what a pile of utter crap that bike was :-)
>
Got to say that Number One Child's 250 Super Dream performed
absolutely flawlessly through a year and a half of teenager abuse.
True, it was ultra-low mileage when bought (13k) but it was still 30
years old and had the tits thrashed off it up and down the M40, to
Oxford and back.

I changed the oil and filter religiously, and every so often checked
the tappets, adjusted the tensioner once (there was a work-around for
a seized unit) and that was about it. Those cam cover studs were
notorious for stripping, but that was only because people didn't
realise they only had to be nipped up - there was no oil pressure
under there, and as long as the rubber gasket was in decent nick, it
wouldn't leak.

It rather changed my perception of the 250, that bike. It was
definitely a tad dull, and it needed lots of revs to get anywhere, but
it did the job.

Bought for £225, IIRC, and £150 spent on new pattern silencers, air
filter, oil filter and a new chain. Only other thing that needed
replacement was the speedo drive and cable after the presence of the
disc lock was forgotten :-/ And those were replaced by used Honda 400
Four items I had knocking around, which were exactly the same parts.
Rear tyre was replaced by a nearly-new one off the back wheel of
another 400 Four, too. Ultra-cheap motorcycling.

Sold it for £475 on eBay when the replacement Kawasaki GT550 came
along, and the bod who bought it reckoned it was the sweetest he'd
heard in a long time.

Now I think of it, neighbour had one until recently, as a hack., That
had done nearly 60k miles when he sold it, and still plodded along.

The trouble with the 400 - yes, I had one, once - is the engine is
certainly pokier, but it vibrates a lot more, and the bottom end is a
shade weak.

Thus spake TOG@Toil ((E-Mail Removed)) unto the assembled multitudes:

> Got to say that Number One Child's 250 Super Dream performed
> absolutely flawlessly through a year and a half of teenager abuse.
> [...]
> definitely a tad dull, and it needed lots of revs to get anywhere, but
> it did the job.

Took mine (also a 250) from Brighton to Shrewsbury a few times to visit my
mum & dad before I acquired a wife and a car, and it too performed flawlessly
each time, apart from, get this, suffering a rear puncture (a slow one which
was only discovered the next morning) *on each visit*. This was before the
M40 opened, and I used to ride across to Gloucester, then across to
Ross-on-Wye and then up the A49 to Shrewsbury. Lovely ride it was too.

--
Andy Clews
*** Remove DENTURES if replying by email ***

On Apr 19, 11:11*pm, A.Cl...@DENTURESsussex.ac.uk wrote:
> Thus spake TOG@Toil (totallydeadmail...@yahoo.co.uk) unto the assembled multitudes:
>
> > Got to say that Number One Child's 250 Super Dream performed
> > absolutely flawlessly through a year and a half of teenager abuse.
> > [...]
> > definitely a tad dull, and it needed lots of revs to get anywhere, but
> > it did the job.
>
> Took mine (also a 250) from Brighton to Shrewsbury a few times to visit my
> mum & dad before I acquired a wife and a car, and it too performed flawlessly
> each time, apart from, get this, suffering a rear puncture (a slow one which
> was only discovered the next morning) *on each visit*. *This was beforethe
> M40 opened, and I used to ride across to Gloucester, then across to
> Ross-on-Wye and then up the A49 to Shrewsbury. *Lovely ride it was too.
>

Coincidentally, this week's More Crap Than News pitches a modern Honda
CBF250 single against a concours-restored[1] 250 Super Dream, and the
gap isn't that wide. Can't help thinking that a CB250RS would have
been a better comparison - now tht really was a great bike.

[1] Cost the owner £2500, which is more than I'd pay for a Super
Dream, but then as MCN pointed out, that's still a grand less than the
new 250.