Cheap tricks
After lobbing his Sprint down a Welsh road Naish deploys inexpensive fixes…
Welcome to the tightwad challenge, reviving my crashdamaged 2003 Trumpet for under £200. The 955i Sprint ST returned from a summer trip round West Wales with trashed plastics, smashed levers and only one front disc (its shattered twin lies in a Camarthenshire hedge). I had two busted ribs as a souvenir. We managed to limp home to Brighton. When spending on bikes, I’m as tight as a wet hairpin. Why pay more? Pristine low-mileage Sprints with all the extras sell for a grand-and-a-half. I could spend double on new factory bits. Nobody lusts for the 955i, with its nineties Honda styling and silly name. Why call the class fat-kid ‘Sprint’? It’s just cruel.
But beneath the superficialities lay awesome triple torque, all-day comfort and solid highway handling (let’s not talk about Welsh country switchbacks).
The ridiculously low budget is there to stop costs spiralling. Forget concourse, the Trumpet is now assigned to winter-hack duties. Oily and scratched used spares languish on auction websites – no need to press ‘Buy it now’ when a low (but not insulting) offer gets you haggling. If that fails, another grubby component will be along soon. Everything I’ve bought has polished up okay. Pattern parts can also be laughably cheap, with stockists keen to rid shelves of dusty relics. I’m almost finished, bar the fairing side-panel. In silver mate? Nah. Something in the silver pigment seems to drag Sprints down the road on their right sides. Anyone got one in their attic?