Butt got itchy... Bought another Silverwing

With my very first Silverwing approaching its Certificate of Expiry (COE) expiring on 31 October, I was looking for alternatives to my go-to daily ride.

Tried the Honda NC750X, Yamaha FJR1300 and well... I still went back to a Silverwing!

Presenting to you, my 2006 Honda Silverwing FJS400D! (the one on the right)



The previous owner clocked in over 100,000km over the span of 15 years. I'm now the 3rd owner.

Everything is stock. Came with the original tool kit, manual and electronic schematic. Unfortunately, there's rust over the tools and stock suspension. Will be treating this as a weekend project and chip away at it...

The plastic stay on the front cowl is broken, but should be fixable with some plastic cement glue.


Looking forward to sharing more details and updates in the following weeks. Cheers!

What is a Certificate of Expiry? Is it just an MOT like in the UK (I assume yearly or every 2 year inspection) or does that mean the bike has to come off the road permanently? In your bottom line, it says the 01 was scrapped. Really? Where are you that they make you do this (not sure where SG is)? Will you have to scrap the newest one in a few years? Seems wasteful to get rid of a good running scooter.

EDIT: just found this website (from Singapore): https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/owning/coe-renewal.html

Seems wasteful to take a useful ride off the road, but that’s government for you, I guess. My bikes would be way outdated there (the 94,00, and 03 model years).

I’m afraid to ask how much Singapore gets for the ‘privilege’ of having your scooter accessible to you.

They both look like nice rides by the way.

Erdoc48 wrote:

What is a Certificate of Expiry? Is it just an MOT like in the UK (I assume yearly or every 2 year inspection) or does that mean the bike has to come off the road permanently? In your bottom line, it says the 01 was scrapped. Really? Where are you that they make you do this (not sure where SG is)? Will you have to scrap the newest one in a few years? Seems wasteful to get rid of a good running scooter.

EDIT: just found this website (from Singapore): https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/owning/coe-renewal.html

Seems wasteful to take a useful ride off the road, but that’s government for you, I guess. My bikes would be way outdated there (the 94,00, and 03 model years).

I’m afraid to ask how much Singapore gets for the ‘privilege’ of having your scooter accessible to you.

They both look like nice rides by the way.

Thanks!

Yeah, unfortunately it's part of the government's policy over here. The concept of COE is placed onto other vehicles like cars as well. The catch is this: You'd have to re-new this certificate every 10 years at a price that fluctuates! Just this month, it costs SGD$160,000 to renew a car's certificate, and SGD$11,000 to renew a motorcycle's COE. Talk about daylight robbery.

However, I think it's time for my Silverwing with over 300,000km to finally hang its apron. It's had a good run and it took care of me, but it just doesn't ride reliable anymore. It's better off reduced to spare parts and sold off to a community whose hungry for them!


P.S Here is a link to follow the prices of these certificates Singaporeans are bidding for every month as reference: https://www.motorist.sg/coe-results. It shows the number of certificates available for that month, as well as the number of bids received for that limited pool of certificates. Do check out the price trend, ridiculous!

Can't have too many of them!

Those numbers you show are eye watering. So I guess a lot of people bicycle or walk everywhere. Even $11000 SGD is about $7200 US (and I guess factored over 10 years is $720 or so per year. I guess only the wealthy can afford to drive cars there.

How sad to break a good bike up, one that served you so well!

I guess we are all different but all my bikes have a special place in my heart and even my car which has provided reliable service to its owner.

For me bikes treat their owners well if you treat them well, regular maintenance, new tires , a warm dry place to sleep , fresh fuel and a clean and lube every now and again.

A bike's usually cheap to buy and run compared to cars or even those stupid EV's ....You know the ones where you have to plug them in all the time , have a range of not very much and cost lots and lots and dont last long! Yeah I dont think thats for me atm I.ll stick with the 21 year old trusty SWing.

I agree to all of it. Treat the bike with TLC and respect. I always plant a kiss on her nose before I take her out.

Apparently "treat em mean keep em keen" also works .......

Yep. Respect the bike.

Spanky wrote:

Can't have too many of them!

I think you can, our single car garages in the UK are much smaller than the ones in US homes and were designed for the more compact cars we drive over here.

Given the fact that most UK garage are shelved and are used to store the family junk, with sometimes a chest freezer, a tumble dryer, work bench, and push bikes. The gardening equipment and chairs are stored there too unless you have a shed, so cars are permanently parked outside. So there's not a lot of extra space in the average Brit garage if you have more than one motorcycle or maxi scooter.

Just walking about York during the warmer months I often pass homes with their garage doors open and it's not unusual to see some bloke in there down on his hands and knees amongst the accumulated household junk, trying to fettle his collection of old Brit Iron bikes.

My previous home in Cumbria once had two MZ's and a BMW in garage with all the usual clutter. It was hard to move around in there, and my long time ex-partner wasn't happy about it either.

I opted for a single maxi scooter many years ago and it's a lot less hassle, no more different servicing schedules, insurance, MOT's tyre sizes, buying different oils and responsibly disposing of waste oil etc.

If you've ever washed and cleaned one maxi covered in road crud after a ride during the UK winter months you certainly won't be in the mood to do another that's already in the garage and needs cleaning.

Then if you build up a collection there's always one you'll neglect one, or you'll accidentally damage or scratch others etc.

I've read quite a few forum posts from old fellas on the "you can't never have enough” topic. Then when they eventually too old or infirm to ride and shuffle off their mortal coil. It's their poor wives and family that have to get rid of the collection and dispose of all the other hoarded junk  for them.



As Gordon Gecko once might have said if he'd been into maxi scooters “One is good”.

I had to sell my 125 commuter bike due to a house move; I had a dedicated garage for both bikes at the previous house but now I squeeze the SW and the car into my single garage.

I don't like cleaning cars or bikes but I make the effort with SW. Not bothered about the car. I detest driving anyway.

dovahkiin wrote:

With my very first Silverwing approaching its Certificate of Expiry (COE) expiring on 31 October, I was looking for alternatives to my go-to daily ride.

Tried the Honda NC750X, Yamaha FJR1300 and well... I still went back to a Silverwing!

Presenting to you, my 2006 Honda Silverwing FJS400D! (the one on the right)



The previous owner clocked in over 100,000km over the span of 15 years. I'm now the 3rd owner.

Everything is stock. Came with the original tool kit, manual and electronic schematic. Unfortunately, there's rust over the tools and stock suspension. Will be treating this as a weekend project and chip away at it...

The plastic stay on the front cowl is broken, but should be fixable with some plastic cement glue.


Looking forward to sharing more details and updates in the following weeks. Cheers!

Re plastic cement glue for the front cowl: I wouldn't be surprised if the bodywork on the Swings is made of ABS like the Goldwings. There are ways to effectively repair ABS, as can readily be found on the internet. A good source is via a search on goldwingdocs.com