Honda SES125 Dylan

I bought my Honda Dylan at the beginning of November 2002. I chose it for a number of reasons:

I like Hondas, probably because my dad owned a CB400F during my childhood (which he made me help him clean and service, particularly on bitterly cold days in January I seem to recall). He later sold it and moved on to a CBR600F, which was also a very good machine. The other bikes he owned in this time (a BSA that was usually in bits; a two-stroke MZ that could wheeze to over 40mph, but then couldn’t stop; a grey-import Kawasaki 250 with dodgy electrics) were so much worse that it was inevitable that I should think that Hondas ruled the bike world.
I thought it’d be nicer to commute to work on than a CG125, and I could bung my packed lunch under the seat.
I liked the look of the Dylan, which seemed pretty funky in comparison to many of the other 125s around. The colour I bought it in was later referred to as “gay lilac” by a work colleague, which has caused me a little discomfort, but I still think it looks OK.
I liked its allegedly environmentally friendly features such as the exhaust air injection system and catalytic converter.

I have never regretted buying the Dylan (especially as my petrol expenses more than cover the cost of the instalments, insurance, and the rest!). It’s economical, comfortable, and quick enough to get away from the lights before the rest of the traffic and blow smaller scooters into the weeds. In the first five months of owning it I have enjoyed 2600 miles of reliable scootering in all kinds of grim weather conditions.

I even failed to cause any damage when I fell off it (important motorcycling lesson #47: don’t ride in snow unless you have those tyres with nails sticking out of them) despite the thing appearing to be covered in plastic fairing. Well, OK, I bent the brake lever a bit, but I can live with that.

However, I have encountered a few things that I didn’t expect and that I haven’t seen discussed elsewhere… anyone considering spending their cash on a Dylan should be aware of these.

The first problem I had was getting insurance. As the Dylan becomes more popular I’m sure that it will become easier, but when I was phoning around none of the insurance companies had even heard of the machine. This meant that they had to use the details of another Honda machine with the same engine. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but irritating. And the price! I was quoted as much as £1500! For TPF&T! That’s nearly as much as I paid for the bike. I eventually got insurance for well under half that amount, but I’m still paying as much as my mate does for his tricked-up FireBlade. Yes, I’m riding on a provisional, I live in a high risk area, I don’t have a garage, yada yada yada, but it seems steep to me.

Another problem has been the fuel gauge. Which is frustrating, because it works perfectly well. However, shortly after taking the Dylan for its 1^st (500-mile) service I received a letter from Honda UK recalling the machine due to a reported “software fault” with the fuel gauge. This made my chuckle at first, because the fuel gauge on the Dylan is of the old-fashioned analogue (needle) type, and I’m sure they used to work perfectly well without software of any kind when I were a lad.

Anyway, I called my Honda dealer and told them I needed to have it sorted out. As there was (presumably) no reward for them in upgrading my fuel gauge software for free they dragged their feet and – not for the first time – didn’t bother phoning me back (more on these muppets later).

So Dylan’s 2500-mile service came round before they were interested in doing the work. They did the upgrade – I can tell, because my total mileage on arriving at the dealership was 2650, and afterwards it was precisely zero. I look forward to explaining to future mechanics and prospective purchasers where those 2650 miles have gone: “No, no, it’s all perfectly legitimate, honest guv!”

The only other problem I have had with the actual bike is that the front end can feel very light. I realise that this is often the case with scooters, and it makes control in heavy traffic very good, but I ride in all weathers on fast roads rather than in town. The first couple of times I touched a manhole cover with the front tyre in the wet I almost pooed myself. I’m more comfortable with it now, and it’s not really a problem in the dry, but it’s something for beginners to watch out for.

Finally, my dealership. They have a great reputation (or so they claim) and appear to be very successful, but I’m becoming a bit fed up with them.

They got me a bad deal on finance, My fault really – I shouldn’t have rushed into the purchase and should have got a loan out, but it left me feeling like they’d taken me for a mug (fair nuff!).

Three times they’ve told me they’d phone me (to tell me my bike was ready to pick up, to tell me my bike’s service had been done, and to tell me that the software upgrade part had arrived) and three times they didn’t bother.

At its most recent service, I asked how much the service would cost and the bloke chirpily told me, “about seven quid for the oil”. He was right – but it also cost about eighty quid for labour. The Dylan was then returned to me with the front L-plate snapped off and jammed under the back of the seat. I was offered no apology or explanation, although I’m not going to worry about that too much.

I was also never told that my odometer would reset to zero when the software upgrade was done. They didn’t even bother to set the clock back to the right time.

The kid who brought the Dylan round to the front of the dealership for me didn’t even know how to put it on its centre stand, and had to just hand it to me.

None of this is major, and most of it could have been avoided if I’d been less naïve, but I always seem to leave the place feeling as though I’ve been short-changed.

I won’t name them (I might still need them!), but I’m talking about a large Honda-specific dealership in W4.