Honda helix

 Just saw for the first time a honda helix on you tube.What a amazing looking scooter very futuristic especially that dashboard.The seat looks really comfy and large ,presume the engine 250/300cc is that a boot lid at the rear?Anyone own one in the u.k.Heard alot of people referring to the helix now i know what they look like at least.

There you go, woodworker, 250cc, £1295 and a day out at the seaside when you go to pick it up!! 


http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/417301/index.htm

woodworker, yes that a boot lid at the rear. I had a Chinese clone of the Helix and it was one of the most comfortable scooters I have ever ridden.

model28a wrote:

woodworker, yes that a boot lid at the rear. I had a Chinese clone of the Helix and it was one of the most comfortable scooters I have ever ridden.    

That Helix clone would be the Jialing JL 250, they sold a few in the UK. They came complete with a radio cassette player and speakers, top box, and a rear boot spoiler with integral brake light.

Yep that was the one. Mine was badged as a Q-Link Commuter CM250, but it was as you described.
I put somewhere around 16,000 to 18,000 miles on it befor I sold it. It is now on its third owner and still running good. I think buying from a brick and mortar shop, and keeping the maintenance done is key to having a good Chinese scooter. Oh and having a little good luck too.

My brother owns a Helix - I recommended that he look at them when he started thinking about adding a scooter to his "collecion" (at that time, two antique BMW motorcycles). He calls his "Shorty".

I started out riding about 14 years ago on he predecessor to the Helix - the Honda Elite 250. I found it in the back of my local Honda dealership's garage - covered in dust. It was love at first sight - I swear I heard music when my eyes first rested on it. It was a 1985, with 32,000 miles on it (NOT highway miles, either!). I rode it for over 4 years and 5000 more miles, and then sold it to a friend - and I would not ever sell any used car to a friend. This scooter was incredibly bullet proof. The only things I fixed in the time I owned it was to put on a new starter - and since that failed right after I bought it, the dealership did that free. The only other thing I replaced was the front rima and tire after I hit a monster pothole.

Anyway, my bro loves his Helix - says he rides it more than his other motorcycoes many weeks. I rode it once when visiting - I had forgotten how much more nimble and fun a smaller scooter could be - way more "zippy" than my SWing!

If I could have multiple two wheelers, I think a Helix would be my next purchase. It's real classic.

Sounds like the helix has a great deal of fans ramblin redhead.

Have owned several Helixes. Bought an '87 new in 1990, sold it in 2011 at 102,000 miles. I think 2007 was the last year they were brought into the U.S. . . . too bad. Good used ones are getting hard to find. They had as much legroom as a SW and were sooo comfortable after putting on a backrest. Rode mine from my home in SoCal to Scootercade in Eureka Springs 6 times + too many other long trips to count.

Wow sctr199, thats alot of scooter miles. I complain when i have done 50 miles ha.

\"woodworker wrote:

>>I complain when i have done 50 miles.

Maybe that's because you guys ride on the wrong side of the road. 
Jeez, we've been trying to tell you that for over 200 years, but ya just won't listen...

Tim

Cosmic jumper ,you may be right there but hang on a minute we had roads first ha.But horses and carts take all our narrow roads anyway   go steady on those wide roads :lol!:

woodworker wrote:

Cosmic Jumper ,you may be right there but hang on a minute we had roads first.

Well yeah, but didn't the Italians have come up there to show you how to make those roads? And they drive on the right side...

Dont know whats the ride side of the road when a chariot comin at yeah ,with those nasty spokes either side. Funny enough when the wife keeps parking the car she keeps nudgeing the kerb ,told her the wheel trims starting too look like boudicas chariots wheels ha. :affraid:Take care look out for them angry romans

You should buy your wife a Reliant Robin, she'd only scuff one wheel on the curb!

The Italians may drive on the right but research suggests that the Romans probably drove on the left.
It's certainly more logical to 'Keep Left'.

Another awesome Helix moment:

James Bond Movie (Roger Moore, I believe). Grace Slick rides into the action on a Helix, with her hair sculpted and colored to match the Helix. It's all I remember about the whole darn movie! I think that might have started this whole scooter obsession thing!

MikeO wrote:

The Italians may drive on the right but research suggests that the Romans probably drove on the left.
It's certainly more logical to 'Keep Left'.

That way you can get your sword out to sort out those pesky colonials!! 
(Waits for some smart*** to say he's left-handed!!! 

Meldrew wrote:

You should buy your wife a Reliant Robin, she'd only scuff one wheel on the curb!

Thank you Meldrew I had never heard of that car before.
Here are few pictures I found with Google.

Adding on 250-300 scooters not "big" enough for travel, somebody does not know what they are talking about===lacks experience. 250 just fine. I bought my first Helix in Japan as Fusion, 1990, the first year of the mag wheel there. In end bought 4 of them over the years....fine for touring up to 500 mile days, 400 when really cold and wet.Did 175,000 miles total on them.

As rider now for 60 years and over 1.5 million miles---small displacement can be fun----with Vespas I actually preferred 150 over 200. I am leaving Chattanooga for San Diego in the coming days on my TU250 Suzuki and hope to have fun. Just came off 5960 mile trip to BC on 400cc----I have had everything from new HD factory Sidecar outfit on down.

Speaking of the Reliant Robin, you should watch the "Top Gear" episode where Clarkson tries
to drive one and keep it upright .
The Brits certainly could have used Ralph Nader to go after that vehicle

WINGER 61 , I AM LEFT HANDED AND LEFT FOOTED HA.The reliant robin was known as the plastic pig here made out of fibreglass, believe it had something like a 800cc engine.Could be driven on a full motorcycle license in the u.k.

Is this one of yours, Mr Woodworker?

Ed Otto proved that a Helix was a useful bike:

http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/1995.cfm?DocID=3

All this some 18 years ago.

Jon :flower: 

And this is the Helix Helmet!

Kurt perth i see you found my ride,i just give it a coat of varnish once a year.Do have problems with splinters though, dont get dry rot kurt ha. :lol!:

KurtPerthWA wrote:

Is this one of yours, Mr Woodworker?

This looks like the Elite 250. Nice looking clone.

joncallihan wrote:

Ed Otto proved that a Helix was a useful bike:

http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/1995.cfm?DocID=3

All this some 18 years ago.

Jon  :flower: 

I read about Ed Otto years ago when I bought "Going The Extra Mile" and "Against The Wind" by Ron Ayres. There was another bloke on the same Iron Butt Rally called Maurice Krumpke who rode a Gold Wing and he was famous for his "pee tube". He could take a leak without stopping.  

I rode to the end of the Iron Butt when Ed Otto finished on Helix. Think it was in Utah, have forgotten what I rode there but either Helix or Kawasaki 1200 Voyager.

john grinsel wrote:

I rode to the end of the Iron Butt when Ed Otto finished on Helix.  Think it was in Utah, have forgotten what I rode there but either Helix or Kawasaki 1200 Voyager.

I met Ed at the San Diego checkpoint. When I rode up on my Helix, many people there thought I was he (him?). I still have a picture somewhere of Ed & I posing in front of the Iron Butt Helix.

sctr199 wrote:

I met Ed at the San Diego checkpoint.  When I rode up on my Helix, many people there thought I was he (him?).  I still have a picture somewhere of Ed & I posing in front of the Iron Butt Helix.

Would that have been the picture that, until recently, was on the Yahoo Helix forum?

Sorry for the late reply, but yes that was it.  

I really liked my Helix scooters.  I had three of them at different times.  My brother has the same one he bought 6 years ago and refuses to buy anything different even though he could.  He loves the mileage and the comfort.

I had a black 04 Helix and added a side car to it.  It turned my fun Helix into a riding mower.  

Here is my 05 with a single wheel trailer attached.  I was going to paint up the trailer as a coke cooler, but that project never happened.

joncallihan wrote:

Ed Otto proved that a Helix was a useful bike:

http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/1995.cfm?DocID=3

All this some 18 years ago.

Jon  :flower: 

When Bob started riding about 18 years ago he went through Ed Otto's brokerage firm for his insurance. He just retired not to long ago. We still get our insurance from them. The firm is now run by the woman who worked for him. It is here in Chicago.

Yes Ed Otto is one of the few people who could ride a different bike or scooter from his collection every day of the month and never ride the same one twice. He has been a member of our club for a few years now.I believe he retired but works at Des Plaines Honda.