I spent a little bit of time this weekend wrenching on the Rebel. The first thing I wanted to do was swap the original bar ends with a set from an 1986 Rebel. Unfortunately, the bar ends are different between classic (1985-1987) and contemporary (1997-present) Rebels: the classic bar ends are a bit shorter and one has a different end part that fits inside the grip.

I was hoping that they’d be the same and that by swapping out the scuffed ends I could make a set that looked like new. (Don’t look at me — my throttle bar end fell off while riding! Honest! Luckily, I managed to find it in the street.)

With that plan shot, I turned to my second project. Rebels have an integrated license plate light and red reflector piece that is, for some stupid reason, made of faux-chrome plastic. It doesn’t take long before the red reflectors begin to crack from vibration and end up breaking off completely. I snagged a new unit from a fellow who’s parting out his classic Rebel. Thankfully this part hasn’t changed in the last twenty years and I was able to swap out the broken reflector part for the intact one. The license plate light lens and faux-chrome cap are also interchangeable.

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