"Bend It Mend It"

To put your minds at rest, we think it would be a good idea to give some real life information about "Bend It Mend It".

Basically it's like borrowing your friends dirt bike and giving it back to him with a set of bent bars because you binned it! You didn't do it on purpose, but basically you do owe him for a new set of bars. We supply the parts at "trade" and show you the prices we pay. We don't charge for fitting the bars and we don't charge for new grips if they have to be fitted. Pretty fair me thinks. New set of Renthal bars (as fitted standard) £35.

We take all the precautions we can to protect the bikes. We fit alloy handguards to protect the front brake lever and master cylinder and the clutch lever assembly on the other side. The bikes all have alloy radiator guards to protect both radiators. Full enduro alloy sumpguards are also fitted to protect the sump, water pump and clutch case.

Do we care about scratches ?... behave yourself, this is a dirt bike. Scratches come as standard! We will only replace a plastic panel if you make a hole in it or crack it to death. As you can appreciate, Redtread prides itself on the presentation of its equipment and it would look pretty shabby if we gave you a bike with the side panels hanging off to ride on your Tour. So again, if you hole a side panel, we need to replace it (price at trade). If you put scratches in it we are really not bothered as we have special tools to remove the scratches!

We have had to replace 2 header pipes in the last 11 months on the Hondas (with over 300 people riding the bikes). In my maths that equate to less than a 1% chance of damaging the exhaust. The first was replaced with a used item from E-bay costing £40 delivered, the second was from our trade supplier at a cost of £92 because E-bay had nothing on offer.

In 15 months on the Honda CRF's we have the following facts:

Radiators - replaced 1 for $140 on E-bay.com.

Silencers - replaced 1 for $100 on E-bay.com.

Petrol tank - never had to replace any.

Seat covers - had to replace 1 - £40

Clutch covers - had to replace 1 - £70

Plastic side panels - had to replace 1 - £20

Thats it... hopefully this helps you to understand that our Hondas are very strong and very well built so that when you "bin 'em" they don't explode into a million pieces.

The bend it mend it does not include punctures, we pay for those.

After doing these tours for 5 years, we know from experience that the "Bend It Mend It" policy is the best way to be up front with this "awkward" subject. Unlike some companies who take large deposits from you for "damages", we do not. Unlike some companies who don't take anything for damages - are their bikes in good nick, you should be asking yourself?

We trust you to be honest and conscientious. Just like borrowing your mates' bike.

We do require you to really enjoy riding our bikes, equally we do require you to respect them too, it really is that simple.

If you ride sensibly and within your own limits and abilities then it is highly unlikely you will break anything.