So that escalated quickly.. CV19 build..

[PhilG]

So I don't normally do stuff like this, I am a rider not a builder, and while we have done a few race old race bikes , the last few years, they have been complete bikes, that we have gone through , to make race ready, without spending a kings ransom on OEM and NOS parts where we can use what we have.

Cosmetics have been done to a level where it looks ok, but wont stand up to scrutiny as a show bike, and im good with that because they aren't built to look at.

Anyway , justifying another bike ( N+1 is the default position) in the current climate , that's hard to justify, even though there are some nice bikes to be had,i decided that I would try and build my first bike from 1974 , which my dad built for me.. Honda 90, based on the C110 sports Cub..

Well I say decide. After a decent crack at recycling half a dozen Stella cans last Saturday night, at 10 past midnight, I bought this

Its a NOS frame, from 1960-62 . It wasn't cheap, but it was no dearer than used ones I had seen in the past, so seeing as the coffers were looking half reasonable , I went for it .

And then promptly forgot about it TBH, Sunday was a busy day for all sorts of other reasons, mainly trying to make the house usable with 2 of us having to work from home .

Tuesday we left the house for the first time in 5 days , to get milk and do some work post , and when I returned I had a card through the door , which the Mrs scoped first.. and I had to explain what I had ' accidentally bought' .

To be fair , its not her first Rodeo, and as long as it doesn't increase the number of bikes in the house , she is good as gold.

Anyway, like a fat kid with a cake, I ripped the box open .. the 'NOS , shop soiled ' frame was just that.. on first glance, but second glance showed it had been dropped badly, and the rear end was badly bent.

Half of me was really pissed off , but the other half was glad that I had it , it wont take much to get it straight , but I mailed them to see if they will maybe chip the price, or look after me a bit on the rest of the bits I will need.

Today was a clean down day , and get ready to start disassembly of the donor bike for the motor I am going to use.

Evenings now will be spent chasing bits I need to get it rolling..

Once its finished, I will look at seeing what it will take to get registered , to have in the back of camper .

 

[Pops 1]

Ooh I love a bike rebuild thread Phil. Keep it coming and plenty of pics please

 

[Figaro]

At first I thought it was a piece of artwork sculpture for the garden.
Good luck with the rebuild, I wish I had the skills to do that

 

[PhilG]

At first I thought it was a piece of artwork sculpture for the garden.
Good luck with the rebuild, I wish I had the skills to do that

I have never started with nothing before, so it will be interesting.

 

[hilldweller]

I think we can safely say that by the time you've finished it you'll be able to take it out for a ride.

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[PhilG]

I think we can safely say that by the time you've finished it you'll be able to take it out for a ride.

The last one I finished hadn't run since 1999. it sat for 18 years and took a year to do.

There is no rush, but i will get parts and move it along . When we start riding again that will have to wait.

 

[Shaders]

I reckonise that as a Honda cub frame my first bike at 16 wish I had kept it loik forward to see how you get on shouldnt have any problems were always an easy bike to work on loved them for this reason

 

[PhilG]

Yesterday was a 2 job day.. get the donor bike running, and then strip it. Its been sat in storage for 6 years, and wasn't running right when it was put away .

Seeing as its a nice day , I set up in what passes for the garden. on our picnic table.. I cover it because I get pissed off with stuff falling through the gaps.

Its a 107cc Chinese pit bike that we paid buttons for when we had an indoor menage to ride in, over winter.. its been thrashed round by all and sundry , and is ideal for the job... possibly. The whole idea of this is to use the engine and electrics, but it was a leap of faith based on the fact that the engine mounts for this, and the other frame from 1960 were the same, because , well its C90, its all the same.. maybe possibly.

Normal process is to kick it and see if it will go.. fuel on and choke on, undo the float bowl drain screw until fuel comes out, and give it a few kicks, but I would have to get a screwdriver to do that , and so I try it and after 3 prods it fires up, much to my amazement, but as soon as I ping the choke off, it dies .

10 mins of messing reveals it wont run off choke, and so carb removal beckons.

I didn't take a pic , but this is pretty much what I found, and after 2 hours of blowing , poking and general messing, including pulling a carb off a second bike, to no avail, I cant get it to run on the pilot circuit at small throttle opening.. well I say throttle opening, its actually cable pulling as the throttle was smashed off in a crash last time out..

Luckily carb removal is 2 bolts and a screw on carb top.. which quickly becomes 1 bolt while I am messing about.

I get to a point with most things where I will just put a hammer through it , and bin it , rather than waste another second of my life on it ( pressure washers are a favorite for that ) , but as I know its only a blockage somewhere that is the problem, I decide to order a new carb... £22 . With that 'in the bag' so to speak , I spend another 30 mins on a final strip and find a blockage I had missed.. and refit it and it runs like a swiss watch. A bloody loud one mind.

4 screws later, the seat ,side panels, mudguard and scoops come off as one.

Tank is 2 bolts

Swingarm pivot and top shock bolt out , you cant get the bottom mount out with the swingarm in .

Once they are out, its a 2 bolt job, after removing all of the wiring harness , which is held in place by fold over tabs.

Bolts out , lift the frame off the motor.

So once i had it running, it genuinely took longer to do this post , than it did to get the motor sat on the crate.

Next job is to clean the motor down.

 

[Vipar]

A labour of love?

 

[Chris51]

Don't know if its been mentioned but are you in the "C90 owners club--good for bits etc ?

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[Boringfrog]

Yeah, recognized it straight away, here my C50 from about 1976, notice the rear end.

 

[hilldweller]

A labour of love?

Love does funny things to a man.

Or is that lust ? I forget.

 

[68c]

I remember how easy they were to steal. Turning off the ignition just earths the ignition to ground. Simply unbolt the switch so it is clear of any frame contact and off you go!

 

[Garratt]

I had a C110. I seem to remember that it was a pushrod engine.

 

[PhilG]

I had a C110. I seem to remember that it was a pushrod engine.

It was . I shall procure one at some point, but for now the priority is to get a running bike with what I have.

Push rod 4 speed Manual clutch engines are not plentiful .

The original bike was built out of leftover parts , enough to build 3 bikes, but we only managed to get 2 runners.

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[PhilG]

After a fairly productive day stripping , next thing to do was clean down the motor , to get rid off all the corrosion on the cases.. the outer covers have a horrific chrome coating, which was looking scabby.

Footrests needed pulling off, one of the bolts was tight coming out, but the thread 'looks ok'... as in it has 4 bolts, and this one will go back in and stay in .. if it was much worse i would Timesert it but it will be ok .

The bottom of the engine is dirty but the paint is ok, which is a pain , because the top was toast

While cleaning the bottom, i spot what might be damage to the exhaust flange, but its properly fettled away so all is good.

A quick look round the workshop finds some scotch brite , and after 5 mins , i abandon it, as the lockdown would no be long enough to finish it.. so i go to plan 2 , which is to soda blast it , which is better , but doesnt shift the good paint, so i go to plan C which was purely down to finding my sand blast tub which looking in the shed for some soda.. so this took 15 mins and i got to fill i all the cracks in the patio with the sand, so its a twofer in my book.

And then the moment of truth..

It fits... well in a fashion.

One bolt pops straight in , the other is half a hole out.

After much head scratching, and wondering if taking an angle grinder to a 60 year old NOS frame was the right thing to do, i take the angle grinder to a 60 year old NOS frame. There simply wasnt enough to be gained trimming the case, so i went a little at a time to get it to fit nicely.

A quick measure up shows the frame is slightly wider than the motor, which is good, it looks like it needs a 5mm spacer and a slightly longer bolt, neither of which is a big issue.

A bit of a wipe down to remove the dust and loose rust show the paint is looking great for its age, i will leave that as it is, as its in the spirit of the build.


Next thing is to track down the correct front and rear ends, as they will be the hardest bits to source, but a hour or two on t'internet has NOS forks and a used swing arm and shocks , so thats cool .

Just need to decide on whether to wait now to buy, or just pull the pin.

Also new carb and inlet arrived so will look at those tomorrow.

 

[Shaders]

Yeah, recognized it straight away, here my C50 from about 1976, notice the rear end.
View attachment 375112

Memories my first bike at 16 loved it more than all those bikes others had fizzies with the loud micron exhaust we called them just bought myself a new bike to ride although my mother and father who are 78 cal it my midlife crises cheeky sods ?? lol gives me something to do as wasnt running only started but wouldnt rev but after stripping and cleaning carb runs ok now so one day in future look forward to riding it and only weighs 141 kilos so vertually same as scooter so will go on back off motorhome even