Bought the bike home a couple of weeks ago along with a shed full of parts. Dragged it out of the garage earlier and gave it a pre inspection clean. Typically Honda the 40 year old paintwork shines at the touch of a sponge and leather. Some wires have been re-connected and the battery taken off - the engine is a mixture with a piggy backed starter motor that's not connected to anything on the original bike. Kick start shows strong compression and the gearbox changes easily and I find neutral easily - it will need a new battery. Hopefully with draining the tank and the carb and re-fuelling it should go !
I have three spare fuel tanks amongst the spare parts, what is apparent is the superb build an manufacturing quality of Honda products.
Will be ordering a battery soon and then the next steps...
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I may go off roading (plenty of scope around here)
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As I'm sure you're intending to, change the oil. It'll have all sorts of s*** in it by now.
And then do it again 50 miles later when it'll still more s*** in it.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Sun 5 May 19 at 19:37
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>> I may go off roading (plenty of scope around here)
>>
We (our gang) had several as field bikes when we were kids (early seventies) but mostly the 50 not the 90. Happy happy days. you couldn't break them. One or two you couldn't brake them:-)
Last edited by: MD on Sun 25 Oct 20 at 22:13
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>> the engine is a mixture with a piggy backed starter motor that's not connected to anything on the original bike.
Are you saying someone's bolted a starter to the engine that doesn't do anything?
>>I have three spare fuel tanks amongst the spare parts
I thought the petrol tank was integral with the frame.
I'm currently looking at what was described as a goldie. Turns out it's the frame of the other single manufactured at the same time with a very early goldie engine. It doesn't have the distinctive features of the squared-off finning on the barrel, swept back exhaust or conical silencer. There's some filler in the engine casing.........................
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Henry Cole is restoring a Goldie in his Motorcycle Show on ITV 4. I'm pretty contented with the bike. There are something like 35 million of them in the world. Plenty of bits to be had ! ;-)
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Well a whole year and a bit went past.....a friend who lives locally came for a BBQ mid August. His eye fell on the C90 and he volunteered to fix it. I wheeled it to his house (insurance for a day acquired) about two miles away. Paid a visit yesterday, bike has been partially stripped down. He managed to start it ! - the bike is basically sound and worth repairing. Ordered some bits including a pair of tyres for £45.00 ! I have no doubt that it will be ready for an MoT this autumn. Can't wait.
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The Honda Cub is the best selling motor vehicle in history.
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Paid a pre-lockdown visit yesterday. Whole rear end up to the "joint" in front of the engine is now totally re-furbished and re-painted. New centre stand fitted. Engine is good to back on. "The Plan" is next spring or summer to go to Northern Ireland to ride it. Somewhere I've always wanted to go. Dropped out of a ride over in the early 90s. I will need support of course ! :-)
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>> I will need support of course ! :-)
>>
...easily sorted.
tinyurl.com/NIC90support
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I'll try to find some contemporary "Hondastyle" ones !
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I've been travelling to NI on a regular basis for decades. Some of it is beautiful of course, other parts, well, less so...the people, by and large, are lovely, but there are some places where you might want something a bit quicker than a Honda 90... ;-)
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Got to have a project ! Might end up there on the Guzzi if it goes badly wrong :-)
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Makes me wonder where we all will be able to go and when.
It's all getting quite depressing.
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>> It's all getting quite depressing.
>>
Don't dwell on it.
The more depressing you keep telling yourself and everybody else it is, the more depressed you will become.
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I subscribe to that view, hence the rather modest ambition for this trip. You have to have something to look forward to, even if they're something like a decent time takeaway. We are where we are, we may be here for a long time, I've had a very basic sort of riding year (fewer miles than in 40 years I suppose) but the rides I've had have been good - small crumbs of comfort in a world gone mad
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Oh me too, mostly. I do find myself having the odd random involuntary "dwell" now and then though. As do most people I'd suppose eh?
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Leccy bike ordered today. I'm fed up with being hamstrung and being told what to do. I need to get out.
Oh! I forgot - I'm married. Yes dear I'm on my way...............
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>> Leccy bike ordered today.
...so, what did you decide on?
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Well finally, bike has been fully refurbished top to bottom, few quids worth of new parts, but mainly all the old ones meticulously cleaned and re-fitted. The bike is now ready to be collected for its MoT. My 10 days of non-Covid hasn;t helped, especially since the weather was so good. Maybe some fun times ahead..
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Well done.
I had a C90 in 1971 when I was working in Saudi Arabia at the time.
No great mileages - nipping 4 miles down to the shops was the most common trip
Perfectly reliable.
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I bought my first early 60’s Honda 50 from a chap in Falkirk. It was c 1971 and cost a whopping £18, I ran it for a couple of years and got a tenner for it with no MoT.
It never missed a beat. A later C70 had really bad corrosion around the rear suspension and was my last bike before getting a car.
It’s amazing that they offered three engine sizes but I could never stretch to a 90!
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It was always a c50 on the fields. stripped of all unnecessary trim including leg shields etc. Boy did we think we were cool. The c90 was a rarity and I'd never heard of a 70 until possibly 10-15 years ago. I'm 64yo!
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I believe the C90 was a different engine to that of the C50 & 70.
You could quite easily give the C50 a bit more poke by simply fitting a C70 barrel, piston, and head on it, and swapping the main jet out of the C70 carb into the C50 one.
We did this to my mate's Honda SS50 which used the same engine, but had a manual clutch instead of the centrifugal one and a 5 speed gearbox.
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This story brings back memories! 45-odd years ago, Dad was clearing out a house in London and the out-going tenants had left an Australian-registered C50 there. Red with a yellow (not cream) front fairing. He brought it home, got it going, and me and my brothers had great fun riding it round the garden. Until Mum took offence to the garden being churned up.
So we took it off to the woods at the end of the road and did some trail riding on it. Tip: C50s are not really designed for that sort of use - the chain was forever flying off as the rear wheel was put in positions that it was not designed to do. Great fun!
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They were tough little bikes. I took my C50 on a very early summer morning along Gullane beach when no one was around. That was a bit of a lesson. I found out what happens when you sweep around at 20mph from hard tidal sand onto the dry loose stuff. Lucky I had something soft to land on.
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They make good little (legal) trial bikes. That first gear is so low, they'll climb up the wall of a house.
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Yes first gear was often unnecessary on a flat road. It would be useful if you had a pillion passenger and a sidecar fitted though. Mine had what I understood to be a sidebar mount built into the frame.
Last edited by: martin aston on Thu 24 Mar 22 at 12:11
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I seem to recall they had some kind of multilink front suspension that pivoted instead of having the usual Stanchion set up.
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I recall back in the 60's a lucky youngster with a Honda 50. Very smooth to ride. Then some less fortunate with parents who were not keen on Japan's products bought, believe it or not, an Ariel Pixie and a BSA Beagle. Oh dear. The shame of the Pixie, and the incompetence of the BSA. Valve gear lubricated by oil mist:)
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Ariel Pixie and a BSA Beagle. Oh dear. The
>> shame of the Pixie, and the incompetence of the BSA. Valve gear lubricated by oil
>> mist:)
I had no knowledge of those two models, although I did have some recent dealings with a Bond Minibyke.
There's nothing wrong with lubricating valve gear with oil mist, Austin 7s manage adequately. Early aircraft (and vehicles) required a squirt of an oil can on the valve gear before starting.
Last edited by: bathtub tom on Sun 27 Mar 22 at 22:49
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>>There's nothing wrong with lubricating valve gear with oil mist
Indeed, but the problem with the BSA Beagle's 75cc, and Ariel Pixie's 50cc is that they were using Scots mist. Virtually no oil, mist or otherwise, managed to make its way to the top end.
Honda's splash-lubrication system on the other hand worked very well.
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Honda came home today after 18 months in a friend's workshop. Rebuilt for the cost of the parts. Insurance cost £63.00 for the year, TAX £22.00, and MoT £29.00. Went to collect it first thing, started after some kicking....initial ride off was a slightly wobbely thing but it soon got into it's own particular and peculier vibe. The 6 mile ride home from the bike shop, was a Zen like experience - 3 gears to pick from to cover its 40mph top end. Sometimes life throws a curved ball, but riding this little beauty proved to be brilliant ride. I've ridden loads of different bikes, this one is special
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I'll upload a clip on to YT shortly.
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Honda C90 Project. - Zero
