'65 Honda Trail 90 Rebuild

45 years after it left the showroom, a 1965 Honda CT200 just might ride again.

The Trail 90 is cool enough to hang with Don Draper.

In today's world of liter+ hyperbikes, Harleys that cost more that average cars, and custom choppers that cost more than some homes, it's fair to ask whether 90cc 1960s Hondas are cool enough to merit restoration.

Obviously, I think they are.

Today I got a bit of reinforcement courtesy of Mad Men. I love the show, and have been catching up on the back seasons. It's worth watching... just get on Xbox LIVE and say, "Xbox, Bing Mad Men," and it'll take you right to it. 

Today I watched season 4, episode 5, "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword." It's set in 1965, and who approaches Sterling/Cooper/Draper/Pryce as a potential account but Honda of America. A product they want to push is the good ol' 1965 Honda CT200...

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Don Draper is one of the coolest characters on television. The fact that he's wheeling around a CT200 validates that it's worth restoring. 

Now back to the garage.

Ongoing carburetor cleaning

I don't think there is any way to make this process go faster. I've got pretty potent solvents, but chemical deposits from 40 years of old gas just take elbow grease to strip away. There is progress, though.

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Removing the in and the out

Tonight's goal was to get the air filter housing completely removed from the frame, and the exhaust pipe pulled in preparation for removing the engine. These constitute where the engine pulls in and blasts out air. The air filter housing was easy work: just a single bolt into the frame onto which mount a gasket, filter housing, filter itself, and a cover plate. I thought I'd be going to bed early.

The exhaust wasn't quite as simple. In order to get access to the nuts that hold the exhaust pipe onto the cylinder head (this engine is too simple to require a manifold), I had to pull the skid plate. Most of the bolts that hold the skid plate are missing. The bots that remain are on the underside of the motor, so I spent the remainder of the evening slithering around on my filthy garage floor while the dog stood over me, literally drooling on me. I really need a motorcycle lift in the garage, but that'd cost more than I hope to spend on the entire project.

With the skid plate removed, the exhaust pipe came off easily. It's a total loss, with rust completely through the metal. If you look at the last photo in this set, you can see the powdered exhaust pipe that was filling the interior now spilled onto the garage floor. Hopefully I can find a good condition replacement as a complete unit.

Remember, these photos aren't meant to be beautiful. They're a historical document so that I can put the bike back together once parts have been refinished or replaced.

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Rebuilding a 1965 Honda 90 Trail Bike

Riding motorcycles over the past 25 years has been one of my few hobbies that doesn't involve sitting in front of a computer. Like many motorcycle enthusiasts, I have a fantasy of coming across a neglected vintage motorcycle in some barn, restoring it to new condition, and owning a beautiful piece of history. There's an enormous amount of work in rebuilding an old bike, though. Much of it involves specialized expertise.

I've decided to give it a shot. I have an ideal bike for my first rebuild right here in our family. It's not a vintage Harley Davidson, Norton, or Triumph. It's about as far from a dream bike as you'll find. It's a 1965 Honda CM200 "Trail 90" motorcycle. It was once someone's dream, though, and that story is part of why I want to get it roadworthy again.

My Dad grew up in a very poor family. He got by working in the apple orchards of Eastern Washington during the summers, and went to school in Seattle. In 1965 he graduated from high school, but nobody in his family got him a gift. He had saved a little bit of money and borrowed a bit more so that he could afford a new motorcycle. This is what it looked like the day he rode it off the showroom floor:

Dad tells stories of riding the little 90cc trail bike all the way from Seattle to Wenatchee, over the Cascade Mountains. It has a removable rear sprocket that's held in place with bolts that lets you go from "street gearing" to "trail gearing." The transmission is a 4-speed clutch-less set up: you shift gears but there is no manual clutch. As the shift pedals are depressed, the gears automatically disengage. It's a bit like the TipTronic gearboxes in Porsches or the F1 shifters in Ferraris. I have driven both cars and this motorcycle is cooler than both of them!

The Trail 90 got plenty of use on dates, since Mom met Dad later that summer. Eventually the real world took over, 3 kids had to be hauled around...you know the story. The motorcycle was pushed to the back of the garage and began deteriorating. It last ran (and was licensed) in 1985 but that was only briefly. It has spent the past 10 years in a garage and a toolshed under a tarp upon which nesting swallows crap. I dropped by to take a look at it today, and here's what I found:

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Even a cursory once-over shows deep rust, plastic parts missing altogether, bolts gone from their sockets, bent body panels, and frozen cables. In summary: it's the perfect bike for a ground up rebuild. I don't know how long it will take, nor how much money. I'm just going to take it one part and one dollar at a time. I'll document the process here. I ultimately plan to surprise dad with it completely restored (he doesn't know I'm doing any of this, so don't tell him about this site).

The next step is to haul the bike out of the shed and bring it home. That requires me making some rungs for the bed of the truck to keep it upright. I'll make those this weekend and hope to haul it out on Monday. I'm also about to spend the first $10 on the project by buying a CD with the original factory Owner's Manual and Shop Manual. They are essential documents for tearing down and reassembling any bike. 

Here goes...