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.
’65 Honda Trail 90 Rebuild
45 years after it left the showroom, a 1965 Honda CT200 just might ride again.
Filed undervintage
New (old) exhaust and rear shocks
There is a steady stream of vintage parts arriving on our front doorstep. The FedEx truck is a regular sight at our house. Most of these are used parts that I've bought online at eBay or special-interest websites. The challenge is finding the nicest-condition parts and getting them for a decent price. There is very little new stock for 1965 bikes outside of maintenance items (gaskets, piston rings, and filters).
The two latest deliveries were for a complete exhaust system and a set of rear shock absorbers. When I took the exhaust off back in June, it had rusted through in many spots. I found a much nicer exhaust system that includes both the exhaust pipe itself plus the chrome heat shield that protects the riders' legs. The heat shields are in great shape. The pipe has some surface rust but should clean up by hand without too much trouble. Here are the old and new side-by-side:
The rear shocks were an even better find. The rust on the original shocks is quite deep and they may have been a total loss, though the plastic covers are in great shape. I found a pair of replacements that look darned close to new! I'll clean up the orange plastic covers from the old shocks and put them on the newer ones.
New (old) wheels and carb
The modern marvels of Ebay and FedEx brought a new set of used wheels to the garage today. While they have light surface rust, they are in significantly better shape than the original wheels. The front wheel in the lower right of the first picture is in extremely good condition. A complete carburetor was also part of the same purchase. It appears mostly functional, with the notable exception of a rusted-open primary fuel flow valve which can be replaced with the working one from the old carb. I'll order a new float and jet kit in a couple of weeks, which can be found as NOS, or "New Old Stock," which are vintage parts that have been manufactured new by aftermarket companies) online. Tonight I pulled a few external pieces off of the motor, including the kickstarter. Yes, this bike has no electric starter; you have to jump on a pedal to start it up. It was broken off at the top of the shaft anyway and has to be replaced. Next week, the painted body pieces, these wheels, and the motor will get sandblasted to strip the surface coatings (paint or rust!) away before they are recoated. I'm hoping to visit the shop and get some footage of that process. A good family friend is helping identify shops and get the work done on the cheap... thanks, Leon!
Rear shocks, swingarm, and wiring harness removed. The frame is bare!
The disassembly of the motorcycle is complete, and the frame is bare.
Tonight I removed the rear shock absorbers, the swingarm, and the
wiring harness. Aside from the engine, there aren't major constituent
pieces to disassemble and rebuild (except to clean them). While I
still don't spend nearly as much time as I'd like to on this project,
it's neat to have reached this milestone because it means the nature
of the work changes dramatically.
pieces refinished. Surprisingly, there are only 5: the frame, gas
tank, front forks, rear swingarm, and front fender (not pictured):
For this refinishing, I have to rely on the expertise of friends and
family for referrals to metal shops. This also means that my answer
of, "It doesn't cost anything to disassemble an old motorcycle," that
I have been using with my wife will no longer work. While those parts
are out getting refinished, I'll begin rebuilding the engine itself:
The last time I rebuilt an engine from the piston rings up was in the
8th grade. I have no ideal how long this will take me, but I have
fresh rings, gaskets, points, and seals. I'm just missing some of the
major parts for the carburetor which I hope to find online.
After all of this work, I've managed to take something that at least
looked like a motorcycle and turn it into this wheelbarrow full of old
parts and a few new items recently delivered to the house:
Here's the last set of disassembly documentation photos to assist in
the eventual reassembly.
Bodywork is starting, and the engine is pulled!
Work - the kind that happens at an office on weekdays - and the big 4th of July weekend have gotten in the way of progress on the Honda 90 project lately. This weekend brought a rainy Sunday and a few hours in the garage to get caught up. Plus, an important part arrived in the mail last week: a replacement front fender. These have been hard to find in decent condition, and the one that came off the bike was pretty torn up. I picked one up online that has only a couple of crinkles in it. Dad volunteered to straighten those out, so I dropped the fenders off with him this afternoon. With that, bodywork on this project has officially begun:
I also hit a big milestone in getting the engine completely removed from the bike! It was messy work:
Now that the engine is out, the fun can really begin. I'm going to spend the next couple of nights getting the back end torn down. Once that is done, I will collect all of the coated body parts (frame, forks, front fender, rear swingarm) and get them out for "paint, powdercoat, and chrome." That's what they say on American Chopper, and I've always wanted an excuse to say that. I can't wait. Once the metalwork is moving forward, I'll tear the engine down. I already found and ordered a complete gasket set, so the carb in the only remaining challenge to deal with.
