Your motorcycles and mine

rsv1cox wrote:Great pictures CB.  Love the pipes coming off that Honda.  And Gordon Lightfoot, probably my favorite story telling singer. Is it legal?  Tis in my own backyard.  

Love the historic license plate.  

I actually climbed on it for the first time today and found myself racing Larry Steiner to the base at Oceana back in the early sixties. 72 MPH flat out indicated. It was a morning ritual, he on his S90, me on mine.

Great! I could join you all on my 1971 Honda CB100. We could race down the highway in top gear with wide open throttle at 60 mph. OTOH, would the ride be like:

Larry was a bald headed German who hadn't quite lost the Fatherlands accent.  Great guy with a smile ear to ear.  He would wait for me or me for him most every morning at an intersection leading to these winding country roads with corn as high as an elephants eye on either side.  Both of us had period 'brain buckets" with leather straps and a snap on face shield.  



We were both Tradevmen (TD) and we operated and maintained two Mobile Operational Flight Trainers (MOFT's) simulating the flight characteristics, navigation, and weapons systems of A4 and F4 aircraft.  I loved the F4.  Picture is of the era.  VF-41 (VFA-41), the primary training squadron for the type.  Shortly after I retired the TD rate was disbanded and contracted out. There were only about 1300 of us at our peak in the entire Navy. Several served voluntarily in Vietnam as river boat commanders.  

Oceana was great duty with Virginia Beach close by.  Trips there included my S90 and 1959 Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite.  Bugeye, wife and I with three kids stuck in the "boot" behind the seats.



Found a period helmet on ebay.  Might have to make a bid, legal today in WV or not.



Thanks for the comments George, you would have fit right in.

Bob

I just closed the deal for this beauty:



It's an '83 Harley XLS Roadster, a variant of the Sportster with a bigger fuel tank, longer front forks and some other changes. Not a very common model, and probably the only one in Finland in (almost) original condition.

I went to see it "in person" earlier, today we haggled a bit over the phone and it will be delivered to me next week from the dealer in Tallinn, Estonia. It is a project bike, overall in pretty good condition, the carb needs work, there is some surface rust on the frame, it has leaked quite a bit of oil (messy!) and it will probably need other work too.

Anyway, I am stoked

While in Tallinn, we happened to see the Vice President of the USA. Didn't get a picture as the men in black kept the general public about 200ft away, but here's a pic of the big Caddy he was driven around in:

I know the feeling Kari, a mixture of excitement and apprehension. What have I got myself into. Looks like you have fun times ahead. Just check for mice nests, if none your probably home free regarding wiring harness woes. They love to chew on the insulation.

Good luck with your bike and let us know how it goes.

Bob

Congrats on your new buy, Kari, you've got a collector item. Here in US, we with other bikes kid about the Harleys leaking oil, but much of that was true with just about all makes of vehicles 40 years ago. Nowadays, most street intersections don't have the oil slick that they did 40 years ago, many car dripped oil while idling at stops. I remember back in 1979 when I got my 1971 CB100 (with original 98 cc engine) dodging those spots, plus the original engine seeped oil a little.

I'm sure you'll get the dripping oil issue resolved during your restoration. There have been many improvements over the sealants used 35 years ago. When I overhauled my 1971 SL125 motor in my CB100 around 1983, I used gasket shellac. It has similar oil seeps. My back burner project is to replace the 125 cc cylinder sleeve with an aftermarket 150 cc one I bought on E-bay about 10 years ago. (As you see, it truly has been a back burner project.) When I do that, I plan to split the case and replace all gaskets and use newer improved sealants.

Filled the hole. Attached the electrical connectors, fuel line, gas and oil, and hung the engine today.

Kicked it over a few times (no electrical start) and with little more than a carburetor cleaning got a little rumble. Mark and I looked at each other with that - this thing is going to run look. One more kick and off she went running well. A little throttle stick, need to lube the cable and adjust. Added some shock oil and I was headed out to take it for a ride. Mark was having none of it. Not dragging you to the hospital today Dad. So he rode it around the yard for awhile getting it used to motion after sitting for who know how long.

That's ok. He's not around forever and I will put on coveralls, high top boots, and a helmet and take it for a ride. Problem is I have shrunk an inch or so in the last forty years and the S90 sits higher on eighteen inch wheels than the other Honda. I will have to get used to using a clutch again too. My Honda ATV is clutchless. When I bought my first motorcycle I had never been on one before, a couple of circles around the parking lot and off I went through downtown traffic. Fun.

Looks good Bob!

Something is amiss with front fender...CL90?

The S90 fender wraps around more and the stay brackets are straight across. Not a big deal or anything, just something that stood out.

Pretty nice little machine!

Cribbs74 wrote:Looks good Bob!

Something is amiss with front fender...CL90?

The S90 fender wraps around more and the stay brackets are straight across. Not a big deal or anything, just something that stood out.

Pretty nice little machine!

That was  a change for 1978 Ron, they went to a different over the fender bracket and chrome fenders, these were painted over by the PO.  Check out the picture of my first S90 with the kids on it, it has the fenders/brackets that you describe like the picture you attached.

Bob

I did a bit of reasearch and you are correct, they did go to chrome in 1968 however, the fender shape and bracket did not change. Yours looks identical to a CL90.

Just going off pictures online of 1964-1969 models. I am not an expert or anything by any stretch.

Glad to see Bob that you got the old engine a running and the bike ready for the road, bet that'll be a head turner on the road. These small motorcycles are much safer than mopeds in traffic. They can keep up with it and stay out of trouble. Back in 1979, I road a friend's new Honda Express II moped, cute as the Dickens, but downright scary in traffic. That's when I opted for my 1971 Honda CB100, which helped me finish out my last two years of college in Honolulu.

Regarding fenders, the later photo looks like the fender on my CB100, common also on the CB125S (S for single cylinder engine, there was a twin, too). I guess the late 1960's into the 1970's morphed to that style of fender.

These small motorcycles were ideal on crowded streets for example in parts of Asia and Europe because they could squeeze between tight spaces, plus they were popular because they were very reliable if one maintained them and cheap to operate. While on Okinawa, I saw pizza and postal mail being delivered by scooters with a large trunk mounted on the back package rack. It wasn't unusual to see motorcycles and scooters parked on wider portions of the sidewalks.

Just a conjecture, but I imagine the front fender wrapping past the front top of the tire probably prevented rain water from spraying onto pedestrians and bicycles close up front, ditto with the back.

Today's 125ccm Hondas like my MSX125 "grom" may have been designed for use in urban traffic mainly. MSX stands for "mini street extreme" , yet I ride mine on longer distances like 120km-s between my home in Budapest and Siófok, a town near lake Balaton where our summer house is. At a cruising speed of 85km/h I cover the distance in about 2 hours on a beautiful country road crossing villages. I feel ashamed when filling her up and paying with only change money at the gas stations. It averages at 160 mpg.


( I bought this decal in Key West when visiting last summer...in a car rented in Orlando and not on my bike...that would have been a too long haul ride from Budapest )


These are made in Thailand but I find it of genuine Japanese quality. Ebay sells a vast selection of aftermarket tune up kits and components .Quite recently I swapped its stock oil pump with a Japanese aftermarket pump delivering 40% higher flow. I also added a gas filled rear shock absorber which is a bit smoother than the stock. Then came an Akrapovic exhaust system that helps accentuate the beautiful 4stroke sound of the engine.

Not a single drop of oil dripped from the nicely designed engine block nor consumed between the 3000km oil change intervals..just running humbly and reliably ..



Looks strange that with this 80 degrees offset, almost horizontally laid cylinder Honda cast the cooling fins oriented vertically...not that I have overheating problems but my engineer self would have designed it differently even if this cylinder is used in vertical positions on other Honda bikes...the MSX has been sold over half a million so far so such a small mod to the fins would have made some sense. But this should be the biggest issue on this magnificent lil bike.


Too bad I had to grow old to relaunch  such hobbies like flying RC with COX engines and riding such a funny critter like the Honda MSX...in combination..with my field toolbox strapped on its tail and my Lil Roughneck RC COX bird disassembled in my backsack, off we go to the field.

Ron/George

Entirely possible and probable regards the front fender. The headlight rim has some severe road rash on it where at one time it must have hit the road, same event might have damaged the front fender too necessitating a replacement. But, and this is strange.....the entire fender looks like it has been coated in Bondo or body spray and sanded out. So nicely done at first it escaped my notice. But it always felt heavier than the larger and more involved rear fender. I merely skimmed and sanded the existing paint, had I thought at the time I would have sanded deeper.

My plan is to enjoy it this summer and during the winter disassemble it again and send the chrome pieces out to be re-plated, the frame and fenders to a bead blaster and repaint, and do the engine. A full restoration will require new wheel assemblies, available overseas but at a shipping premium.

I found this picture of a 1978 S90:



There are other differences. The pictured Honda has standard rear shocks, mine has coil overs. The pictured S90 has chrome airbox covers, mine has plastic. There has been talk about how Honda changed things mid year as the need arose and old parts ran out.

Either way, I'm just happy that it runs and rides well, it was a mess when I got it albeit with very low (5K) miles. Mark said that the speedometer/odometer works too.

What a nice bike balogh. As I recall my first S90 got no where near that mileage, something around 35/40 mpg but most of that was flat out.

Bob

Bravo on the restro!!! I find myself wanting one!! I like the design of the stamped steel frame with no downtube in front of the engine.
I like the way you sit on these older bikes, as years went on the front pegs moved forward, to me was not as comfortable a ride.

I waited on a list for 2 new GROMs for 2 years before I gave up. That was several years ago, do not know if they still even sell the cool and very inexpensive bike anymore.... Dealer in a near to me town only had a 13 bike allocation for each new shipment--- and I was some where in the 60th waiting list position

That was back when wife and I did some annual cross country RV trips in a 40' Winnebago (now sold)

I had (still have it) bought a specialty built small aluminum trailer to haul a Smart car behind the RV and there was enough room on it to fit 2 GROMs

Wife and I both drove bikes and we looked at all sorts of small bike options and the GROM always came in as least expensive, relatively lite, and very good value

The very funny thing to me is this..... here in Cen Tex is a huge motor cycle community and I know the Motor Sports dealer sold a boat load of these...YET, to this day, I have NEVER ever seen one on the street... very curious

I almost got too sucked up in nostalgia when shopping for the GROM... that Motor Sports dealer covers a lot of brands....sort of smallish motorcycle super store with Honda, Yamaha, Triumph etc etc... basically right next door to a Harley dealer on one side and and New Indian dealer on the other

Inside while looking at the only display GROM was a beautiful same colore (blue) as my ( first ever real motorcycle) an original (LOOKING) Triumph Bonneville 650 (well it ((the new version)) was really an 850) from 1972 for the low low price of $8800 out the door

Took a ton of will power to NOT leave with that bike

Found several in the area. This one not to far from me.

https://martinsburg.craigslist.org/mcy/d/honda-grom/6226496553.html

It is also rare and not sold by Honda dealers in Hungary. But they were kind enough to grab one for me from a Honda consignment sent and stored in Portugal.

Mine was made in 2015.Unfortunately the 2016 facelift left it with lots of edges and sharp contours and it looks like a transformer kid toy. The old design looks much better at least for me.

Youtube has tons of vids on the old and new designs both.

I guess the one with 2700 miles on it is worth the 2300 $ if you have such a small bike in your wish list. I paid the equivalent of a tad more than 3200 $ with registration fee and plate all included.

I have put 7000 km-s on it since I got it new in May 2016 and it has run so far totally trouble free. When I swapped the oil pump with a stronger one and checked a small oil screen in the block it was almost free of metal shavings.

I can only recommend it to small bike lovers. It seats 2 and because my wife and I are not meathills it runs with us both on the saddle with no sweat.

Sweet spot on my CB100 with the 100 cc original engine and stock chain sprockets was around 40 mph (65 kmh). With the SL125 engine and sprocket change it is now around 45 mph (75 kmh). (Sweet spot is the maximum speed at which the bike can happily travel all day at that speed without strain.) Wide open, best I could do with either was around 60 mph (100 kmh). Of course one wouldn't want to ride it for 2 hours at that speed.

If I were living in a large city, such a bike would be more than adequate to travel the surface streets. Where I am at now in a small city of 38,000, once you leave the local streets speeds are 55 mph (90 kmh) increasing to 65 mph (107 kmh) on the open 2 lane roads. For practical purposes, something starting at about 450 cc's is more practical.

Today I went on a lunch ride with friends to Muleshoe, Texas, a 30 minute ride at 75 mph (125 kmh) on US Highway 84. In rural Panhandle Texas, many of the straight 2 lane roads are at that speed.

The Honda Grom has competition with Kawasaki's Z125. Same styling and about the same price but has a slightly larger gas tank (2.0 gal (9.1 L) versus 1.45 (6.6 L) ).

2018 Kawasaki Z125 PRO Z



When available, that may be an option to the Grom.

The Grom's top speed I measured is about 105 km/h but I would recommend the 80-85km/h cruise where its sweet spot is depending on the rider's size.(I am a short 5'10" guy hence my 85km/h habit). This is just 5km/h less than the main road speed limit in Europe. On highways with 130km/h limit in Europe this is too small a bike.

That Grom seems like a fun bike. It does seem to have the same "problem" that my Old CB350 has, not quite adequate for big roads. My Honda has enough power to reach 120+ kph rather easily, but anything over, say 90kph is pretty high revving and also the chassis is not quite up to it. I am about 200lbs and a bit "top heavy" so the wind beats me and the Honda around on straights, and keeping it on a narrow lane and avoiding potholes is a bit of a struggle. On curvy roads it is OK, but the suspension is not quite up to its task when hauling my big rear around. The Honda is also a bit small for me, even though I am only 5' 11". But for its intended purpose, the CB350 is a good bike, just like the Grom and Bob's sweet little 90 and George's CB100. Short trips, small roads, and in Andras's and my case also re-learning how to ride.

I still do think Honda makes the best motorcycles in the world, all things considered. I am pretty sure the Harley won't change that opinion But the Harley is a Harley, it has a bigger frame and I do love the look and feel of older bikes. It weighs about 50% more than my Honda though, so it will take some getting-used-to when handling it in slow speeds and while parking. But both the handlebar and the footpegs are a couple of inches further from the seat so it is a better fit, and the tall front end hopefully diverts some of the wind off my chest thus helping to keep more weight on the front wheel.

Speaking of Hondas, here is a (licensed) Chinese knock-off of the Monkey bike my son got for his daily transportation around the village once he gets his license:





We replaced the original minimal-yet-heavy luggage rack, bulky taillight-plate holder combo and huge turn signals with a proper rack and smaller lights on home-made aluminum brackets, and bolted the licence plate directly to the fender. The new signals also have built in extra brake lights. After these pics were taken, we have installed a rigid aluminium handlebar to replace the original fold-down unit and also installed a rear view mirror. Our neighbour gave us a halogen headlight unit left over from a Virago he once had, so that will be installed some time in the future. The increased wattage of the halogen bulb will probably require a couple of relays as the original switches are a bit flimsy.

I also have a CB125K5 project that my son would like to build "scrambler" style, more about that later maybe on a separate thread

Kari
The Monkey and the way you have customized it is a real fun...when I contemplated buying a small runaround bike I thought of a Monkey but it is no longer available. I think I first saw the Monkey in the 1971 blockbuster movie Vanishing Point where the bike was handlifted into  the trunk of a car...but I am not sure.Then I met a grom in 2015  and found this is the same concept bike though a bit larger and immediately decided I want one...

 Good Job on the Honda , Bob You may would bee better to have someone there for the first ride ! Bee careful out there BOY !!