Small steps

 

I've had a bit of an unplanned break from restoration activities, due to a couple of cracked ribs which I acquired in a disagreement with a car on the daily commute. 

Still, I have made good use of the evenings researching where I can get a number of the parts that I require.  It seems that the U.S. is the place to go for parts for these bikes.  Nothing really crops up in the UK and Europe, from what I can make out.

 

I've drawn up quite a list of bits, time to get spending!

 

#ProstateCancer  #Honda

 

 

 

Strip down complete...

Swinging arm out, wiring loom removed.  Just the ignition switch and rear mudguard left, but I'm claiming the disassembly is complete.

 

Next need to sort through the parts and see which need plating, or simply throwing away.

Fork off!

Spent an hour in the garage this afternoon, to get the forks off.  Pretty easy disassembly, and true to form, everything is in generally good order.

The grease on the races had dried out a bit, but the races are in good condition, definitely re-useable.

The suspension itself came apart nicely, just needs a clean and a re-grease be for reassembly.  Might use this as an excuse to buy a parts washer!

Rot...

Initially the exhaust looked in OK condition, but when I took it off it was clear it was anything but.  Because of the angle of the exhaust when it's fitted on the bike it is prone to collecting water.  Honda foresaw the problem with this so fitted a drain hole and pipe.  Unfortunately the hole was completely clogged so, I'm assuming, the exhaust had sat with a significant amount of water in it.  Even the baffles have rotted inside.

Unfortunately exhausts for these are like hen's teeth.  So I need to formulate a plan for a repair, the metal is pretty thin but I'm hopeful there is a way.

The strip down

Knowing that the bike would run I started on the strip down.  First up, removal of the engine.  It's a compact little unit and I'm quite looking forward to getting it apart.  The cases are in a state but will hopefully come up looking good with a bit of effort.

As I've slowly been disassembling the bike I've been amazed at how easy it has been.  The quality of the bolts and fasteners is very good, and there has been very little corrosion over the years. 

Overall the condition is in keeping with the mileage, and there is little evidence of previous disassembly apart from where the wheels have been removed to fit tyres etc.  The front wheel did have an innovative replacement for a split pin on the axel nut though!

It's alive!

Before starting a full strip down I thought it would be interesting to see if I could get the red C110 running in it's current state.

After a quick clean of the carb, and about 50 kicks, it fired up!

Adding to the collection

A couple of weeks after getting the C110 back home I had a reply to a wanted advert that I'd placed in Preloved.

Three days later I was unloading a van full of small Honda parts!  As well as a 75% restored C114, I'd acquired a C110 in parts and a stack of other spares including two engines.

After much mulling over, a plan formed.  Restore the original red C110, then the black C114 and sell the parts that I don't use.

The beginning...

Back in July I managed to find just what I was after on Ebay.  A 1963 C110 Honda, in need of some serious TLC but complete and ready for restoration.

With a bit of help from my good friend Nick, and the boot of his Mondeo, it was liberated from the middle of London.

Going over it, back at home, it was clear that some parts were in generally good condition.  The chassis finish and the tank weren't too bad.  However, some other parts were in a terrible state.  All the chrome parts were badly corroded with the underlying metal very pitted, basically a write off.  Still I was confident that I'd be able to slowly source the parts I needed from Ebay and the like.

A nice little discovery, at the back of the tax disc holder, was the last two tax discs.  With 10,230 miles on the clock I can well believe it hasn't been taxed since 1970.