1980 Honda Cub Restoration Thread

[kamilb1998]

Finally collected it this morning. I've given it a good going over and think I have a definitive list of things that need doing;

MoT;
Exhaust
Rear mudguard and two small (2"x2") patches
Mirrors
Battery
Front Inner Tube

To a presentable condition;
MoT list +
Front mudguard
Honda badge for front legshield
A fair bit of paint
Wheel spokes re-chroming
Rear rack re-chroming

I carried out an oil change today, bought a new front inner tube and purchased the ignition key from keysinthepost.com, unfortunately they are closed until the 30th of July so I'm expecting the key to arrive mid-week next week.

Some pictures;

[DouggyMc]

Ooh look at that rot. But good on you for wanting to restore it, they are solid little bikes. Local pizza delivery boy uses one and that is a 1981 model and it's still going strong!

[Blakeatron]

you cant beat an old honda

[anonymous-user]

Fair play Kamil you do like a challenge

Love these, had one as my first form of motorised transport, oh how my mates at school laughed with their DT50's but they broke down a lot and the little Honda kept going

[PH lurker]

I love these, I would much rather have one than a typical scooter. Perfect for local trips, especially.
I've managed to avoid getting a scooter whilst being on two wheels with 50cc.

Whta is the engine capacity? ETA: Presumed 70cc.

Edited by PH lurker on Wednesday 25th July 21:28

[kamilb1998]

DouggyMc said:

Ooh look at that rot.

All the rot is on the replaceable rear mudguard and two small patches (2"x2") on the rear part of the frame. All the other rust you see in the pictures has been jabbed several times with a screwdriver and has turned out to only be surface rust. Looking at the pictures now, it looks far worse in them than it does in reality.

PH lurker said:

Whta is the engine capacity? ETA: Presumed 70cc.

Yes, it's a 70cc.

[5potTurbo]

The Honda Cub: favoured transport of millions in South East Asia!

Good on you, Kamil .... you do like your projects!

[SammyW]

Nice! Been fancying one of these since seeing them in their thousands in Vietnam.

[3doorPete]

Nice one - that chassis is really borderline on beyond economical repair unless you have some fierce welding skills (ie, don't just want to weld plates of the holes).

I've restored a couple of these, one from a good start point and another from a pretty knackered start point.

The following are helpful

www.ebay.co.uk
www.c90club.co.uk
www.wemoto.com

Here are some pics of my end results - I had 3 at one stage!







They are tough old birds.




and can sound quite good too with a Yoshimura fake exhaust system...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMtEVI_9fNc

Good luck!

[kamilb1998]

3doorPete said:

Nice one - that chassis is really borderline on beyond economical repair unless you have some fierce welding skills (ie, don't just want to weld plates of the holes).

Your three look very nice!

As I have mentioned before, the chassis is not in that bad a condition. All the rot is on the replaceable mudguard and there's only 2 small-ish spots on the mudguard part of the actual frame - these will be getting sorted by a mechanic friend.

I have started to rub down the rust on the wheelarch and it was only surface, in the two below pictures you can see the only two rot holes that are on the frame itself and the rubbed down parts of the wheelarch in primer.

[kamilb1998]

A little progress today, I really want it running first before I become properly stuck in.

Gave the wheels a quick go over with some metal polish - the front one came up very well but the rear still needs a little more work;


I also wire brushed the rear luggage rack and that came up OK-ish;


I then ordered a new battery fitted a new battery, run a new battery overflow pipe as the original was missing & cleaned up the battery bay and the part of the main frame tube you can see through the hole in the below picture;

[kamilb1998]

I put together a website about it this evening - it can be viewed here

[kamilb1998]

Yesterday, I fitted the new front inner tube and my battery arrived today so I got that fitted too. I'm hoping the ignition key will arrive tomorrow.

[Roadrunner23]

Great thread so far, bookmarked your website. Looking to buy a cub some point this year so will be watching this with interest.

[rumple]

God my first road legal bike, gaw 996v where are you now.

[kamilb1998]

It runs!!!!!

The key arrived this morning and after 5 kicks the bike fired up! A couple of minutes later saw it idling on it's own too.

A video of the bike starting & idling has uploaded and it can be viewed here

I will post the video of me riding it once it's finished uploading.

[Roadrunner23]

Just watched the video sounds good. These bikes really are bomb proof.

[kamilb1998]

The video of me riding it has just uploaded and can be viewed here

[Roadrunner23]

She goes well, Im looking in the next month or so for a similar restoration project except I'm looking for a 12v model.

[kamilb1998]

I ordered a new exhaust yesterday and cleaned up the rear wheel rim and painted the spokes on both wheels - this really transformed the overall look of the 'bike. I also wire brushed and painted the centre & kick stands as they were also quite rusty.