Restoration of a little Honda
Discussion
Hi all,
Thought I'd document my adventures with Tango, my little '76 CB200.
So we all know that buying sight unseen is very unwise. So very wisely, I saw this at an autojumble, looked at it and decided "that's f
ked that is!"
...then bought it anyway.
It followed me home, I HAD to keep it.
Van ownership is dangerous. See? If I still had my little Mazda I'd not have fitted it in.
No ramp? No problem!
So, his good side. Mostly complete, pretty colour, could be a nice wee thing.
It's had a bad smash on the left side.
Clutch lever snapped off, headlight smashed.
Engine seized absolutely fkin' solid, no gear lever (or kickstart), damage to engine casing.
Rear mudguard more holes than metal.
In the words of the famous adult movie - welcome to brown town.
Just a thought... Nah.
Trying to un-dent the tank with glue sticks.
I actually really like the wee thing. I like custom bikes but I think I'm going to restore him to fairly standard maybe a slightly orangier orange when I repaint, exhausts wont be exactly as it left the factory (at £700 each!) but pretty close, given the budget constraints. Many more things rusty/broken/missing than in the photos. Won't be concours/factory fresh, but nice and useable.
The thought did cross my mind to chuck him on Ebay and I'd probably make a small profit, even in that state, but I like an underdog.
Thought I'd document my adventures with Tango, my little '76 CB200.
So we all know that buying sight unseen is very unwise. So very wisely, I saw this at an autojumble, looked at it and decided "that's f
ked that is!"...then bought it anyway.
It followed me home, I HAD to keep it.
Van ownership is dangerous. See? If I still had my little Mazda I'd not have fitted it in.
No ramp? No problem!
So, his good side. Mostly complete, pretty colour, could be a nice wee thing.
It's had a bad smash on the left side.
Clutch lever snapped off, headlight smashed.
Engine seized absolutely f
kin' solid, no gear lever (or kickstart), damage to engine casing.Rear mudguard more holes than metal.
In the words of the famous adult movie - welcome to brown town.
Just a thought... Nah.
Trying to un-dent the tank with glue sticks.
I actually really like the wee thing. I like custom bikes but I think I'm going to restore him to fairly standard maybe a slightly orangier orange when I repaint, exhausts wont be exactly as it left the factory (at £700 each!) but pretty close, given the budget constraints. Many more things rusty/broken/missing than in the photos. Won't be concours/factory fresh, but nice and useable.
The thought did cross my mind to chuck him on Ebay and I'd probably make a small profit, even in that state, but I like an underdog.
rodericb said:
crofty1984 said:
It's NOT a pile of junk. It's MY pile of junk!
That's right. Sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination!Thanks for the feedback, good and bad 
It met my criteria of:
Light
Low power
Less than 300 quid
Just fancied something wee to thrash about the country lanes and still keep my licence when done. And as others have said, it's mainly to have something to play around restoring that isn't worth too much, so I'm not too scared to dig in or worry about originality. I did have a matching numbers Bonneville that I was determined to keep the patina on and everything correct, this will be the opposite of that. Plus, it's going to need a lot more work than any bike I've done before, which is the challenge.
I'm aware it's no-ones dream bike, but I like it. Plus I've got my '71 lightning if I want to go any faster/further.
If I can free off the engine the rest isn't too awful. The frame is straight and solid, the rest is just nuts and bolts stuff. I think i have an old mudguard in the garage that I can press into service on the rear. I have just bought some switchgear for the left that I can probably use parts of to fix the existing clutch/switch issue.
It met my criteria of:
Light
Low power
Less than 300 quid
Just fancied something wee to thrash about the country lanes and still keep my licence when done. And as others have said, it's mainly to have something to play around restoring that isn't worth too much, so I'm not too scared to dig in or worry about originality. I did have a matching numbers Bonneville that I was determined to keep the patina on and everything correct, this will be the opposite of that. Plus, it's going to need a lot more work than any bike I've done before, which is the challenge.
I'm aware it's no-ones dream bike, but I like it. Plus I've got my '71 lightning if I want to go any faster/further.
If I can free off the engine the rest isn't too awful. The frame is straight and solid, the rest is just nuts and bolts stuff. I think i have an old mudguard in the garage that I can press into service on the rear. I have just bought some switchgear for the left that I can probably use parts of to fix the existing clutch/switch issue.
HairyMaclary said:
Love this.
What are you going to do about the engine? Strip it down or just replace it? A mate of mine did the same with a Honda CX500 and I must admit I like the idea of an old bike.
Replacing it would be easier and probably cheaper, but I want to try and save it if I can. Will probably mean a strip/rebuild. What are you going to do about the engine? Strip it down or just replace it? A mate of mine did the same with a Honda CX500 and I must admit I like the idea of an old bike.
I've done top end rebuilds before, so this is the next step: a proper full disassembly job.
If I end up replacing it I might see if I can squeeze a CB 360 motor in.
Edited by crofty1984 on Friday 18th September 18:26
Well, first little dabble didn't go well. Thought I'd be smart and save a bit of money buying what looked like the right cluch housing/switchgear. It wasn't, it was £12 "for early small hondas" Tried to make a hybrid of the two, but didn't work, so I've bought the right one now for £25 (hey big spender).
Can't really tear into it yet as I've got my A65 in the shed with the front end off. Don't want to have too many bikes in bits at once, so I'm going to finish that this weekend.
And the A65
Can't really tear into it yet as I've got my A65 in the shed with the front end off. Don't want to have too many bikes in bits at once, so I'm going to finish that this weekend.
And the A65
So - I had a busy day on Sunday. Rolled the bike out of the shack and into the garden so I could work on it.
Al Fresco Spannering
Here be spiders
Stripped off the tank and sidepanels, removed carbs and airboxes. TEENY WEENY ADORABLE CARBS! I think they're 18mm Keihins.
They were pretty seized up and one of the cables had snapped, so I'll be rebuilding them with new rubbers and jets after chucking them in my ultrasonic cleaner.
Al Fresco Spannering
Here be spiders
Stripped off the tank and sidepanels, removed carbs and airboxes. TEENY WEENY ADORABLE CARBS! I think they're 18mm Keihins.
They were pretty seized up and one of the cables had snapped, so I'll be rebuilding them with new rubbers and jets after chucking them in my ultrasonic cleaner.
I like it. I purchased one years ago in Germany at an autojumble although it was the 125 twin K1 version in Green. I don't think the 125 twins were available in the UK? although someone may correct me. Anyway it was a jewel of an engine although it was surprisingly expensive for bits when you could get them but well worth (not financially) restoring
Some more pictures from the strip down:
Snapped throttle cable
Cam cover off. Thankfully the cam shaft moved side-to side when I gave it a gentle tap so I'm thinking it's at least not seized in the head, which is something that kills CBs. Going to split the chain and take the head off to have a look at the pistons directly.
This is a chicken. His name is Schrodinger, the other chickens bully him because they're dheads, so he hangs around with me a lot.
Airboxes off
Sanded back, ready for a little spruce up. I have a workbench in the tin shed (currently occupied by the A65).
In case anyone's wondering why the main spannering happens in the garden - this is my available "workshop space/storage". I decided that having no garage or remaining space in my sheds for another bike was not an acceptable reason to not buy it. That shack's about 5x7 foot and has a head room of about 5 foot. Plus I've got shelves of garden stuff in there, so it's a bit cramped. Luckily the bike's light so I can pick up the back end to spin it through 45 degrees to get it in/out.
Snapped throttle cable
Cam cover off. Thankfully the cam shaft moved side-to side when I gave it a gentle tap so I'm thinking it's at least not seized in the head, which is something that kills CBs. Going to split the chain and take the head off to have a look at the pistons directly.
This is a chicken. His name is Schrodinger, the other chickens bully him because they're d
heads, so he hangs around with me a lot.Airboxes off
Sanded back, ready for a little spruce up. I have a workbench in the tin shed (currently occupied by the A65).
In case anyone's wondering why the main spannering happens in the garden - this is my available "workshop space/storage". I decided that having no garage or remaining space in my sheds for another bike was not an acceptable reason to not buy it. That shack's about 5x7 foot and has a head room of about 5 foot. Plus I've got shelves of garden stuff in there, so it's a bit cramped. Luckily the bike's light so I can pick up the back end to spin it through 45 degrees to get it in/out.
Chicks dig bikes, OK.
Great littte project you are attacking there, hope for Honda build quality with some substance under the oxid.
I was shocked by the rusted rear fender, was that bike living on the shore ?
It looks like some owner tried to "polish" the engine covers ......with a wirebrush on a drill ?
Great littte project you are attacking there, hope for Honda build quality with some substance under the oxid.
I was shocked by the rusted rear fender, was that bike living on the shore ?
It looks like some owner tried to "polish" the engine covers ......with a wirebrush on a drill ?
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