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1980 Honda Express nc50 rebuild


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A little thread for my NC50 rebuild.

To start off ive never owned a road going motorbike, just a couple of suzuki RM125's

Starting with this one, something like an 84-86 i think it was, basically it was a pile of shite with the wrong engine and welded frame, never ran but had fuel spark and compression and i sold it on.

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Then i bought this 99 rm125 about 13 years ago. it ran ok but not quite right but was all there and in not bad condition and was a decent price. I still own this one but the engine is in bits.

DSC00093.jpg

 

So after never been interested in a road bike i spot this little honda no on facebook just a few miles from my house.

47666834021_4bf3c15fd0_h.jpgAdvert by Bean Beano, on Flickr

I went to see it with a mate and a trailer, it wouldnt start and looked a bit rough so i left it. then over the weekend the old guy messaged me a video of it running. So i went back and got it. he wouldnt budge on the price but he did give me loads of other spares from another older nc50 he had stripped for parts.

I got all the electrics working on it, and starrted taking it out at night on private roads, it was good fun but mega slow, but each time i went out it seemed to get a little faster. top speed after i fixed the speedo seemed to be 24mph uphill.

a few more pics

32315523617_7a8148c390_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

40292724883_9450dac086_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

This turned into a project between projects as i was sick of working on the integra and shitty jobs, i enjoyed messing with the scooter as it was so easy to work on and hardly any parts make it up.

i fitted a new bigger battery as the old one was dead and causing the healights to blow as there is no voltage regulator. I also refitted the airbox with a new filter i ordered from japan.

46342972555_2dac82875a_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

46342971035_88938fdb92_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

Managed to pick up a haynes manual for the beast

32315545937_8c432c2eaa_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

It was an ex scotish library book with stamps starting from 1982

40292724933_bdf093762d_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

under the dials was someones love of bullet connectors.

47205670352_f22c0f5abb_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

new parts, the speedo cable was seized and so was the front brake cable, they got fixed early on with a new speedo drive gear

47257494561_d06f29953b_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

47257497591_842ba1900c_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

out on a night time ride

40292736103_bd757727e9_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

and back home.

32315555957_1383d74d77_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

i took the side casing off and stripped it down as it had been painted gold and when petrol spilled on it the paint washed off and looked a right mess.

32411217257_c351435e48_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

40387730373_381c613970_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

Under the bike you can see the little tool i made to pull the clutch off.

40387730363_321b50b5ab_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

I picked up another frame as i decided the one i had wasnt good enough as it had been welded and messed about with a little bit.

46438107055_6ec4e3f408_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

This frame came from a guy and he stripped the bike to make a bit of a custom bike using its engine. It was used as a pit bike at Silverstone i believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Bean
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One of the problems was i didnt have a log book or reg for the bike but after i received the new frame the guy looked through his box of bits and he found the old tax discs from 83-85 for the bike, and these had the reg on.

he was good enough to send me these.

46751189675_3a9a826350_k.jpgTax by Bean Beano, on Flickr

So i filled out a v62 form and sent to the DVLA with £25 postal order. about 3 weeks later i got a log book back woo.

A quick check on the dvla site shows it was last taxed in 85 and had 3 owners.

Next i took pics of all the stickers on the frame and sizes and a guy on ebay has drawn them all up for me to reproduce them and they look spot on.

32724217777_840737bd5b_h.jpgdfbhdd by Bean Beano, on Flickr

47614055302_e757714459_h.jpgdfhdsf by Bean Beano, on Flickr

Stripping the engine down.

33511369958_ef81d37fad_k.jpgUpdate on the express by Bean Beano, on Flickr

40422011723_fd6a01be45_k.jpgUpdate on the express by Bean Beano, on Flickr

33511370028_2c9b2a6cf9_k.jpgUpdate on the express by Bean Beano, on Flickr

That lump on the side of the head is for the auto choke. im running a manual hand one on this so i removed it.

Around this point i decided to get the frame powder coated, but there wasnt a decent match for the original colour, so i peeled off the original decals and took the frame to a paint place in carlisle, they scanned the colour with a laser/scanner thing and found out a match for the paint.

I then got the frame blasted

46728308514_10324ec143_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

I then did a little more prep work and also finished off one of the welds on that round bit in the middle of the frame.

Then i mixed up some 2k epoxy primer and sprayed it

47398471102_01e902dbef_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

I had a few issues with the gun pressure and the water trap and my arse fell out. i asked the guy who did the paint work on the gt4 to spray it for me and he did me a favour.

40485414963_3fbe627cdf_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

40485414953_65908921f5_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

46728308224_9805a78534_k.jpgExpress updates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

He also clear coated it as he didnt think the paint was that good. I couldnt believe how good it looks, really happy with how it came out. This then set the standard high for the rest of the bike though!

i carried on stripping the bike down

33717406518_9243f07380_k.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

40628322153_5954eea59c_k.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

Next i started cleaning the barrel up it was really rusty i soaked it boiling water with bilt hamber deox c and after a few goes and a little wire brushing and scrapping ti came out great.

47613918732_5fa207bb2f_k.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

33789415978_5f4ac71fdb_k.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

i got some high temp engine gloss black enamel paint and painted it with a small brush and also some of those ear bud things.

its a bad pic in the sun but it looks pretty good.

33789415178_2a704034e9_k.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

Next was the ignition side of the engine, this looked really bad and maybe had water sat in it at some point.

47257493021_a153cd59a5_k.jpgNc50 by Bean Beano, on Flickr

I couldnt find a whole new stator to repalce it all so i just had to clean it up a bit.

33789415158_a0d591e6a8_z.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

46751084525_4d6f295d2a_z.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

47666831831_fcccaca19d_z.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

I cleaned up the casing and fitted a new extreme crank seal but cant find any pics of that.

I finally managed to find a site to order parts from and came across some nos bits and bobs.

i got these new and my mate was good enough to spray them again for me. they came out perfect.

33717408858_fe641e36bd_k.jpgUpdates by Bean Beano, on Flickr

Now im just waiting for some new fork lowers, the other crank seal, new piston rings and random bits and bobs. Also got a genuine honda basket coming from Japan for it at some point.

Ive also done my CBT for when its back on the road, that was great fun and a really good laugh.

Edited by Bean
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