Living the dream

Message

bikeguy joe · Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:41 am

Man! I just got done delivering a Honda CT200 Trail 90 I sold to a nice couple from Canada, and I have very mixed emotions about it.

I got this old CT200 for free and it was a true orphan....the "bike that no one wanted to ride" sorta thing.

A guy got it from between two trees with the front wheel under 4 inches of water, and everything looked pretty grim otherwise.

He gave it to another guy for 40 bucks and he got it running, it just took a new battery. Still air in the tires and running (just barely) it was ridable and therefore got whooped on once in a blue moon after the owner had had a few and told his wife "he wasn't riding a MOTORCYCLE!" followed by great roars of laughter.

He traded it to another guy for a wrecked car and it was ridden regularly (though still not running very well) twice for a year.....

He gave it to me because he thought I might want to spend the time getting it running again after it sat out for a year and needed a new battery for 25 bucks. He was right I did have the time.

Mrs. Joe and I cleaned it up and pulled the carb. It cleaned up nice as they say, with mostly just 40 years of grease and dust mixture, the carb was a different story. It was full of rust and you know where that came from. So cleaned the carb, new fuel lines and a bit of JB Weld to seal up the "seepage" from the tank, and my patented "aquarium gravel tank clean out", and we were good to go.

Front brakes weren't very good for some reason....pulled the front wheel to install new tire and tube and we found out why- the whole front hub assembly was completely packed in black grease. Guess one of the former owners was worried about overpowering front brakes on this old trail bike?

Installed said tire, plus another for the rear, plus one can of brake cleaner plus two rolls of paper towels and the bike had good brakes and new tires.

We added a D.I.D. chain (14.95 a bargain fo'sho') and a 10.95 battery from China...(so far so good). I took some pictures and every one kept asking me if we painted it. No just wax, and lot of elbow grease, and wire wheeling, and Extend rust killer, and some Rustoleum "aluminum" paint.

Finally after several shorter test rides, I realized the thing didn't have a whole lot of power, not that it should have, but it was considerably slower than my Vino 50cc. I took off the intake tube and found out three things.
1.) No power can be made through a 3/8" opening.
2.) The tube that had collapsed to make a 3/8" opening was mearly impossible to buy.
3.) An old 90cc pushrod engine doesn't make much more power than a newer 50cc two stroke even when it can breathe.

I made an air filter out of a paper funnel, duct tape and a Briggs and Stratton three dollar air filter foam.

Finally, I rode this bike around and got to know it- not real great on the street, even with the smaller "street" sprocket installed. Those Cheng Shin "trials universals" tires are not conducive to turning into side streets no matter WHAT the surface is.
GREAT for backroad putting and exploring the old railroad right of ways, where once upon a time they pulled up all the ties and rails and left a nice network of semi-legal pathways to explore.

I rode this bike a couple hundred miles then decided to sell it and start the process over again......it was fun. It was what I've always wanted to do...buy one, fix it up, ride it, sell it, repeat.

When the couple was loading the bike onto the back of their truck I actually asked them "You aren't gonna take this thing apart and sell it on eBay like some people do?" They looked at me kind of funny then the old guy says "No I got a ST90 that I ride and SHE wants to ride it all the time so this bike is for her."

I was happy, I think....

JWINC · #2 Unread post by **JWINC** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:13 am

I'm not sure what is was about it, but I really liked this.

Thanks for sharing.

flw · #3 Unread post by **flw** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:19 am

Cool story of the (part of a ) life a one bike.

jstark47 · #4 Unread post by **jstark47** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:02 am

Cool story. A Trail 70 my wife had as a teenager is the root cause of her and my whole current involvement with motorcycling. If I had time on my hands (not!!) it would be cool to find one with restoration potential and fix it up as a gift for her.

Apollofrost · Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:15 am

Cool story, makes me wish I knew how to re-build a bike.

badfish89 · #6 Unread post by **badfish89** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:53 am

your like those people who adopt little asian kids... excpet way cooler.

Johnj · #7 Unread post by **Johnj** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:54 am

badfish89 wrote:your like those people who adopt little asian kids... excpet way cooler.

paul246 · #8 Unread post by **paul246** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:57 am

I had something similar (1964 Honda C200) and sold it last fall. Always worked like a charm. BTW, the 90cc pushrod cast iron engine wasn't designed to give more horsepower than the 50cc, but rather to deliver a bit more torque. I always was impressed with how quiet that little engine was. Mine would hit 53mph in a no wind situation and deliver 175mpg. It was my favourite ride for running errands around town.

bikeguy joe · Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:54 am

Thanks folks, I'm feeling a little better today and the hunt is on for the next one.

I got the bike just for what it was- a "resto" then ride it for awhile to "get to know it"....only problem was I got to know it, then when it was sold, I realized I had become attatched.

BTW kitty, you can learn how to re-build a bike, just "unassemble" it mark EVERYTHING and use big and small zip lock baggies. Clean and paint or have painted (exspensive, learn to paint) everything replace/repair as needed, re assemble. Manuals are useful, but not required. A digital camera is helpful because you can take a million "free" pictures of assemblys ect.

Work on it everyday until it's done or it will end up in a box somewhere and that would be a shame.

Don't try to restore anything you can't afford to throw away....

bikeguy joe · Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:08 am

Here-