I've been looking at these old Hondas for the past year as a first bike for a few reasons: they look great, are good beginner bikes, and can be found for cheap. In my case, I found this one for free from a guy on Craigslist.com.

The bike is in pieces, and rusted pieces at that. Being completely new to the motorcycle world, it is a little intimidating and I don't quite know where to start. I think first I'll strip her down completely and start removing the rust and painting before pulling into the engine. I was told the guy never tried to start it since it was in pieces; think I should give it a shot?

Here she is, in all her oxidized glory. Don't mind the tank, it's just resting.

 

And yes, MSF/gear/insurance will come once this bike is ready to ride. Might be a while.

 

You're brave if you ride that **** lol

 

I would love to build a bike. I think that once I buy another bike to ride i'll also get one to rebuild. I am so tempted to build either a vintage bike or a ysr50 with a big engine.

 

good luck, I would be scared to do a big project my first time.

Im also thinking of getting an old, classic style bike. I wanted a sport bike (ninja 250) but even those are out of my price range. I only have 1,000 now so I can get an ok road bike I think.

I'll take anything that looks decent and runs ok, lol.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by G-stack double R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You're brave if you ride that **** lol</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mjfan12 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good luck, I would be scared to do a big project my first time.

Im also thinking of getting an old, classic style bike. I wanted a sport bike (ninja 250) but even those are out of my price range. I only have 1,000 now so I can get an ok road bike I think.

I'll take anything that looks decent and runs ok, lol.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Trust me, I'm very intimidated by this project. But I think I'll really appreciate taking it on once it is over. I've really never worked on motorcycles at all, so this is new territory.

I was also looking for a Ninja 250 at first. Then I figured I could find an old Honda for much cheaper to start on. Like the Ninja, they hold their resale value--they've depreciated all they're going to.

Check craigslist religiously, as well as the for sale section of sohc4.us/forums if you really want to find one of these for under $1,000. It's very easy to do so. Good luck!

 

good thing about older japanese bikes is that they make loads of appearence parts to make them loook like cafe racers. so you wont have trouble replacing messed up fenders or tanks or whatever.

 

the only problem with that bike is some impotant stuff no longer availible, i cant remember all of it but i know that the air filiter/ box not availible oem or aftermarket. but if any one wants one of those i think i still have 2 left in about the same shape. possible even a 450.

 

Is that a single cylinder thumper? That motor reminds me a lot of the XR line of dirtbike motors.

 

That's a seriously cool bike, dude. I love me some scramblers.

 

Very nice... that bike definately looks haggard, but I've seen worse brought back to life... plan on replacing all the fasteners, bushings, bearings, etc, rebuilding carbs and lots of stripping/painting.

Good luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ryanthegreatone &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is that a single cylinder thumper? That motor reminds me a lot of the XR line of dirtbike motors.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, it's a twin. The bike itself really has almost an enduro look, in part due to the exhaust, tires, and fork covers.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ASteele2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's a seriously cool bike, dude. I love me some scramblers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks! At first, I was looking for something from the CB-series. The Scrambler has really grown on me. It's something different!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Very nice... that bike definately looks haggard, but I've seen worse brought back to life... plan on replacing all the fasteners, bushings, bearings, etc, rebuilding carbs and lots of stripping/painting.

Good luck! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Definitely. I am going to experiment with a phosphoric acid bath for all the rusted parts and see where that gets me. Worst comes to worst, I'm painting it anyway. I hope to start stripping it in the next week or so. The bike's at my girlfriend's place in another city!

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

If you paid nothing for it you wont be worrying so much about keeping it original. For all the unobtainable parts just substitute wrong items. I think it would be a great low budget project bike.

 

I saw this for sale up by you. Looks like a much better place to start for only $600.

http://greenville.craigslist.o....html

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Gotcha &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I saw this for sale up by you. Looks like a much better place to start for only $600.

http://greenville.craigslist.o....html
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Though it seems like a good deal, I don't know that it is a better one. I wanted a bike I could pretty much take apart and rebuild, and I got it for free.

$600 toward my bike should be more than enough to get it running (though perhaps not a full engine rebuild) and looking good.

Already ordered the Clymer's manual, clubman bars, and an old gas tank with which to fabricate a "cafe hump." Next time I'm in town, I'm either going to experiment with some diluted phosphoric acid or electrolysis to remove some of this rust. Stripping and painting will do wonders for this bike, and on the cheap.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm excited about this project.

 

Use the muriatic home depot driveway cleaner stuff. Its cheap and works.

 

Some inspiration, a bike my buddy just finished up-





It IS possible.

 

Very inspirational, Mos.

I've already purchased a set of clubman bars, the Clymer's manual, an old tank that I'm cutting up for a cafe hump, and a brake light from a Ninja 600 (to get rid of the stock amber blinkers).

I'll be tackling the rust when I get some time. The bike is at my girlfriend's house in Charlotte, and I'm only there every other weekend or so. When I am there, I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend.

But I'm getting started soon, I promise.

So Mos, this muriatic acid stuff works pretty well? Do you dilute it, as is recommended for the phosphoric acid? How do you dispose of it when done?

Thanks for the pics and info!

 

You're brave indeed, I have wondered about restoring an older bike, but like many people have said to me, it's better if your first bike isn't a big project.

But anyways, best of lucks in your project, nice to see there's still people injecting new life in those bikes

And it was free, what more can you ask?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Starscream &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
And it was free, what more can you ask?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly.

That's why I don't feel bad about buying all this stuff for it. I hope to come in under $1,000, and have a nice running and looking bike to start riding on in the spring.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.