Figured I'd put this in here, as the scooter section doesn't seem to get much attention.

We'll start with this Japanese "rod-brake" era utility bicycle, manufacturer is "999" or "Three 9", can't find any info on this bike anywhere, but that's fine, it is what it is. Not sure on the exact year, but I would put it in the late 40's early 50's, which makes it a perfect period correct item for it's purpose.









Next is this 1953 Honda "Cub 'F' type" (actually, this is an 'FM', F's were 50cc, the revised FM's were 60cc which this one is). These were made from 52-54, possibly some left overs in 55; and sold for 25,000 yen (which was about $70 at the 360 yen to 1 US dollar exchange rate at the time.) These were never sold outside of Japan as far as I can tell, certainly never sold in the USA.



The two are joined thanks to some reproduction mounting brackets (thanks to a fellow collector who was gracious enough to have his original set replicated).









That's all for now as I scour the globe for parts; some keys things I need are a gas tank, bike side wheel sprocket, and the throttle controls, basically everything except the darn engine, LOL. Hoping to have it look like this when it's all done.



That one is a perfectly restored example from the Honda Collection hall.

I however don't think I'm going to do a full cosmetic restoration, rather a full mechanical restoration and a sympathetic cosmetic restoration, I'll thoroughly clean the bike and engine, get them both in working order, and just leave both in original unrestored condition.

I'll post more as I make progress. My next sub-project is to build a workbench mountable bicycle repair stand. Then I might tackle making a round tank for it.

 

Dam that a nice bike

 

This is very cool. Really, super cool. Projects like this are too far between but the rarity makes this even more special. Can't wait to see what happens next.

 

Neat

 

Not too bad, sir. I'll keep watching your progress.

Is the bicycle itself a Honda?

 

sweet...

 

In for this

 

The bike is "999"/"Tripple 9", I'm not aware of Honda making their own bicycles back then. In fact, I'm fairly certain they didn't, as their main marketing effort on these was to wholesale them as "kits" to the many bike shops as an accessory, who would then retail them to folks wanting to make their new or existing bicycle motorized.

Here's some pics of an original Cub F box, which I believe is also part of the Honda Collection Hall.

 

 

Super sweet. Im excited to see how this turns out.

 

in on this