Craigslist Comes Through

One of the benefits of living on Northern California seems to be an extensive supply of small displacement Japanese motorcycles. In fact, all but one of my current bikes came off craigslist, and usually within a couple hours drive. Well, as chance should have it, a Honda C110 popped up locally a couple weeks after making my decision to run in Modified Frame 50cc Pushrod engine class. I contacted the owner, arranged for payment and pickup. In fact, a co-worker was heading down to the area the very next day, so he was kind enough to pick up the bike and deliver it to my door. So far this was proving pretty damn easy!

The bike was as described, which was mostly complete, rough around the edges, and full of $400 worth of charm. It also came with a box full of spare parts. The engine kicked over, and in fact had spark after I quickly swapped a spare battery in it. I didn’t attempt to start it, as I knew the gas – if there was any – was no doubt like varnish. It had some crusty bits, many of which wouldn’t be used on the final product anyways. So, my next step was to take a few dozen photos of the bike in the before state. Here are but a few to get your juices flowing:

Don't get too close:


It might bite:


49cc of Pushrod Thunder:


As you can see, this project will be as much about “restoring/rebuilding” as it will be about modifying the bike for racing. In fact, this is where I set a rather interesting ground rule for the build: I wanted to build this bike like it could have been built back in the 1960s. Meaning, I want it to have the feel of an old school hot rod bike. I’m not going to drop $600 dollars on a brand new café racer gas tank, or machine up billet rear sets, and replace every bolt and nut with titanium. In the end, I’m hoping it will look like a period built Café’ Racer Hot Rod. If this means the bike ends up 1mph slower, so be it. I can always break my rule the following year.

Chris H.