BXProject

[David]

Ah... is this what is also referred to as a "clunk"?

[Fish_Botherer]

Ah, the Honda C90 - used to have one many, many moons ago, driven on an old provisional license. Will go with everything said before about basic and reliable (though I did manage to break mine...). The two-wheel equivalent of a 2CV.

[mickey taker]

ah yes we all lost our biking virginity on handa 50 's 70's and 90's, although the first bike I owned was a Yamaha FS1E , the king of sports mopeds

[Philhod]

Don't believe you !! I bet I could have fixed it with some tape and an elastic band

Never heard it called a "clunk" although it did, rather loudly each time you put it in gear.

Whether this was due to the primary chain design...or the fact that the gear change is on the wrong side . who knows??

[Fish_Botherer]

Don't believe you !! I bet I could have fixed it with some tape and an elastic band

Unfortunately, I don't think so. I did THAT sort of repair many times, plus the odd "repair" like reassembling the throttle incorrectly full-open, then trying to bump-start it because it wouldn't start otherwise. Cue startled idiot + C90, both falling over loudly.

To my eternal shame, it became the only vehicle I've ever driven where the engine seized. I tried to drive it from Reading to s***h Wales. It got just into Wales. 20 years later, it was still in my parent's garage when I had to clear the house (a bit rustier in the rear wheelarch), along with a couple of Hillman Imp gearboxes/engines my brothers had abandoned.

That was a funny trip, as I had only just avoided disaster in Bath shortly before. I stopped, pulled out the (only) set of keys, and promptly dropped them through a grille into a space in front of somebody's basement. Luckily for me, if not the C90, someone answered the door and retrieved them.

[Father Ted]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kUqShPMvb0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Plack 90 duz do-nutzzz

My last Plakka 90 with james sat a-top of it - honestly so fookin easy to ride even an Autistic 3 year old could manage it...


And then later...


Dont however buy one of these...


HOWEVER - Riding like a twat ill invariably result in something like this:

Followed by:

and:


However much abuse of pain killers will result in:

and getting a special bed bath by nurse Katherine....

[charlie]

ah yes we all lost our virginity on handa

its surprising what some people tell you eh

[charlie]

well why didnt you tell me yer meant a honda 50

i had one years ago, late 1970s, and me and mates ragged it to bits

we then moved onto some sort of kawasaki 250, which we kept on falling off and blaming the jap tyres !!!!

its surprising how much better yer bounce when yer younger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Way2go]

well why didnt you tell me yer meant a honda 50

Yeah, they still haven't explained where they get this "Plack" bit from that they say means Honda!

[Father Ted]

Probably because they were one of the first "plastic" mopeds with big placky leg shields?

[Madcav]

/\

Whs.

They were also fucking epic fun to ride and own. Try a front brake that merely turned the bike into a motorised pogo-stick if used at anything over 3mph and the way they were almost bullet proof.
Started off on a C70, can't remember how many times I fell off or crashed and it took huge amounts of abuse. Had fucking loads of 'em over the years, taught mates to ride them, had them on fields and caused more than one injury to others with them.
This included riding one all day long that only had a downpipe exhaust and throwing a tyre at a met who promptly fell off and sat on said downpipe which burnt straight through his brand new jeans, through his skiddies nad left a sizeable scar on his arse. Watching him explain how it happened down at A&E was absolutely fucking hysterical, it was like watching a read-arsed monkey shuffling up and down!
I also fell off mine on a housing estate pretending to be Barry Sheene. Everything was going well, sparks from the foot rests, the works until the side stand or something hit a pot hole and I was catapulted off it.
We used to get newcomers to sit on them, tell them to rev it up full whack then we'd stamp on the gearlever and jump out of the way and watch them flip it over.
Thinking about it I doubt I've ever had so much fun on one single other make or model of car or bike since. Legend has it that Mr Honda said that his company were to never stop making the C90 as they sold so many all over the world and were universally popular.

[Philhod]

Charlie wrote "some sort of Kawasaki 250"

About that period, the KH series 250 and 350 cc two stroke tripples were the dogs.

The 350 would out accelerate, well almost anything, over a 1/4 mile.

Mine was fucking phenomenal ( 3 broken toes / fingers/ribs)

[mat_the_cat]

Saw a couple of tidy looking C90s a few weeks ago, the funny thing was that from the way they sounded, and accelerated up the hill, they'd had the nuts tuned off them! The must have been pulling 70mph, and still going.

[Philhod]

about right for a C90. Always could screw 70-75 out of em.(down hill/ tailwind)
Out in the far east they stick a 35 tooth rear cog on and pull over 80.

Mind you they don't push those speeds, they use the longer legs for distance and economy.

[Madcav]

Charlie wrote "some sort of Kawasaki 250"

About that period, the KH series 250 and 350 cc two stroke tripples were the dogs.

The 350 would out accelerate, well almost anything, over a 1/4 mile.

Mine was fucking phenomenal ( 3 broken toes / fingers/ribs)

<pedant mode>

Must have been a 400 Phil as Kawasaki made the KH250 and KH400 (both previously known as something like S1 and S2 respectively). I had a few KH250s in the day and fucking loved them. One good trick you might have tried yourself was to ride them round as slowly as possible in as high as gear as possible to clog them up a bit. Then await some ponce in a flash car to get behind you, drop it a few cogs and scream the arse out of the bike as you cover said ponce's car in hundreds of lovely drops of Castrol's finest!
Had a GT380 for 7 years too, fucking brilliant bike.

[mat_the_cat]

cover said ponce's car in hundreds of lovely drops of Castrol's finest!

My father in law had a washing up liquid bottle of used engine oil especially for that purpose...mind you he also used to overtake lane hogging cars in the fast lane of a motorway/dual carriageway between them and the central reservation - and then get his pillion to bang on the roof and wake them up a bit! Nutter.

[jonathan_dyane]

I remember a friend along our street's father had a C90 in the garden where it had lain for some years since he moved onto a car. We asked if we could have it, and never thinking we would get it to run (we were about 9 or 10) he said we could. A battery and some fresh petrol and it started first kick! Had loads of fun making jumps and falling off it, I remember the throttle jamming on me and heading into a field gate at about 40mph, me flying over the gate and the Honda smashing off the catch and crashing through. I did several somersaults and landed in some long grass winded but uninjured, and the Honda was none the worse for it's ordeal... We never did kill it either, although we did crack the crankcase when a jump collapsed, but some milliput soon fixed that! Happy days!

The MZ has a wonderful anti-tailgating device in that the oil pump is connected by cable to the twist grip to increase lubrication with twistage. Whenever someone was a tad close, I would pull on the cable outer and generate a most effective smokescreen, but had to exercise a touch of self-control as excessive usage would fluff the plug...

[Stinkwheel(Matt)]

Incredibly old thread ressurection for my own purposes of talking bikes and posting up a few pics.................

I love bikes, more than cars in fact, i started riding 'peds at 16 and passed my bike test at 17, that was 14 years ago.
From 16 to 21 i worked in a bike shop and was basically spoilt rotten and yes, as it happens i was just inside the new style learner laws so could ride anything after i passed my test on a 125 in 1995. I didnt get a car licence until i was nearly 20. In the end riding in snow and ice was getting on my wick you see.

have some of my bike history in pictures (with a few words thrown in.......

First 'ped, my dad bought me it (him and grandad are/were bike riding types also) i was gutted, what a heap of poo it was.......


I got bored of the piss taking and slowness very quickly so just went and sold it, with the proceeds i bought one of these with an engine in bits in a box, so quick rebuild with a 70cc kit and away we went......


Then i turned 17 and had to have a 125, so i got this from a local breakers, needed a new cam chain and the brakes overhauling, turned out to be the slowest 125 in the universe, they dont nickname the honda superdream range as 'wet dream' for nothing, it had leccy start though!!!!


That was part exed for my first 'elsie' a 125 mk1. The guy let me test ride it, first time it hit the power band i'd bought it, i didnt care what was wrong or how much it was, i had to have it.


I then took my test and passed, so next day i bought one of these that had come in part ex at work, 250cc twin cylinder 2 stroke with powervales. First day i wheelied it(unintentionally) away from the lights between two cars, shat myself and became hooked for the rest of my life on 'proper' two strokes.


Virtually a week later i got offered one of these chap, and decided two bikes was a must....


And then in1995/96 suzuki released these Bandit 600's. 130mph for £3995 new. The 2 above bikes were part exed for one like this....It taught me to actually ride properly, i mean like really properly cos' i now had a bike that would keep up with all the people i worked with in the bike shop and some of them could properly shift (couple of ex-proddy racers) So i learnt the 90's knob head bike trick of knee sliding. Fun but pointless and probably against the law on the road in some way.


As any 18 year old will tell you, more power was needed so when this came in part ex and only 6 months old, i had to have it, so i did. Quite simply the best bike ive ever ridden, just so competent at everything, fast, comfy, sporty and relaxed all at once. Ladies and Jelly spoons, i give you the VFR750FV. A V4 180degree crank with gear driven overhead cams. I managed an indicated 150mph on it on a few occasions, still the fastest and safest ive ever travelled.


a very brief ownership of one of these followed, they were the new hot poop sport bike and it was just too damn good for me, i was gonna die if i kep it, so i didnt....


So a play thing vfr400 was bought, very nice, sounded awesome too. Then i got married and didnt have a bike for 4 yrs as houses are expensive.


If your not all bored to trears yet, part two will follow.........Oh and im still only 21 at this point

[Stinkwheel(Matt)]

So, after a bit of saving and justification to the then wife, i bought another bike, i went for something familiar to me, a yamaha powervalve 2 stroke. It was an ex-race bike and had had a full proddy tune job, bored to 375cc over normal 350 and micron race pipes and race set up carbs etc. It was not a good bike to familiarise myself with bikes again really. In the intervening 4 yrs i'd lost my bottle somewhat. Also the family now made me a bit more cautious a rider as i didnt want to kill myself too much, which before i didnt much worry about it. But a coupl eof months and i was back to where i wanted to be riding standards wise..


As usual i got bored quickly so when offered a swap for another TDR250, i went for it...........Id never owned a blue TDR, so why not.


Then i blew this up, big time, melted pistons, cracked head, seized crank. I could not be arsed with another strip and rebuild on it (id done it twice already) so swapped it for one of these big ol' suzukis, really great bike, solid, reliable, good fun but it had a 120mph engine and a90mph chassis and thats not a great combination.....


Enter 'another' TDR......


Got bored again and ran out of money too, so no bike for a few months until my boss gave me one of these that his son had melted the wiring loom on and had sat in his shed for 12 months mouldering, stuck it in my living room and rebuilt it all through winter and away we went, pleasant bike, bit cramped for a 6ft tall fella though....


So this brings us up to date, swapped the suzuki for this yamaha, the paint job is gash but you would be amazed how traffic makes way for you when your bike looks like this one does....


Sorry for boring you all, its your own faults for having this 'bikes' thread here.

[Stinkwheel(Matt)]

Just to add, ive only put up bikes i kept for a while. Ive owned loads more that i kept for a week or two then moved on. Profit i think being the main motivation, that and access to trade ins at trade prices that could then be retailed. Mercenary but we all gotta eat.