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RE: Honda C90
Posted by : Neil (212.139.242.67) 
Inappropriate or SPAM?
On Wednesday 16/07/14 at 23:06:38
Yes I collected the bike and Graham and his wife were really nice people, so I named the new arrival after him.
So Graham is a 1976 C90 which had done just 4500 miles when it was taken off the road in 1988 and has spent the last 26 years in garaged out of the wind and rain. Overall Graham is in good condition for his year and very original.
The bike had been put away with petrol in it, so the carb as you can imagine looked like someone had filled it with varnish, even the slide was stuck. So cleaning the carb was my first job.
The tank was empty, but staining on the frame suggested this may have been because it pin holed as a result of the old fuel. However I left the varnish like substance in the bottom of the tank and filled it with petrol, and so far so good, no leaks at all.
It's interesting that the varnish like residue left from evaporating petrol isn't soluble in petrol, which is a good thing for Graham as it maybe sealing his tank.
Next I fitted a new battery and after a bit of contact cleaning; all the electrics sprung to life without even a bulb needing to be changed.
Next it was the turn of the ignition. I checked for a spark and was disappointed to find that the spark plug was sparking internally instead of between the electrodes, worse still I discovered that the NGK spark plug appeared to have been discontinued. A search on ebay followed, and was rewarded with a box of 10 plugs from a shop clearance.
With the new plug fitted; I swung on the kick start and Graham burst into life on the second kick.
A new number plate has been fitted to a freshly sanded and sprayed mounting and a brillo pad has brought much of the rusted chrome back to life.
So Graham is ready for his MOT and adventures new.
I am very happy to give a home to Graham and want to prove that not all 6V C90's overheat and seize. I feel pretty confident about this as a good friend owns a std C90ZZ which did the journey with 20 or so of us on Cub90's from John O Groats to Lands End. Being slower than the Cubs; the ZZ had to run flat out all the way, and it never missed a beat,some years later he is still riding it. Top tip, don't remove the baffle from the exhaust unless you increase the main jet to compensate for it running weaker and hotter. Honda sold the 6V C90 for at least 16 years, so its fair to assume they didn't have a huge and costly warranty problem for seized engines.
Happy Tinkering all
Neil
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