To restore or to rat?

[mr.z]

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/CG2.jpg This is my new toy as it was in 1979,
https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/014.jpgThis is the poor thing now.

Sadly its been layed up more or less since then after a minor carb problem...

Luckly for me i dont need it on the road for a while, so times not an issue, money sort of is (i'd rather not spend too much)...

The only problems with the bike are... minor rusting allover, rotten seat, rotten rear mudguard (more or less the entire tail section is held together with it) partialy rotten front guard (rusted through at the top but probably useable) slight tank dent, would need a respray..., pitted but useable front forks... new tyres, new chain, sprockets seem perfectly ok... new controll cables..

A full restoration would be do-able for not allot of money i'm sure (£200 at the most i think), new forks can be got for £30 from davidsilvers, and they aren't the cheepest place arround... cleaning the parts will not be too hard appart from those that are rotten... luckly the frame was powdercoated some years ago, so thats one thing...

The alternative is... spray the tank with bedliner paint, spray the wheels with rust treating paint, get everything into rat mode to stand winter conditions, keep it as spare rat bike.. thing with that is its so close to original its really a shame to rat it...

Or clean it up, cover everything in grease, gaiters on the forks, respectable but thrifty...

Not wanting to make any money on it, didn't really cost me anything to get and i dont mind spending a little bit on it, though complete and in good condition they obviously go for £500ish... allthough i dont want to bikes i have to feaverishly clean to a mirror finish () i'm not looking to makeing any money, i want another bike as a backup and possibly for minor offroad fun/messing about on with no risk to my main bike.

Dliema
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[Scotsman37]

Take lots of pics at each stage of stripping the engine apart so as to remember how the parts fitted together and dip the parts into a bath of Gunk to clean and degrease it and dry off with a lint free cloth. Get a workshop manual on it and make sure everything adheres to the spec otherwise replace the parts if you can. It will be a great I think in learning now about bike restoration on that particular bike to start with, but that's if your garage is big enough for the project?

[stinkwheel]

You already know what I am going to say.

It is a cooking quality honder, it is astounding that it is still here. They never were and never will be anything special or unusual. The only real good points are that they are/were:

1) Cheap

2) Reliable

So, to me your major issues are keeping it so. The problems you have are with corrosion of cycle parts and in keeping with the spirit of the thing any repairs should be 1) cheap and 2) reliable. This would mean replacing the rotten bits with something cheap that isn't going to rot again and preventing the non-rotten parts from doing so. Replacing them with genuine honda parts is not going to achieve this (after all, they rotted in the first place).

Save the money for essential parts (engine internals and oil), fix the rest in an 'agricultural' manner. Epoxy resin the pits in the forks (ask me how if you don't know or post on the ratbike zone). Chop the really rotten bits of subframe out, weld in new bits then get some decent paint on there. Make a new saddle. Sand off the rust elsewhere and paint it.

Remember, a rat bike is not a piece of shit that breaks down all the time, it is a reliable bike which is repaired using cheaper and usually more robust than original componants (a good example being the ever popular car alternator conversions on 1970s jap bikes).

https://www.ratbike.org/bbs
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Git]

Restore and spare no expense, then leave in garage for 20 years and look back to youth when old and crusty

[mr.z]

Its comeing allong... haynes manual on standby...

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb1.jpg
Engine out as you can see...

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb2.jpg
This is all thats left of the stud that needs to be persuaded out..

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb3.jpg
The worst of the rot is on the rear mud guard, heres the top

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb4.jpg
the from underneeth

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb5.jpg
Looks tastey eh? hammerite parts cleaner, worth a try...

Thanks for the replys all... been waiting to take some pics before posting again...

Its really weird but its really enjoyable to work on, no fiddley bits, all straight forward, maybe because i dont need it on the road, so there not that to worry over..

Think i'll be doing it the agricultural way, its more important to be on the road 100% of the time with minimum fuss and polishing (allthough i will clean it every so often!)

I like looking about on rbz, some really "inventive" bikes on there, think sprocket seats and roadkill bar muffs are a bit much for me tho what i'd like to do is have a high level exhaust, trials sort of thing, not 100% on a passenger seat or not (usefull in emergencys, main bike is for driveing her ladyship about) took my first cg offroad briefly and was amazed how it coped, and how much of a laugh it was! i'd like it to be able to do that but with minimum risk of things being smashed off. Possibly alter the gearing for more acceleration, top speed is not particuarly important...

Aiming for - Relyable, minimal attention, dirt capable, motorised pushbike beastie...

Anything else i'll endevour to keep in this thread..
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[mr.z]

Was speeking to a mate and theres a sonic bath where he works, so he's going to sneek it in there at the weekend when the electricians aren't there, woo!
I get the feeling there some REAL filth in there... should the carb be dissassembled at all before cleaning? i mean every tiny little bit? or takeing the hoses off and chucking it in be ok?

hmmmmm mankey petrolishious....
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[stinkwheel]

I would take the carb to bits and put the individual bits in the sonic washer rather then bunging the whole lot in. You get these mesh teastrainer basket things for making herbal tea that are ideal to put your jets and any small fiddly bits in so they don't get lost in the bottom of the tank. I would leave the floats out of the sonic cleaner if I were you.
https://www.shamanshop.net/store/images/6016.jpg

Watch the small crosshead set-screws that hold the float bowl on, they burr and strip very easily, soft as shit. Better replaced once you have got them out really. If you strip the thread in the carb body where these go, don't panic, you can just fit a longer bolt and put a nut on the other side (may already have happened).

That stud should come out OK. Soak it in WD40 for a few days then roast the fucker with a blowlamp until it is hot enough to vapourise a drop of oil. It should then unscrew easily enough with some molegrips on the end
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[mr.z]

Thanks for the reply stinkwheel, ive got myself a mini blowtorch so will have a go with it (the stud) sometime later (when its not feckin snowing outside)

The carbs been taken appart, put in the bath (and mankeyed a whole lot of new solvent) also new seals and gasket made, there were apparently carb problems before it was layed up/left to rot, hopefully this will have sorted them (nothings seemed missing or broken)

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb7.jpg

Absoloute genius with the tea strainer! i'll remember that one

https://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~noriba74/images/bike/cg/cgrb6.jpg

Heres the left hand side cover, in between much sanding i found out i could get it sand blasted, being a lazy git and admiting defeate to the horrible fiddley bits think i'll be getting it done that way, think i'll have shiney sides and matt black main caseing/piston houseing e.t.c. polishing fins? sod that...
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[mr.z]

Been doing a bit more striping down on the monster...

The rear mudguard is off (after drilling the bolts out )

I've got a better idea of what i want to do with it now...

Something in between these 125 scrambler beasites of the day, they look similar, they use the cg engine the frame from one ive seen was the same (or appeared the same) (ct/cs somehting like that?)

How much of an affect would takeing the mudguard off and up have on the allready not exactly great handleing? seeing as its intension will be 80% offroad messing about and 20% emergency backup bike, is it going to be worth it?

The rear shocks.. are they going to be shot after siting idle for so long? they have some rusting, dont want to shine them up only to find they are buggered and have to buy new ones (which can't be more than £20 anyway)

+ exhaust, how practical would it be to do a home made job? similar to that of the bottom pic...

Just waiting till i have some money to buy it some new bits
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<