Is it worth Saving?

[Highgeared]

Hey all, I'm new here. And wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mike Harrington and I am an addict to all things powered by motors that are vintage. Currently I have a

-1965 Vespa
-1979 Honda XS650
-1968 Impala Wagon
-1958 Chevy truck
and now this little Honda Dream.
I traded a set of '57 Cadillac hubcaps for it. I want to know if it is worth restoring or if it too far gone? I know I can do the body work easy enough, but the mechanics of these little things is a mystery to me. I know Small Block Chevy's and that's about it. I took the side covers off, bought a new cap and gasket set and thats all I have done to it. It looks as if somebody has bobbed the fenders once upon a time and the tag says it was last registered in 1971. There are no plugs on the bike which has me worried about what the inside of the engine must look like.

I would like to keep the cost of restoration at about 600 bones. Am I being realistic?

Thanks guys.

[kartgreen]

Is it restorable ? , Yes . $600 ,No. Even if you did all of the labor yourself the bike is going to require many parts to get it into a running condition .
That's not to say you shouldn't restore the bike , there are few of these little guys out there running .Parts are available on E-Bay as well as surfing the internet .
You'll have to decide what amount of money you feel comfortable spending . If it's not worth it to you to rebuild it ,please part it out so other bikes can benefit from it's parts .

[Smithers]

Oh boy, well the cylinders being exposed is a big problem. Here is what you will get for $600. The rims with new spokes (you do the work relacing them yourself) a new seat, another front fender, new cables (newer black ones not original grey)... and that's it. That is about how far your cash will go. You still won't have a chain gaurd, side covers or tank knee pads... all of those really not easy to find and not cheap if you do.

Then there's the engine. New pistons, circlips, rings all add up on top of having the cylinder bored/honed if it's still usable. And 95% these bikes usually get parked because they break and no one wanted to pay to fix it so you might have to do some additional repairs that you don't know about yet. The money really starts to add up fast unfortunately. The mirrors, switch controls and levers will set you back another pile of cash too. I wouldn't start restoring that if someone paid me. The back fender being cut is a big problem (lots of time to fix) and the wiring probably is very bad - lots of small parts need to be located and that takes a ton of time. You would really do yourself a favor by locating another little Honda to buy for parts and then make one good bike out of them.

[Highgeared]

Smithers you may be right on that one. I think I may dismantle it, and look for another Dream and keep this one as a parts bike. I do have the knee pads, side covers and extra front fender.

I see other bikes in better shape on Craigslist surface all the time.

I think you just made my wife happy and bummed me out.

[Smithers]

Trying to save you some money and a whoooole lot of time! You got some great parts but I would find another bike with a better frame to bring back to life. I also don't know how far you want to take the restoration either. There are bikes out there that are half restored that you can pick up for $500. Looks like you have a good set of carb covers on that bike too. I would break that engine apart and have a look first. The condition of the cylinders will give you an idea of how much money you'll have into the whole project when that's accounted for. Too bad those spark plus were left out! What a bummer.

[bluerider]

I don't really have enough experiance to offer an opinion about your bikes restorability. I am still collecting parts that I need to restore my bike. I did notice that you have a complete set of mufflers( not sure of their condition but the one looks promising) the carb covers that Smithers mentioned, a fuel petcock, air cleaner cover, and horn. these are all parts that are dificult to find and the fuel petcock is expensive when you do find them.

Now for a few other general observations about restoring things. A couple of small tears in the seat is just as bad as the seat on your bike. It means they both need recovered and because they are both 45 years old the foam is also most likely shot. bad paint is bad paint and a bit of rust dosent make it worse.

A non running bike is always a pig in the poke. The engine on my bike looks like it was freshly rebuilt but never run, and it has rust on the inside of the cylinders from siting without an exhaust system. I now have to tear it down to see what is there and it could have water in the bottom end. I won't know what is usable till I get there and my engine looks pretty clean from the outside.

oh yeah Smithers forgot to mention tires, there going to cost you another 250 bones.

Robin

[Highgeared]

Guys thanks for the honesty of opinions. I appreciate it. I'll just keep an eye out for a better bike on Craigslist or other places.

With gas prices going the way they are, driving around on a vintage bike is a very appealing idea to me. Vespa, Honda or Yamaha.

Thanks gents.