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The Honda CA95 / Benly 150 Restoration The little brother to the CA160 in our family of Hondas

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  #1  
Unread 06-30-2012, 06:52 PM
tim tim is offline
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Default New member with a 1966 C95

So... here's the scoop.

I'm in Toronto, and picked up a pair of C95's (Canadian CA95 as most of you know) a few years back. One complete non-runner and then another crusty parts bike a little later, which honestly turned into mostly a waste.

The parts bike did however come with a few new parts like 0.25 over pistons/rings, some cool Terry's Aero Valve Springs (heavy duty labelled for the CB92), a pair of new intake valves and some gaskets etc. which all made up for the money I paid for the parts bike (which got scrapped a while back).

So long story short, I picked the bike up and it sat while I worked on other projects. I have a number of other bikes, and I run the Cafe Racer forum DO THE TON (www.dotheton.com) in my spare time.

This year my wife decided to upgrade her scooter license to a full motorcycle license, so I decided it was time to do the C95. Tried to get it running but then discovered it had a whopping 30psi of compression. So apart it came - everything down to the transmission.

Cylinders, head, new pistons etc. off to the machine shop for boring/valve cutting etc.

Cases off for bead blasting

Side covers and miscellaneous parts out for polishing and re-chroming

Frame, fenders and other painted bits off for paint (actually getting powdercoated after having been dip-stripped).

I'm just beginning to put the engine back together, and expect the paint work to be done in a few days. The polishing and chroming is all done with the parts waiting patiently.

A couple years back I rebuild the petcock, sourced a better tank, got some NOS chrome tank panels and new badges etc. A few bits from Thailand like new bars (originals were bent), exhaust and some rubber things like footpegs.

The chrome on the rims are is beginning to bubble - will likely have them re-chromed and lace them up with Buchanan stainless spokes at some point but will use them as-is for now.

In the meantime, the wife was so excited having done her course last weekend, we did some quick looking and I bought her a 2011 Suzuki TU250X to ride, taking the pressure off this project a bit. She wants something dead-reliable, and a fuel-injected 250 single with 180 miles on it fits the bill nicely. Safer for her to ride as well given the suspension and braking technology of the C95.

Here are the pics I have of the C95 - more pics to come as I get all the parts in one room and begin to assemble. Sadly it might become living room art as there is no more room in the stable but we'll see.






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  #2  
Unread 07-01-2012, 01:47 AM
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ByTheLake ByTheLake is offline
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Wow, what's in that petcock? Never saw anything like that.
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  #3  
Unread 07-01-2012, 02:07 AM
Jetblackchemist Jetblackchemist is offline
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Lake, haven't you ever heard of clay treating gas? You'd be surprised what some people have found in tanks over the years, it could be it's own forum For some reason ladies under garments seem to be the highest ranking oddity found most often to come out of them

Welcome aboard, I've spent some time over at dotheton I'm not registered over there; but it's a great forum.
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Unread 07-01-2012, 05:00 AM
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Holy smokes! I didn't realize that was a petcock until Lake mentioned it..
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  #5  
Unread 07-01-2012, 09:11 AM
tim tim is offline
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Yup - was a bit of a surprise when I unscrewed this ridiculous idea of a petcock.

One question - what are people doing to change the color of their rear shocks? I've seen the tutorial on dismantling them, and presume I can try painting the plastic. I've seen the metal shrouds on eBay but paying $47 + shipping to get them here seems a bit high, plus I'm too late to toss them into the pile of metal getting white powder coating.

I've got a nice set of black shocks from a 305 Dream. Think they're mostly sprung the same? Between the crusty red ones and the nicer black ones I think I can assemble a decent set without chroming - just need to paint the plastic.
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  #6  
Unread 07-01-2012, 09:12 AM
tim tim is offline
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Oh, and the cast iron cylinders were originally painted black right? Figure I might as well be original. I polished out the engine covers however and am not painting the engine parts that have been bead blasted - too much concern over flaking etc in the future.
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  #7  
Unread 07-01-2012, 11:26 AM
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Yep, the CA95 iron cylinders were black. They'll turn a rusty color if not painted. Once disassembled the plastic shock covers can be painted, but be sure to use a primer designed for plastic. Most automotive spray can primers don't adhere well to plastic.
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Unread 07-02-2012, 05:22 AM
kartgreen kartgreen is offline
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Tim , welcome to the forum . We're a little more sedate on this side verses your DO THE TON forum which I also look at several times a week . Looks like you've got a good handle on repairing your CA95 .
Hope to hear more on your progress . Hope your wife enjoy's the step-up to the "back to the future" version of motorcycling . Kind of like cafe bikes .
Haven't posted on your forum as yet but I'm working on a street fighter version of a 1986 BMW K100 RT . I've gotten all of the fairing and weird body panels stripped off of it and I'm currently working on various mechanical systems .
It's a hoot to ride , everyone looks at it trying to figure out what it is .
Anyway , welcome aboard !

Last edited by kartgreen; 07-02-2012 at 05:24 AM.
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  #9  
Unread 07-05-2012, 10:15 AM
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Welcome Tim. Thanks for hanging in there through our rigorous forum member approval process! Glad to have you as part of the gang here. You can just prep and paint the plastic without a problem. There tons of websites/forums and youtube videos showing exactly how if you need some plastic painting tips. I watched pros paint all sorts of interior plastic pieces for custom cars and they didn't do anything special or use any additives or anything fancy and it all worked and lasted just fine.
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  #10  
Unread 07-14-2012, 09:28 AM
tim tim is offline
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Here are the latest pics. Got the parts back from paint yesterday! Looking good. A few bits being re-worked. All assembly now.





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  #11  
Unread 07-14-2012, 10:31 AM
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Wow you're doing an awesome job on the restoration. It's so nice to have everything super clean and stripped down. Assembling clean components is the way to go.
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  #12  
Unread 07-14-2012, 11:24 AM
tim tim is offline
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It will be basically like new when I'm finished. My wheels are a little crusty - will likely build a 2nd set of wheels sometime soon, with rechromed or new rims and spokes and polished hubs + white walls. For now the old rims have new Duro cheap tires on them and will serve to hold the bike up.

The engine got a fresh +0.25 set of pistons/rings, new seals and gaskets and was completely bead blasted. Engine covers have been polished and some bits chromed. Need to paint the cylinders black still, but the cases and head will remain bead blasted aluminum - not painting them.
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  #13  
Unread 07-14-2012, 12:55 PM
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ByTheLake ByTheLake is offline
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Looking really nice. White is my favorite color on these old Hondas. Looks great on your bike.
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  #14  
Unread 07-14-2012, 03:05 PM
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Larzfromarz Larzfromarz is offline
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Yummy!
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  #15  
Unread 07-14-2012, 04:06 PM
tim tim is offline
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Well, I broke one of the oil rings putting them on the pistons (I think it was fatigued already as it shouldn't have broken) so a new set is on order along with a few other rubber bits for the tank etc. Decided the stacks of rubber washers I had used before wasn't good enough and splurged on the aftermarket replacements.

Just putting the shift forks back on and will get the bottom end buttoned up shortly. Still having trouble sourcing paint for the cylinders. Trying to get VHT as some say it's better than Dupli-Color, and even if I use DC, it calls for primer which I can't find. But will sort that out soon enough.

Need to take the seat apart, paint the frame, clean the springs and recover with the black aftermarket cover I have here too.
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