'65 Project:First Pix

The little brother to the CA160 in our family of Hondas
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Greenbush Road
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:20 pm

'65 Project:First Pix

Post by Greenbush Road »

Hi All,
Firstly, thanks to everyone for having a great resource like this forum. Very helpful indeed!


Now to get down to business.

Here is the one I have:


Image

She's been sitting since '87, indoors, but under a leaky roof and a mountain of lumber,sawdust,garden hoses,ladders and whatever other junk got piled on top of her over the years.

This was my father-in-laws bike, he bought it new at Menzel Motors; if any of you are from the Erie area you might recall that place. He was a telephone man and rode it to work for years. He later upgraded to a Yamaha Heritage Special, and the Benly went to the back of the garage.

To shorten a boring story, I have her now and am making my first attempt to restore an old Honda.

My goal is to get her running and ride to work this summer.


Since it's so cold now, I have just been slowly cleaning the crud off to see whats underneath, everything is pretty nasty:

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The good news so far is that she is not seized up, and the gas tank was bone dry and looks pretty darn good and clean inside. The tool kit is complete and was in its proper place. No tire pump though, darn it. From what I can see so far, my plan of cleaning her up til the weather warms up and then firing her up might be do-able.

Check out these custom turn signals:

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Well, that enough for starters.

More to come as progress is made and weather allows.
Last edited by Smithers on Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
Greenbush Road
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:20 pm

photos

Post by Greenbush Road »

Until I figure out how to properly post photos, looks like you can right click on the little picture thing and open them in another tab.

Got to go now, I'll try fix things tomorrow.
Smithers
Posts: 3175
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2004 3:58 pm

Post by Smithers »

The picture display thing is work in progress. It just needs a few hours of work and I want to do this after I upgrade the whole forum... since upgrading this software should take care of the issue! :) Here is how I made the changes to your above post in order to make the pictures show. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5613#post5613

And don't worry it won't be like this forever. It will all be taken care of in the near future. Sorry for the inconvenience but it's great to have you here with us! All the answers to your Honda questions can be found here.
:D
Last edited by Smithers on Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
gbaumgratz
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:56 pm

Post by gbaumgratz »

Woo-hoo! Erie, PA! Girard, PA here... Welcome to the group!
Greenbush Road
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:20 pm

Done enough to ride.

Post by Greenbush Road »

After what seems like ages, another Benly is back on the road.

Thought you all would enjoy some photos:

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Dig that plaid seat.

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Just got back from a quick 20 mile ride, she's running great with new valves, pistons and rings.

Now for the last cosmetic things, mainly the rubber (plastic) fork and chainguard plugs and that clutch cover plug too.

There's enough little stuff left to keep me busy,but for now I'm happy just to be riding around town, getting those reactions that only the Benly can elicit!
1911tex
Posts: 98
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:53 pm

Post by 1911tex »

WOW, really beautiful ! And it has turn signals........! Really a great restoration. I ordered plugs of ebay from the far east......no problem and quality; they are still available on ebay. It is obvious you put a lot of time and $$ in it and it shows. Congratulations.
Larzfromarz
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:47 pm

Post by Larzfromarz »

Well done looks great.
kartgreen
Posts: 291
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2010 11:04 am

Post by kartgreen »

WOW !! Beautiful restoration . To me that's the fun thing about these bikes . You get positive reactions from everyone that see's the bike and lots of stories from the gray beard crowd . These were bikes that everyone seemed to have as well as the 305 Dream but what they really wanted was a more sporty CB 305 or CL 305 .
I'm still amazed how many of these bikes are being found in dusty corners of garages , sheds , barns and basements and being restored . Kind of like the old hot rodding days of the 50's and 60's before glass bodies and repro frames and parts . Work with what you have , scrounge for original parts , make or adapt what you have to to get the bike on the road again .
You should be proud and please keep it on the road or show it whenever possible . I'm sure it will inspire someone else to find a bike and get it running and on the road again .
Ranchman
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:56 am

Post by Ranchman »

Very nice! Great job.
Greenbush Road
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:20 pm

Post by Greenbush Road »

Thanks all.

Great fun to be riding again after 26 years!

The plaid seat came from Thailand, cool plaid but doesn't fit exactly right.

Had the original seat redone, I'll have to pop it on and take a few more photos so I can decide which one I like best.
Smithers
Posts: 3175
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2004 3:58 pm

Post by Smithers »

I'm diggin the seat and white walls. Great bike!
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