Farewell MB8

 Its time to say fair well to the little MB8 and it's now sold. It genuinely was a lovely bike and to be honest I'm a little gutted to let it go but as it didn't really need restoring it had to go to make room and fund another restoration project. It's gone to a good home :-) 

Auf Wiedersehen mein deutscher freund!

New project bike, Honda MB8

If you have a keen eye you may of noticed the black MBX80 in the header image has morphed in to a black MB8, well there is good reason for this as my second 'spare' MBX80 is now sold and I have just replaced it with a German import Honda MB8 via the Honda M Shop

So, why a MB8?

The answer for me is quite simple, way back in the mists of time I learnt to ride a geared bike on a black and gold MB5. At School we had a lesson called 'road traffic studies', I took this as an option as my 'soft' subject to balance the triple science I was already doing... Anyway in this lesson we got to ride some mopeds around the school playground, the fleet included a Suzuki FZ50, Honda Camino, Honda C50 Cub and the MB5 which I immediately took a shine to, so I have always loved this model. Fast forward to today I had the opportunity to move on my spare MBX and take the plunge on buying a MB.

I do love the MB5 but I'm not overly keen on 50cc bikes (sorry!), so the obvious solution was a French or German market MB8. The MB8 is pretty much identical to the 50 apart from a variation of the tank graphic and obviously the 80cc head and parts to make the 80 work, but basically and most importantly they are the same bike. Lastly I really like the idea of running the MB8 with my MBX80 as they make a great pair of 2-generations of  Honda's 2-strokes and will display well together.

After making the decision to change it seemed I was spoilt for choice, with Dirk and the Honda M Shop having 5 bikes at the time plus a bike on ebay. After much deliberation I opted for a black and gold bike (like the 50 I learnt on) from the M Shop that needed only light restoration, but all the important bits were either done or good. It just had an engine rebuild, all the electrics sorted, new battery and the most importantly the rims were excellent. The deal was done and Dirk and Patricia delivered it to my house in their van.

My new bike is a German model so it has a restriction to 80KPH (French bikes are full power), this can be removed but I'll need to do a little more investigation in to whats involved first. The bike was first registered in Munich, West Germany (yes, remember East and West Germany?) in 1981 and came with its original log book with the owners name who was Paul Westner, and the original Honda hand book which is handily in multi language with English. The exhaust has seen better days and Dirk kindly gave me a replacement.

As it is the bike could be used and enjoyed for many years, but the point of it will be to restore it to a good overall condition, as always I will share the story with you on this site.

The first thing to do with an imported bike is to register it on the NOVA (Notification Of Vehicle Arrivals) system, this is the governments website that you must declare an imported bike on. HMRC will then notify you if there is any duty to pay but on an old bike this there shouldn't be any tax due, but it is a legal step that you must do and failure to do so could result in fines from HMRC. To make the declaration you will first need a Government gateway account, its easy to set up and once this is done you can can add the bike to a new deceleration. Once your application is complete you are issued with a NOVA certificate and with this you can then register the bike with the DVLA. I applied for my NOVA today (10/12), I'll update on the next step of importing a bike as soon as I hear back.

UPDATE: HMRC got back to me on the 11th informing me I made a mistake on my submission (I mistakenly submitted it as an amended claim rather than a new claim). That evening I re-submitted the form and had and instant reply saying it went straight through with the NOVA ref number and that I had zero VAT to pay. This is the first stage of getting it legal.

Honda's MB/MT/MV/X series motorcycles

In 1979, Honda introduced a very successful series of light motorcycles in the US and in Europe. Honda's productionlines of these models were in Spain, Belgium and Sweden.

Both the Honda MB road-model and the Honda MT offroad-model motorcycles were released in Europe. The MB was made 1979 to 1981 in Europe and in the U.S. in 1982 only. In Europe however the mt50 production would last until 1997.

Both models were in 2 versions; 80 and 50 cc, two-stroke. Honda left its four-stroke program temporarily because it aimed at the European moped market for 16-year-olds, the legal age at which someone can drive a 50 cc motorcycle in most European countries.

The MB model was sporty and complete. It was standard equipped with a speedometer, rpm counter, front disc brake and Honda Comstar wheels. Because of its success Honda released the MT series, a naked off-road version, on the European market.

The result of this move was that sales in Europe greatly increased. The MT series earned its popularity because of the large numbers of original and imitation parts that were available. By means of these parts the owner was able to create a unique state of the art model. Another very important issue was that with a reasonable amount of money it was very easy to gain extra engine power. The result was a tuned up MB or MT easily exceeding the legal engine power.
In parallel with the MB and MT series, Honda released aircooled MBX and MTX 50 & 80 cc models. 

Unlike the MT50 which had a 5 speed gearbox, the MTX50 had a six speed 'box plus a HERP chamber on the exhaust. In 1983, Honda released a watercooled successor to both the MB/MT and aircooled MBX/MTX series, the MTX50/80RFD and the MBX50/80.

In 1985, the MTX50/80RFD was revised cosmetically into the MTX50/80RFF. This, in turn became the MTX50/80RII, a motorcycle based around the existing MTX125/200R motorcycles. Honda's MBX looked like Honda MTX SH(adow).

Because of important law and insurance changes the sales in these types of light motorcycles decreased enormously. As a result production in Spain and Belgium came to a standstill in 1992. MBX production lasted another year and stopped in 1993. Only in Scandinavia a limited production for the local market lasted until 1997. After that Honda's M productions came to an end.

There were 50, 80, 125 variants of both the MBX and MTX as well as a 200c version of the MTX. The MTX125/200R started life in 1983 as RFD models and were ungraded in 1985 into the RFF. Changes includes dropping the drum brake at the front and replacing with a disc, bigger forks, revised graphics, a revised rear shock, revised CDI and, in the case of the 200, a new swingarm. The 125 cc motorcycle come in both restricted and de-restricted form. The de-restricted version and the 200 cc version had ATAC chambers operated by a piston valve attached to a mechanical governor.

The stock MB8 uses a two-ring 45mm piston and 50.8mm stroke – compared to the 41mm stroke of the MB5

To complete the 'M' range we have to include the MVX250, with the engine being a V3 two stroke like the NS/RS500 racers of the early 80's. This model was very short lived and suffered engine reliability problems, but is a very good looking motorcycle.

**Source text Wikipedia

Press Release: Honda MB-8

The daddy of the MBX, here is the original Japanese press release for the 1980 Honda MB-8. The text has gone through google translate so reads a little funny...

February 15, 1980 Honda motorbikes type sports MB-8 (eight) to launch two models simultaneously released with some improvements

Honda Motor (Japan) is a new design of high-performance two-cycle engine, bodywork and fresh unique design technology to load 80 cc sports car, "Honda MB-8" from February 22 release. The 8 MB-Honda, nimble handling and transit point to the primary axis BARANSA, central cooling cylinder head combustion chamber, the combustion chamber bell technologies such as high-power engine (9.5 horsepower), a simple

Items / models	MB-8 MB-8
Standard cash price  In the district of Sapporo price	152,000円 152,000 yen (155,000円) (155,000 yen)
Sales Plan (Years, domestic only)	3,000台 3,000 units

Items / models		MB-8(HC01) 8-MB (type HC01)
(m) Wingspan × × Length (m) Height		1.880×0.655×0.980 1.880 × 0.655 × 0.980
(m) Wheelbase (m)		1.220 1.220
(kg) Vehicle Weight (kg)		91.82 Maintenance: 91, dried: 82
(L) Fuel tank capacity (L)		9.0 9.0
(km/L) Fuel consumption (km / L)		60(50km/h 60 (50km / h proving ground test values)
Engine type		Air-cooled two-stroke single-cylinder
(cm 3 ) Exhaust volume (cm 3)		78 78
(mm) Lumen diameter (mm) × stroke		45.0×49.5 45.0 × 49.5
PS/rpm) Maximum output (PS / rpm)		9.5/8,000 9.5 / 8,000
(kg-m/rpm) Maximum torque (kg-m/rpm)		0.89/7,500 0.89 / 7,500
Gearbox		5-speed return
Frame format		Backbone -
Tire size	(前) (Previous)	2.50-18-4PR 2.50-18-4PR
	(後) (Post)	2.50-18-6PR 2.50-18-6PR
Brake format	(前) (Previous)	Hydraulic disc
	(後) (Post)	Mechanical leading trading ring