My bike: the frame is back from the powdercoaters

I just got the frame and some parts back from the powdercoaters, this is a bit of a landmark moment as although I still have some sub component restoration to do and the engine, everything from now is re-building.

My Bike: Restoration update, painting prep

This weeks restoration update mainly involves removing stickers in preparation for painting. Fortunately I only need to prep 1 side panel, the rear fairing and front mudguard. Firstly I tried heating the sticker with a hair dryer to see if I could lift the graphic, but this didn't work so I had to use Nitro Mors and elbow grease. With the hard graft now done I can hand on the body work to my brother in law who will finish the pre-paint prep and paint with the correct Honda colour of NH0.

The other job I have been experimenting with is still the hub re-finishing (see last weeks post). I spent a bit of time masking the boomerang spokes with the view of spraying the hub but there is going to be no way to get access to spray paint the hub, to be cont...

My Bike; this weeks restoration update, wheels

This week I have started fork on both wheels. The rims and the blades of the Comstars are in very good condition, however the hubs need some work.

I gave the wheels a de-grease and wash to get a better look and the paint is very tatty, the problem with the Comstar wheel is it is not designed to come apart so the hub needs to be restored in the wheel.

As I can see it I have three options.

1/ Polish the hubs. This is not the standard finish, could be a lot of grief.

2/ Mask the spokes/ rim and spray paint the hub. Because of the spokes its going to be tricky to get an even coverage?

3/ Brush paint the hubs. Possibly the easiest option, but I don't want brush marks in the finish.

If anybody has an idea please leave a comment bellow!

My Bike: This weeks restoration update.

Not massive amounts this week as I have had a busy weekend but I have got some more painting done. I also finished of the upper belly pan mounts (not pictured) as I ran out of black the other week.

Not that happy with the swing arm links, this is the second attempt after I originally brush painted them with Hammerite Smooth, I'll inspect and decide which way to go.

Re-plated bolts fitted

Kiddo Motors MBX75

This has been on the net for a while but I wanted to add it to my blog. This Honda MBX 75 has been modified by Kiddo Motors in Barcelona in a street cafe racer style, enjoy.

My Bike: restoration update, bolts...

This week was a little slower, but progress was still made.

Job 1 was to rebuild the riders foot pegs with new rubbers, but one of the steel pegs was so rusted I think it will need replacing so this job was put on the back burner.

Job 2 was to re-finish the radiator mounts as I was not happy with them, these were flatted back with wet and dry and painted with primer, ready for satin black that I need to buy another tin off.

Lastly my bolts came back from the electroplaters, the finish is really impressive and has saved a ton of money in replacement bolts. Silver and gold are Zink and the black is Nickle.

My Bike: Restoration update

This week's restoration update mostly involves painting....

Items spray painted are the top crown/ yoke, the tops of the handle bar clamps, part of the rear shock linkage, and a couple of brackets.

The swing arm went for powder coating.

Good 2nd hand mudguard and tail unit arrived from Germany. Arranged for these items and the side panels to go for professional spray painting. Interestingly the white colour code NH0 is also called Championship White and is the same colour Honda used on the Integra Type R.

Some spares and rubber parts from Honda M Shop. Front foot peg rubbers, rear foot rests, Pro-link decals, rear drum brake actuating rod, 3 x rubber coolant hoses, 6 x hose clips.

Lastly I sent lots of nuts, bolts and all of the axles for cleaning and re-electroplating.

I forgot I had this.... NOS rear shock

Owners bike: Dene Gorfin, MBX80 project - UPDATE

Recently Dene Gorfin got in touch with me to show me the progress on his MBX80 project, I also quizzed Dene on a couple of things that are interesting tips for restoration.

Did you buy the graphics of eBay? I do need the side panel and tail graphics so I was looking at those kits, but you can't be sure of the quality?

yep got graphics off ebay but not without probs, the fairing decals were too short and the colours were back to front so had to swap sides and re cut the angle making them shorter if that makes sense? if you look closely you can see they are short.
Also had a slight prob with decals being that the long thin lines were at the wrong angle so had to be cut, you can see from photo if you look carefully.

Is the finish on the engine sprayed or brushed and what did you use?
i sprayed the engine some with PJ1 engine enamel and some with plasticote from B&Q I think as it was in the garage.

What are you going to do with her when she is done, ride, polish or show? 

I just intend to ride, don't think it will be show standard just clean, i just want to enjoy it. I have been looking at the one on your site which belongs to martin butler and am sort of aiming in that direction, got a new Gianelli from Germany and an mps-300 from Holland.

Where did you source the parts from?
I get most of the parts from Europe, cant seem to get much here, honda80ccnl, TVD Parts and Honda M Shop have been main suppliers as well as looking on ebay regularly.

looking at your site which is great makes me wish id bought some ages ago when they were easy to source, i'm sure you know more about these bikes than i ever will but if i can help with anything let me know.

Thank you to Dene for the words and pictures, I will definitely be looking forward to seeing this one when it is finished!

UPDATE 06/04/2017

The decals for the rad cover arrived from Holland today so cosmetically i'm calling it finished! Just been out on it and it needs a few adjustments to carb and clutch but pretty much there.

My Bike: Some good used parts from Ebay Germany

I have been keeping an eye out for a good used mudguard for a while now and one popped up on German ebay. the guy also had a good tail piece as well as my original had a broken lug.

The dealer has a couple of red MBX's that he is more than willing to remove parts from, the service was 1st class and quick, check them out http://www.motorradteile-bielefeld.de/

The mudguard, tail unit and side panels can now go to paint.

no cracks or holes, yay!

all lugs intact and the metal piece underneath has no corrosion! 

My Bike: painting small parts

I spent Sunday cleaning a few small items and experimenting with spray finishes in my garage as I didn't want absolutely everything powder coated.

The items you see here are the belly pan lower mount, fork lower crown and another look at the swingarm.

Items were wire brushed, cleaned with petrol, dried and rubbed with wet and dry where needed. Primer is Halfords grey, paint is Halfords Satin Black and Halfords Platinum Silver (an MG colour).

With the swing arm I am not happy with the finish as you can see quite a bit of damage on it after the rust was removed. This item is heading went for powder coat Monday morning as the PC finish is thick and will cover the minor pitting in the metal.

primer coat

add satin black

rear brake torque arm

Swingarm

Brochure: Honda Sports and Touring 1984

Here is a scan of the lightweight page of Honda's 1984 range brochure featuring a black MBX 80. What is really nice about this brochure is that the cover is signed by Freddie Spencer, so I have included that scan as well. The other pages feature Sports Mopeds (inc MBX50), Sports Singles and Twins, Euro Sports, Super Sports V2/V4, Super Sports, Touring and Trail (inc MTX80).

Magazine Feature: Practical Sportsbike Oct 2016

This scan is from the magazine Practical Sportsbike and features the restoration story by the bikes owner Rob Billman.

My bike: Restoration, final frame strip ready for paint

Its taken a little while but I need to push on and make some progress, so I decided to take a Friday off work and get the frame completely stripped so I can take it and get it powder coated.

The final strip was relatively straight forward with the exception of some rusted bolts that were holding the rear mudguard on. A couple of bolts snapped and the final bolt wouldn't budge, fortunately this last bit of mudguard is being replaced and was cracked so I just pulled it off then cut the bolt off.

So with the final brackets and the head race's removed we are ready for paint next week, I feel this is an important step as technically from now on I am re-building!

27/02/2017, Frame, side stand, rear rack, brake pedal and nose fairing bracket dropped of at www.plasticoat.co.uk - looking forward to getting it back, so watch this space!