Honda MBX80

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Owners bikes: Stunning white Honda MBX80

I got a nice surprise this morning when I got my very first e-mail relating to this site!
A chap called Martyn Butler mailed me in this fantastic restoration on a white UK spec MBX with just 7000 miles on the clock. Martyn has fitted a Gianelli performance exhaust for a deeper more sporty sound but also has a new stock exhaust for originality. Here is what Martyn said:

Hi, thought I would share its story some more and hope the site grows for these great little bikes.

The bike was purchased from e-bay in march this year, it was a 9 hour round trip but just had to buy it, it had 2 owners from new with tool kit, books and Honda keys. I had been looking for 2 years but only came across either the fabled Padgetts bikes (found in a crate) or very poor examples, this was last on the road in 1996 and had been stored since without being run.

The first pic shows the mess that was the frame, but it was all standard and not a thing was missing, the toolkit was like new and do not even think it had been used. Upon getting it running it was obvious the bike needed a full strip and to do it right I thought mains, piston, seals and the works – a note of interest was the bore was standard and could have been re-ringed if necessary. The biggest problem was the condition of the carb and I could not get any internals for it, so after much searching took a punt on a NSR80 one, which looked exactly the same but had a smaller main jet, upon fitting this the bike ran very well and with a few minor adjustments and the odd plug chop seemed ok, but very slow! So on with the Gianelli! Which was found after a lot of searching in Germany.

But as a rule with strokers, throwing parts only at it is not wise and Jetting became a real issue with a very narrow band, high in the rev range but after many changes / needle settings it worked and sounds crisp and responds as it should, I do not intend to do many miles but it will be T&T and used.

Key to restoring one of these is MS Word translator for all the German stuff (very helpful).
Never, never buy a pattern tank cap – total waste of money / loads on e-bay but waste of £20 – buy genuine! And be patient as many parts are available, RS paints the only place ever to get paint / whatever the bike.

I have owned an RD80LC and it is not a patch on the MBX for ride, power or reliability also no 12v electrics!

Note Gianelli exhaust for extra 'umph'

Magazine: Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, May 2008: MBX80 restoration

This feature was published in the May 2008 edition on Classic Motorcycle Mechanics magazine. The restoration was done by Steve Mawson, better known for his and his brothers MB5's, check out their website here.

My Bike: original bike vs new

here is the only other image I have of my original MBX80.. it was a 1984 machine, I think the reg was B... BFE (cant remember the numbers!)...

My original bike

my new project bike

Manuals: a little light bedtime reading...

Here we have the genuine Honda workshop manual, dealer set up manual and owners handbook. I figured that actually all three will become invaluable references with the bike stripped down to base components.
The owners manual is nice as my dad bought it for me me from Harry Gill motorcycles, Gosport when I had my original MBX80 back in 89... I also kept the owners manual for MBX50 too!

My Bike: Restoration, new old stock body parts

Handle bar fairing and belly pan

Press Release: 1983 Honda MBX80 Integra

I found this gem on a google trawl, the original PR piece for the MBX and MTX80. You can also find the PR for the MBX50, 125 and their big brother the MVX250.
Google translated from Japanese. http://www.honda.co.jp/news/1983/2830621.html
June 21, 1983
New release of two models of 80cc sport bike "Honda Integra · MBX80" "Honda · MTX80R" equipped with water-cooled 2-cycle engine

Two models of Land sport bike "Honda · MTX80R" lightweight design of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is equipped with a single-cylinder two-cycle engines · 79cc water-cooled, and road sports bike "Honda Integra · MBX80" full-featured fairing At the same time from the date of release June 22.
Engine mounted on a "MBX80 Integral" has adopted a hemispherical combustion chamber of an excellent combustion efficiency. Such as the adoption by the lead four leaf valve rectification Itazuke intake leads to further smooth, large exhaust chamber, which will exert a high output of 12PS / 9,000 rpm.
In addition, hydraulic disc brake mounted dual-piston calipers exert pro-link rear suspension and provide a follow-up of proven excellent road surface, a high braking force, when traveling, such as to protect the rider from wind pressure full fairing, further loading sports have adopted the appropriate equipment to enhance the bike.
Engine "MTX80R" has adopted a four leaf valve lead Itazuke hemispherical combustion chamber and rectification similar to <MBX80integura>. Has secured a tenacious performance of torque at low speed to medium according to the usability of the land of high output and sports 11PS / 8,500 rpm.
In addition, captured the road surface to ensure even in rough terrain, was secured and the Pro-Link rear suspension provide a follow-up road surface was excellent, the long stroke of 200mm, the front suspension of the built-in mechanism fork, slim body with excellent arrived at the foot further due, has become something to enjoy comfortable driving to the city from uneven terrain.

Sales plan, the plan (annual domestic) MBX80 integral units 3,000 units 3,000 MTX80R
National standard cash price is 228,000 yen 198,000 MTX80R Integra MBX80 yen.
(Hokkaido, Okinawa and other price. High and 3,000 yen, except for some islands)

My Bike: the project begins

Here it is, after a 22 year gap I have another MBX80! I have been thinking about this bike for quite some time even to the point where I bought a NOS nose fairing from eBay, just in case I got another bike...

Well after a few false starts I finally won a bike on eBay, it was located in Ramsgate, Kent, so I got the company van and off I went. The guy who owned it (Bob, or Busa Boy on the sixteener special forum) seemed like a good bloke, funnily he always wanted one but it had to go as he had too many bikes (mostly MB5's). The bike is a 1994 on an A plate, had lots of owners, high mileage, but ran and most importantly was complete. As a bonus it also came with a NOS belly pan and a used but decent rear mud guard.
My plan for the bike is a complete restoration, replace or restore everything so in effect what we have is a mint, factory fresh bike. My vision I have in my mind is perfection, but as I have no set time scale to finish nothing will be rushed or 'make do'. I am planning on doing the restoration with my Dad, so we will be sharing jobs.
We are planning a complete strip down in the summer with the view of have a rolling restored chassis - frame, swing arm, forks, bearings, wheels all done by winter. Also a list of our most wanted parts done by the Stafford show in October.