I usually plan to arrive early Friday morning so I can get camp set up, hop on the pit bike and head straight for the swap meet. The swap meet contains row after row and booth after booth of vintage parts. Part of the fun for me is looking for that rare part that no one else can identify and hundreds of people have walked by.
The weekend started with rain most of the way from Chicago. With the drought this year, the rain was welcome. Most years at Mid-Ohio, you can expect a few thunderstorms to interupt the heat and humidity. This year I rode and walked around all day Friday not finding anything that I couldn't live without. I am always looking for an interesting vintage bike that is willing to follow me home or a few parts that I can pay $5 for and sell for $200. Few and far between, but the search is always exciting. No rare parts or bikes at giveaway prices. Guess everyone still had high expectations about the value of their treasures.
So, after running around the facilities a bit on Saturday morning, I was heading back to the swap meet to take another swing through on my 1972 Honda CT70 (purchased last year at Mid-Ohio). Just inside the gate was a line of motorcycles parked along the fence whose owners were out wandering the acreage. There along the fence was a white Honda 50 that caught my attention. I am not that familiar with the model, but what attracted me was the condition. It appeared to be a good original bike. A For Sale sign was hung on the handlebars with a cell phone number and a price - $550.
One thing I've learned over the years is that when you find a deal that you think is good, make a quick decision and move on. I don't know how many deals I've missed just because I waited. So, I took a few minutes to look it over..... 3500 miles, original white paint and plastic in good condition. no rust through on the paint, nothing cut, nothing wrecked. Even original grips. A few tears in the original white seat, but overall, a very nice example. I took the liberty of removing the plastic sidecovers and what should be inside but the original owner's manual on one side and the tool kit on the other.
So, on the phone I go and call the owner. As it turned out, they had just left the bike and were just a short few booths away. Five minutes later I was starting the bike and taking a short test ride. 10 minutes after that we were negotiating and a deal was struck. $475 was the final price. I thought that was a fine deal. It always amazes me that some motorcycles can survive for 46 years and still look and run so sweet. I had to have this one!
So, the rest of the weekend was a treat riding around on the CA100. It's a 3 speed automatic so you slam the back of the rocker pedal down to shift into first, give it some throttle and hit the road. Wind it up hard, throttle back and hit the front of the pedal to hit the positive neutral then tap again to second, wind it up and into third. Riveting acceleration, especially if you're going downhill! I spent some time talking to folks at different booths trying to learn more about the bike. Especially helpful was Mark Troxell, from Emmaus, Pa, who sells NOS vintage cycle keys and other parts for many of these smaller vintage Hondas. His website is hondakeys.com . He was recommended as an expert on the CA100 and told me all about the bike, including the part about winding it up before shifting. Although the frame number begins with C100, Mark thinks this bike is actually a CA100 Super Cub and he believes it is a 1966. After getting home, this was confirmed by the tag on the wiring harness (see photo).
Anyway, here are just a couple of photos as a teaser. Come on back at a later dates and I will write another article and include a ton of detailed photos. If you are restoring a C100 Cub of CA100 Super Cub, I hope these photos will help provide some detail to assist in making your restoration successful. Because I seem to have a hard time finding good photos of bikes I've restored, I plan to include as many detailed photos as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment