My new project(s) Honda MB50 Mopeds

[mister c]

I wasn't going to bore you all with another "projects" thread, but there seems to be a little interest, so here goes.
I lost my mojo with the Honda CBX550 that I had, so put it up for sale for a lot less than I spent on it, but I was fed up of moving the damned thing around my shed & yard. A guy from Runcorn picked himself a complete bargain up for £400 & I now had money burning a hole in my pocket.
My plans were to buy a CBR600 steel frame for the same money that had the bodywork wrecked to turn into a track bike, but a mate of mine asked me if I would be interested in 4 1980's Honda MB50s. He reckoned that there are enough bits & pieces to make 1 nice bike, 1 so, so machine & maybe a bit of a rat bike, so popped round to have a look at what was available.
My big problem was that I had a few days to mull over my options. If I bought a track bike, it would be sat in the shed & maybe get used twice a year when I could afford to do a trackday, so, a waste of money really. I have a perfectly capable (& was rather cheap) SV650 that would do the same job . So, I went round to have a look at what my mate had. I was met by this.










These are the new parts supplied too.


All of this for the princely sum of £350. I couldn't help myself & said yes & collected everything a few days later.
Once I'd unloaded everything, it sort of dawned on me what I'd done & I sat there thinking "What the hell have I done?", but, it'll keep me busy for a long time I think.
1st thing I had to do was clear out my shed, which took ages as someone had snuck in & set off a bomb. So we had a clear floor.


Then cleaned the bench off. All was now ready.


I've started mocking up the 1st machine with parts from the donor bikes. I only have logbooks for 2 of them & I like the reg number thats in 1 of the pictures above, so, I hope, this will turn out to be the "full resto" project. I want this one to end up "as new", if I can.
With the left over money I had, I've treated myself to an Ultrasonic cleaner. What a brilliant piece of kit this is! Here's a before & after of a carb I threw in to see how it faired.

Before.


During


After


So, the rebuild starts. Like I say, this is going to be a long road for me as I now only work part time, so I'll buy parts as & when I can afford them. 1st thing on the cards are nickel plating all of the bolts (may have a go at doing this myself with a kit off EBAY) & powder coating the frame. I've already started making a list of the parts I need & it looks a little long saying I have so many bits & pieces lying around, but, onwards & upwards






Sorry about the bad pictures, but I only have a cheap Chinese phone

[Geodude]

Woohoo a mister c build thread (subbed and paying attention) I remember really wanting one of the MB or MTX's in the early 80's but me dad said no so i just used to go stand outside of Tom Conways (my local dealers) drooling...

[ophic]

Originally Posted by mister c

During

Does it do chips as well?

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by ophic

Does it do chips as well?

Snigger.

Nice one Col. I do enjoy your build threads. I'd love to do one myself but don't have the patience or skill sadly.

[squirrel_hunter]

Looks like a good project you've got there, will be following this.

Can you tell me more about your ultrasonic cleaner please? Make/ model, how big it is, where you got it from, and what cleaning solution you're using?

[TamSV]

Cool. Be nice to see a 50 done properly with skill for a change.

Building it in a shed instead of the kitchen is a bit posh though.

Been talking myself out of an ultrasonic cleaner for years. Tempted to push the button. Let's see a right manky brake caliper going in it!

[garynortheast]

Looking forward to seeing this progress Col. I always enjoy your build threads.

[mister c]

Well, that has surprised me. I thought that my project write ups were boring.....Seems not Thank you for your interest in my shinanigins .

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

Looks like a good project you've got there, will be following this.

Can you tell me more about your ultrasonic cleaner please? Make/ model, how big it is, where you got it from, and what cleaning solution you're using?

This is the cleaner I bought. Good old Ebay I offered the guy £63 inc P & P and he accepted, so bit his hand off. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Liter-St...4AAOSw8-tWXVge
I had a nosey around the net & consensus of opinion was 1 part white vinegar, 1 part water & a dash of washing up liquid, seems to work very well on aluminium, haven't tried it on anything else yet. I set it running for the maximum 99 minutes & that was the result.

Originally Posted by TamSV

Cool. Be nice to see a 50 done properly with skill for a change.

Building it in a shed instead of the kitchen is a bit posh though.

Been talking myself out of an ultrasonic cleaner for years. Tempted to push the button. Let's see a right manky brake caliper going in it!

Who said it'll be done properly I will try though lol.

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Snigger.

Nice one Col. I do enjoy your build threads. I'd love to do one myself but don't have the patience or skill sadly.

Neither have I Trev, but I do like to push myself to see what my abilities are. None of us are getting any younger & it keeps my brain active, which is what I need

[mister c]

Getting there with the mock up. Spent most of the afternoon taking parts off 1 bike & putting them on the donor.

[mister c]

Started work on the engine & have found problems with 2 crankcase on separate engines. I'm a wee bit cheesed off, so will have to try another engine from one of the donor bikes.