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Classic Bike Trackdays

Project RSS50
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arlurt
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Location: North Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 1:31 pm    Post subject: Project RSS50 Reply with quote

Can you tell what it is yet...?



And if you can tell, I haven't put it in the wrong section, it's getting a heart transplant. Very Happy
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Last edited by arlurt on Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Howie



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PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm going for a Honda H100????
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StrokerBoy
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I may have some insider knowledge on this, but I'll keep quiet for now. Wink
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Gillinghampaul



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PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was a motorbike once!
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arlurt
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 1:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's a Honda MT50, the trailie styled moped from the 80s and early 90s.

Some friends and I are planning a trip away on Honda 50s, but have you seen the price of a reasonable Honda step-through these days!?

My second plan was to use an SS50 but they're fetching good money too so I've been looking for other options.

This is the general idea...





The HPI check for the frame has come up clean, though I'm not quite sure the back end of it isn't a little twisted, and now I have a Reg Number. I've applied for a V5 and SORN, if that comes through OK I'll be on with this as my winter project.

I've seen a bloke in the US selling MB5 frames modified for Pit Bike engines and thought I might try something similar. I've got my SS50 engine, and plan to combine it with a Chinese 110cc engine to make an SS110 (don't tell the others! Wink ) that will go in the MT5 frame.

Initial idea was to use CBR125 suspension and brakes, but now I'm thinking of buying a cheap Chinese 125 donor and using what I can from it to make something with and 80s Honda core and modern Chinese brakes and suspension.

Has anyone got any experience of the cheap Chinese 125s available now?
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StrokerBoy
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did some work on a Chinese rip-off of a Suzuki GS125. There was cost-cutting at every opportunity, but it seemed solid enough. Not looked at the more modern ones. Pretty sure they'll do for your purposes. The Thumpstar 120 motor in my RB appears utterly bulletproof, considering it's flat-out all the time.

Rufforth usually has a selection of Chinese pit-bike bits and probably good for cheap 125's too.
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Gillinghampaul



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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have a look at oo racing, they sell complete pit bike engines at fairly reasonable prices, unles you want a big bhp monster!
But to be fair even 24 bhp from a 170cc engine is only about 800 if i remember right
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I know what I'm doing with the engine. It'll be the SS50 cases with a Chinese 110 crank, rod, piston, cylinder, head, oil pump, and clutch. In haste I've already bought a 110 conversion set (cylinder, piston, head and gaskets) with the intention of getting a 12v C90 for the other parts, but by the time you've bought a reasonable C90 engine, replaced the bearings, bought a high capacity oil pump, and a twin plate manual clutch you may as well buy a complete new Chinese 110 engine and rob it for parts.

I'll use the SS50 4 Speed gearbox as Chinese gearboxes don't have a good reputation for reliability. They’re OK for a commuter step-through, but not up to enthusiastic use of all that 110cc power! And I want to use the SS50 cases to make it more Honda, which is also why I’d planned to use CBF or CBR125 suspension, wheels, brakes, footrest hangers, switchgear and anything else I could get away with.

Looking round for bits of CBR125 though I find that a complete road-legal two-year old Chinese 125 is less money than a crashed and bent five-year old CBR125. And you can have a (cheap/nasty) upside down front end, cast wheels and Nissin copy brakes. I’m sure it’s all better than the MT5 ever had, good enough for a project like mine, but not as good as the CBR stuff. I recently missed a complete CBR125 rolling chassis that would have been ideal, maybe with patience I’ll find a Honda donor at the right price, but the Chinese stuff does look good value for money.

The MT5 frame looks sound, no rot to worry about, but from some angles to doesn’t look straight. It’s difficult to tell with such a funny shaped lump but I guess there must be some datum points you can measure up to confirm it’s straight. I’ve asked the MB5 forum for advice but any info on this sort of thing would be useful.
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Gillinghampaul



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know its a way from you but look up motoliner in maidstone in kent, i know its probably more than you want to spend but 200 gets you a straightened and truer than new frame!
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

First stage is to find out if the frame is actually bent.

On Strokerboy's suggestion I've eMailed Steve of www.MB5.co.uk to see if they have any info on measuring the frame and datum points.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another piece of the jigsaw has arrived. I'd been looking at CBR125 and CBF125 wheels and suspension to go with the MT50 frame. I'd also been considering Chinese 125s as a source of parts as well, but whilst casually scanning for bits on eBay I discovered the modern sports moped!



By 'ek, biking kids today don't know they're born! I've got a 2008 Aprilia RS50, 17000 miles and well and truely thrashed, trashed and crashed. The plastics are held together with ty-raps, cracks and splits everywhere, exhaust blowing, and a rear disk so worn it's cracked.

On the plus side, the suspension is spot on. Front is upside down Marzocchi forks, alloy yokes, radial brake calliper, steel braided brake line and radial master cylinder. At the back there's a beefy alloy swing arm, monoshock, disk rear brake. Wheels are stylish die-cast, and a pair of good tyres, 100/80 front and 130/70 rear.



It's even got a digital instrument cluster with big rev counter and red back-lit LCD speedo with lap timer and other snazzy functions.

How kids manage to fall off these things is a mystery, but I suspect it's more to do with inexperience and poor maintenance than anything to do with the bike.

Most astounding of all, I managed to travel 65 miles on the thing to get it home, cruising between 45 and 50 mph. That's with my weight holding it down, and an exhaust blowing so badly my ears are still ringing a day later.

It's got an MoT until April next year so I'm tempted to fix the exhaust and the rear disk just to see how well it should go. To say I'm impressed with the modern sports 50 is an understatement, but then I noticed how much they cost... They were £3500 new!

Once I've stopped going on about it I'll strip the bike for the bits I want and sell the rest. There does seem to be quite a good market for parts so moving on the bits I don't want should nicely subsidise what I've effectively spent on parts.

I'll post a picture or two when I get home.
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Last edited by arlurt on Mon Sep 21, 2015 2:07 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had a quick look at prices for the parts I need to replace for my project. I need Front brake and clutch levers, rear disk, pads for both front and rear, and I s'pose a new front disk wouldn't go a miss. I'd thought of using the top fairing on the Honda as well, with lights, mirrors and instruments but second hand fairings are expensive and rare.

Called in at my local Aprilia dealer on my way home and was surprised to find genuine parts are half the price of some of the pattern stuff. I have found this before which is why I asked, but a rear disk at £25 is a bargain. There's also a genuine top fairing for just £50 so I've taken the plunge and got that as well.

I'm tempted to use it a bit for what's left of the reasonable weather, then pull it all apart...
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

arlurt wrote:



Nice selfie!

Seems wrong to cannibalise this to rescue an old dead Honda but I guess you know what you're trying to achieve. Take it to Squires on Saturday and I'll see if I change my mind when I see it close up. Very Happy
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arlurt
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeh, I only noticed the selfie when I uploaded the photos. What are the chances eh?

The bodywork is shot. Ty-raps lace it together all over the place, then taped over with black insulation tape to make it look better. There's quite a bit of stick-on carbon fibre vinyl too, I bet it's not good news under there either.

The gear-change is really slack, but it got me home. Absolutely gutless outside the power band which might simply be the blowing exhaust.

There's exhaust bandage wrapped round the under-seat exhaust pipe, and I think the gasket that should be between the cylinder and the down pipe is just missing.

Temperature and fuel gauges don't work. damaged headlight reflector. hacked under-seat plastics. Brake callipers look rough but I hope they're recoverable.

If you wanted a nice RS50 you wouldn't start with this one.

Poking round it tonight I think it's fuel injection. where the carb should be I can see what looks much more like a throttle body. Maybe it's even more sophisticated than I first thought.

Checked on insurance tonight, they want £75 Fully Comp and £70 TPF&T. That's with zero No Claims because that's being used on my other three policies. Third party only is actually more than Comprehensive. I've asked Bennetts if I can add it to an existing policy. If I can I will insure it and come down on it on Saturday. If it's more than about £25 then I won't bother, I'll just get on with taking it apart.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We all fell off our first bikes, and bodged 'em when they needed repairing - lack of money, skills and tools I suppose. Still shocking how little some people seem to care though.

My Dad bought me my first bike for £140 secondhand. Four years later I stripped it down, rebuilt it and sold it for £150. Very Happy
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