circa 1970 Honda Monkey Bike- Project/Resto

Malt_Vinegar · 31 May 2009 at 15:27

After 3 years of staling, and moving my monkey bike around the garage and not having any space to work on it i finally got my bum into gear and got working.

With my garage cleaned, sorted and squared away, i could make some meaninful progress. (Some of you ma have seen my garage project thread)

So, this was the bike as i got my hands on it. (albeit, with the endine removed)

Fuel tank

Front wheel/brakes

49cc engine + Rear light + A big pile of bits!

Rear Wheel

Dodgy bars:

So, that was the bike as I got it. As far as I know, it has not been started for at least 10 years, but these things are reknowned for being bullet-proof. So a top end strip down/clean/rebuild is in order just to keep it in top nick

shimy182 · 31 May 2009 at 15:30

Awesome project!, if I lived closer I would have loved to come to see the progress

Malt_Vinegar · 31 May 2009 at 15:44

Day 2!

After a bit of work, I managed to get the top end stripped down. I was pretty mucky in there, took about 20 minutes of some brushing to get the valves/head/piston cleaned up. Its not perfect, but should be ok (I will be looking to replace the engine at a later date with a 110 or 125) The bore looks superb though

Next up, the corroded wheels were stripped down and the rims were treated to a load of wire wheeling!

Both ended up looking something like this...

Not a perfect polished look, but it these are being painted, so no need really. Just a few coats of primer to keep them nice till painting time

The fuel tank was holy, so this needed wire-wheeling to see where the holes are, and where JBweld needs to be appied. (The tank will be petsealed before use proper)

So, now, you can see the many holes!!

Yukky - Should be able to get this repaired hopefully.

Managed to get the tank badges off un-hurt also

Thats it up to Last night. I need to get a gasket set for the topend, and some JBwelb to get the tank sorted. I think i will need a new carb, im missing some internal parts from the one I have, and dont think i can get a re-build kit

I am not sure on the legality of lights at the moment, I am being assured that lights/speedo/indicators are not requied due to the age. However, it will need a horn. As mine is pre-72, apparently a squeezy horn will do! I dont think thats a route i will go down though

Batf1nk · 31 May 2009 at 15:52

Cool! This going to be road legal?

Malt_Vinegar · 31 May 2009 at 15:54

Batf1nk said:
Cool! This going to be road legal?

Yup, thats the plan.

To register a Monkey Bike for road use you must acquire the following:
Age related certificate from manufacturer or MBUK or Roy Bacon
MOT certificate
Insurance certificate
V55 form from DVLA (not available in post offices)
£55 Payment
Photographs of the bike including close up of VIN

Send all that to your local Vehicle Registraion office and in a week or two, they will issue you with an age related registration mark

Dogbreath · 31 May 2009 at 15:55

You only need a working horn for a daytime MOT, though I personally wouldn't ride a bike on public roads without a brake lamp.

RoysonBobson · 31 May 2009 at 16:08

hope this goes well!

Thomas. PLease. · 31 May 2009 at 16:15

Awesome little project, looks great. :cool:

Malt_Vinegar · 3 Jun 2009 at 11:54

Ok, I have been working on the fuel tank, and given the wheel a quick blast of black for now.

I should probably say that at this point i am just getting the thing back to road-worthy condition so I can get it MOTed and road legal again. Once it is registered then the proper paint job and frame re-spray will be done. (Basically, its easier to get this done whilst the old frame numbers are easily visable)

I am considering speaking to a local powder-coat company to see what they can do for the bike at a later date

The tank with a bit of filler, needs a few more goes to get it right(Im a bit new to this filler malarkey!) I think it might work better after a couple of layers of primer?

Liquid metal - Savior of fuel tanks - Worldwide! (Yet to be sanded in this pic)

Forgot to get pics of the wheels, but I will soon enough

bledd · 3 Jun 2009 at 12:39

gogo-banana-bike

Jonny69 · 3 Jun 2009 at 16:20

Looks like this is going to be a laff, I'm watching

Malt_Vinegar · 3 Jun 2009 at 17:10

Jonny69 said:
Looks like this is going to be a laff, I'm watching

Fingers crossed

I just ordered the gasket kit, a handlebar knob (to replace the broken 1) a spark plug, and the tank rubber set. - Fingers crossed that lot will arrive on Friday, so i can get the engine back together.

I am then picking up a few other bits from a guy I spoke to online

Standard Exhaust, Standard Carb, Original Coil, Ignition Switch and a tatty seat (for MOT purposes)

I just need to get my hands on a V55/5 form, and an age certificate from either Honda (£27.50) or MBUK (£20).

It is possible, if all goes to plan, that I might have a working bike by the end of next week. This will mean i can then get it MOT'ed and send off all the other documentation to the DVLA.

Going by my previous experiences with the DVLA, i fully expect there to be problems at this point.

classicVin · 3 Jun 2009 at 17:49

nice project

Malt_Vinegar · 4 Jun 2009 at 11:29

classicVin said:
nice project

Thanks

I managed to get some work done last night.

Did a bit more filler work on the fuel tank. Decided to give it a light coat of primer to protect it. It still needs a couple more skims of filler to get the shape perfect though.

Sanded the wheels down a bit, and gave them another quick blast of black.

Not a perfect finish, and a little run on one side, but happy with it for now. Should look a bit better when the tyres are cleaned up too.

I then decided to try and remove the forks, and the handlebars, as they are a bit ropey, and will need some work. I managed to break the one good handlebar holder i did have.. Oh, and also managed to snap off the mounting bolt for the right hand bar. So, I think new bars are needed too

Managed to get them off though, and didnt lose a single bearing!

The frame is almost bare now.

Sorry about the poor pics, it was getting dark!

Master Skooter · 4 Jun 2009 at 14:11

Just realised that it's you Malt

I'm jealous...monkey bikes rock! :cool:

Malt_Vinegar · 7 Jun 2009 at 08:47

Master Skooter said:
Just realised that it's you Malt

I'm jealous...monkey bikes rock!

I know, they are wicked

Next -
I got the wheels built up...

Re-covered the old wiring loom....

...

Started to build the bike back up again..

Fitted the ignition, the coil, the forks/headset, wheels/brakes, enginecase (minus head/cyclinder) and did a bbbbit of wiring

Then i mocked it up with some of the newer bits to see how it might look

4T5 · 7 Jun 2009 at 08:52

Subscribed.

I want one of these to go with my camper but can't find the right one, Plenty of monkey metal foreigners about but no Gens.

I'll make do for now watching your rebuild, Good effort. Monkey bikes rock.

danza · 7 Jun 2009 at 10:04

LOL at the wiring 'loom'.

Good work, keep it up and don't mash yourself when it's running.

elmuzzy66. · 7 Jun 2009 at 10:21

malc30 said:
Subscribed.

I want one of these to go with my camper but can't find the right one, Plenty of monkey metal foreigners about but no Gens.
I'll make do for now watching your rebuild, Good effort. Monkey bikes rock.

Brings back the memories of camping and the monkey. Oh and few scares 2

4T5 · 7 Jun 2009 at 10:26

Think if I'd have stripped it down that far I'd have got a leccy start C90 lump & a "thumper" exhaust on it. It's not fun unless you are disturbing everybody else on the camp site, waking babies 5 miles away & getting dogs to chase you like they have rabies.

/joke (Before the Brigade attack me)

circa 1970 Honda Monkey Bike- Project/Resto

Man of Honour