Central London traffic moves so slowly that I do not find despatching on a Honda C90 that much of a disadvantage in terms of the speed with which jobs are done. I actually have three of them, usually all in good working order. None have been bought new and the most I spent was £375 for a really good one. the least £75 for a runner, whilst the third cost a reasonable £150.
l have modified each in the same way. The dual seat has been truncated into a single seat, an extra long rack fitted behind this seat upon which sits a huge top box and from which hang two deep. narrow panniers. The top box lid has a rack on it, so any really awkward object can be attached to this with bungee cords. The top box and panniers are QD and are fitted to whichever machine is in use. The lack of a pillion seat does not bother me in the least because I have a FZR1000 for proper riding!
With all this stuff fitted and filled full of various essential junk and a few jobs, the little C90 handles like you'd expect — pretty horribly. Most of the worn out suspension travel is used up by the machine and rider's bulk (175lbs and 210lbs respectively), so the war torn London roads play havoc with the bike.
The trailing link front forks also feature sloppy bearings. so the front wheel goes walkies at the merest hint of a lean and use of the SL5 front brake, never a great stopper at the best of times, results in a series of jerks and Iurches that frighten roadside tramps out of their somnolence. Once they get over about 5 years and 35000 miles old, C90s get very sloppy indeed.
This does not stop me riding them hard. after a while it seems merely to add to the fun. There are some positive aspects to the step-thru design. The Iegshields are wonderful in cold and wet weather and the bike is such an obvious commuter that fitment of one of those clear perspex screens to the handlebars does not look out of place. I have ridden my little Hondas through snow, ice and blizzards, and lived to tell the tale!
One obvious aspect of riding these bikes is the lack of a clutch lever. A centrifugal clutch comes in automatically once certain revs are reached. With age (read 40,000 miles) this does not work so well. the gearchange requires a massive crunch to operate and the gears grate into position noisily. There are large gaps in the three speed box, so fast forward progress requires flat out revs in each gear if the top speed of 60mph (yeah, right... Ed) is to be achieved.
A favourite trick is to rev the balls off the engine with both brakes locked on in first gear. You can feel the centrifugal clutch winding the machine up like a giant elastic band and when the brakes are released the front wheel is flung up in the air with surprising viciousness.
One way of weaving a way through traffic is to carry on with the front wheel pawing the air, the machine wobbling along on the back wheel, pedestrians and awake car drivers scattering out of the way. it really does look like an accident looking for somewhere to happen.
I only abuse the oldest and cheapest machine in this manner, as I feel, with 93000 miles up it is expendable. But the damn thing refuses to break, even after I have lost control of the wheelie a couple of times and come crunching down on the front wheel, leaping off the bike as it cartwheeled down the road.
A friend has gone the whole hog with his C90, having stripped off every unnecessary bit of plastic and metal. bunged on a loud megaphone, thrown away the air filter and taken a file to the ports of his OHC single. The result is a sort of baby street racer that roars around traffic, car drivers craning their necks trying to catch a glance of some thunderous mega bike only to have to look down to kneecap level to find the horrible Honda. Needless to say. this chap. so full of bad taste, is not a despatch rider!
These small four stroke engines have been around for decades and are Honda's bread and butter in Japan where they power numerous commuter cum business machines. Honda started producing these engine in the sixties, so it should come as no surprise that they are tough and ultra reliable As mentioned. the clutch is the first thing to give trouble. other than that, given 1000 mile oil changes, the rest of the motor can be neglected until performance starts to disappear, a sure sign that the points and valves need a little attention.
Believe me, l am impressed with these engines, having done over 100,000 miles on the three bikes I know what I am talking about. Engines that fail, usually around 36000 miles, of big-end or mains problems, do so because oil changes are neglected. There ain't much oil in the engine to start with, and what's there has a very tough time. I have got my oil change time down to less than ten minutes so it is no great hassle. Even with a high mileage up. oil consumption between changes is minimal.
Other consumables are just as good. The Honda handles so horribly that I just stick on the cheapest tyres i can find, usually Shin Sins, a set lasts over 20,000 miles. Mind you. in the wet the bike slides around all over the place and even the puny SLS's have to be treated with respect. However, I soon developed a foot down on fast corners technique and am able to whizz through London at a demented pace come rain or shine, much to the annoyance of expensively mounted DRs.
The chain is fully enclosed, naturally, which means i rarely bother to look at it. Sprockets don’t seem to wear at all (in DR talk that means that despite teeth being hooked or missing the chain never flips off) and chains 90 for at least 15,000 miles, although with a bit of link removal it's possible to do twice that mileage.
The real nice thing is the fuel consumption. Most despatch riders think they are on to a good thing if they can get 50mpg, on these little Hondas 90mpg and as much as 125mpg are the norm. What else? Brake shoes have been known to wear out but breakers will supply you with a newish set for about a quid.
More of a problem is the rear half of the frame rusting. so a bit of preventative maintenance is called for. Also, the rear shock mounts at the frame and can snap off, again due to rust; a not particularly amusing occurrence, I can tell you! A mate with a welding torch is a good friend indeed.
Readers will have already realised that l outweigh this machine, so when traffic is particularly dense it is not a great problem to hop off, put the bike on the pavement, amid startled peds, and push it along until there's some relief in the crowds of stalled cars.
in a similar manner short cuts up one~way streets and through pedestrian precincts can be achieved. If I’m in a particularly bad mood, i will actually ride rather than push the bike. which seems to rather upset some people. Parking is usually no problem, rather than risk the wrath of some insane traffic warden when double yellow lines are in the way I haul the bike up on the pavement.
Sometimes, treatment of the C90 by car drivers verges on the homicidal. They just don't want to recognise that you exist and cut you up something rotten. When the bike went into the side of a taxi, the cockney psychopath rushed out of his crunched vehicle (nice big dent to the front wing and door), fists already swinging at my head. Having just picked myself off the floor, free of injury except for a bruised knee. I was not too amused. I sidestepped his punches and tapped him on the head with a right. A look of astonishment creased his face and after a few more abusive words he made a quick retreat to the safety of his cab. The little Honda was only scratched, so I left the scene of the accident in a hurry before he could summon, on his radio, either his colleagues or the pigs to effect retribution. One good aspect of the otherwise dreadful front forks are that they are very strong and can take a direct hit without damage.
It’s pretty much the same with the rest of the bike, i have dropped and rolled these Hondas every which way and they don't seem to take much notice Mind you, the relative lack of speed in town must help, I have seen one in a breakers that was half its normal length and had the front wheel under the engine.
As I'm on the large side, my only real complaint about the C90 is that it's rather too small for me and I could do with a scaled up version, but that's probably too much to ask. I don't really care if people make fun of me on the little Honda, at the and of the day it does its job and I make Over five hundred notes a week net. Can't say fairer than that, can you?
Steve Leigh