I came to own my first Honda 50 in about 1987. I found it lurking in the back of a barn at my granddad’s house. Once all the hay, dead rats and sheep shit were removed, I discovered a 1976 model which had been slung there when the engine stopped running after years of neglect. It was mine for free.
As I was about ten years old at the time, I knew nothing about engines but my dad did and within ten minutes it was running. Just the points all gummed up - never been touched by a human hand before, just like everything else on the bike. With this done I happily roared around the fields by my house for years. I’d had my first taste of motorcycling and I was hooked.
The little Honda proved very tough, bouncing over the discarded bricks and rotting animals that littered the fields. As the time of my 17th birthday grew nearer I decided that the Honda would be an ideal device to use on the road. I did a full scale refurbishment. The frame resprayed bright red, a new exhaust and tyres fitted; everything else polished up.
The engine, despite 19000 miles of neglect, was running as smoothly and silently as ever. Before I owned it I don’t think the oil had ever been changed, if the tar-like substance that would hardly crawl out of the sump was anything to go by. These little Honda engines are the toughest in the business, running for years without even oil changes, putting bigger and more complex designs to shame. Worldwide, they've sold millions of the things!
Come my 17th birthday I was raring to get on the road with the Honda. The first ride proved interesting. The front brake (which I had never used off-road) caused the front of the bike to rise up in the air a little - sewage plant in the trousers when experienced for the first time - but you don’t notice it after a while. The early C90s had a stabiliser bar between the drum and the forks to stop this, but Honda in their wisdom didn't bother fitting it to the fifties.
A speed test down the local dual carriageway revealed a top speed of 45mph and a relaxed cruising speed of 35mph. Many will laugh (OK, everyone) at such paltry speeds but I think it’s quite impressive for a 50cc motor built 20 years ago - it’s much more nippy than any modern 50cc around town and on main roads.
The Honda’s main function is a seven mile journey to the garage where I work (on Saabs!). It amuses me to see how much people spend on their cars, when I get to work on about a quid’s worth of petrol a week, an oil change every 300 miles (most important with the cam running straight in the alloy head) and the plug, valves and cam tensioner being given a tweak every 1000 miles. Not a drop of oil is burnt or leaked.
Only one breakdown has occurred so far, but I still got home. Just as I was chugging back, hurling abuse at the Saabs that I saw (I have a psychotic hatred for them), I came to the busiest part of the entire journey, where the Honda was strained at the best of times, to find white smoke pouring out of the fully enclosed chaincase and a rattle in the engine. I sat pondering the situation for a few seconds, long enough to have some impatient bugger blaring his horn. Winding open the throttle I found acceleration to match a Honda Express with seized brakes and a holed piston (le not much less than normal) I ended up assisting the gasping bike with my feet, which by the looks people gave me is not the done thing. I rattled into a car park and let the engine cool off. I realised that the smoke was coming from the breather as it’s routed to the chaincase.
Kicking over the engine revealed no compression. I removed the engine side cover to allow the fumes to escape freely and push started the engine. Rode home at 5mph, a huge jet of steam pouring out of the breather at the side of the engine, causing pedestrians much worry, thinking I was on fire. I even gassed a couple of dogs out. Arriving home I removed the head and barrel to find that both compression rings had cracked up, the engine running on just the oil ring. The bore was luckily undamaged, and surprisingly unworn, with 25 thou on the clock. The crank was also perfect. A new set of rings and we were back in action, the engine still rattled, though, probably due to the rings moving up and down in the piston grooves! I'll do a better rebuild on it when I get the time.
Soon after the rebuild I saw another Honda 50 advertised in a shop window. A 1966 pushrod engine model, a C100. The vendor owned it from new and it had only done 10000 miles. The engine sounded like new and the only fault was a little rot in the back of the frame. Mine for £100. This OHV model seemed more nippy than my other one and cruised along at lower revs, a pleasant and noisier beat out of the exhaust than the rather more subdued OHC model. The bike was built lighter, combined with OE Jap rubber, gave a more twitchy feel than the more solidly built later model with better Pirelli tyres.
Surprisingly, for two such old bikes, most parts are still available if you can find a helpful dealer. Luckily, both dealers in my area do their best to help. Not that I've needed many parts for the bikes. Condenser failure is quite common on Honda 50s, I’ve needed to replace it on both bikes. Unfortunately, the part is obsolete on the older bike, but any one from a later model can be persuaded on. It has to be soldered on and it’s easy to overheat it and knacker it. I learnt the hard way. Wrapping a damp rag around it usually does the trick.
Despite the lack of speed I do go on a few longer runs on the Honda 50s. As long as you keep on quiet country roads and avoid hilly country, they're just about OK. One time I ventured on to some main roads, encountered a series of steep hills - if there’s one thing Honda 50s don't like it is hills. Regardless of the throttle opening the bike slows to about 15 to 20mph, no amount of throttle abuse will gain extra speed. The answer is to stay in second gear, take hills slowly, ignoring the mile long queue of irate cars building up behind!
Even worse, is if you have to stop on a hill. Starting off again is easy enough but when you come to change into second gear you have to go through neutral, which means two movements on the lever. By that time the bike has slowed to a stop again, slightly infuriating. I see that the later models have the shift pattern changed to alleviate the problem.
Apart from the gears, I can’t fault the Hondas. The brakes are easily up to the job of stopping such a lightweight machine, and the shoes never seem to wear out nor do the tyres or chain (which I have only had to adjust twice on both bikes).
Having owned Honda 50s for many years I have come to the conclusion that they are brilliant little bikes, they are reliable, cost virtually nothing to run, and are excellent around town. I’ve owned them for so long now I don't think I'll ever get rid of them. But I have just bought a 1969 Honda SS125 for a really powerful bike! I’m planning a few long distance rides on it. Around town I'll still use my fifties, though quite frankly I find anything over 50cc far too big and a bit unnecessary.
Paul Rose