New to the forum and also a new benly owner
 

I bought her from a nice fellow last week. She is from utah, last registered in 1976, and appears to of been stored inside most of her life. Yesterday I worked on cleaning all the rust out of the gastank. That will probably(hopefully) be the biggest issue I face with this project. The petcock internals are pretty eroded too. I removed the carburetor expecting a mess, but was shocked to find it in immaculate condition. After searching all over for a battery i finally found one online and ordered it. I need an air filter, but I really dont want to pay the hefty fee for the ones on ebay. If one of you guys have an extra and wana sell for cheap, I would definitely be interested in buying it from you! Hopefully O can salvage the tank, because a good orignal one costs about what I paid for the bike. ($450)
I have no way to measure the compression but it feels pretty good when I turn it over, the bike does get spark, so hopefully a gas tank renovation, battery, and petcock rebuild will do the trick.

what do you guys think of the petcock kit from retrobike?
also, I have used clr rust remover with water to remove alot of the rust from the inside, but there are two small holes in the bottom of the tank, and the acid finds its way of leaking through the duct tape there, and where the petcock would normally go. Im thinking of bead blasting it. any thoughts? is that too harsh?
anyways, here is a picture.
I will post more later.
thanks,
Hunter

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your new project .
Unfortunately the fuel tank is going to require a fair amount of attention . If you have pin holes in the tank your going to have to remove the rust ,repair the holes and more than likely use a liner product to seal the interior of the tank . I've used a tank liner product from Caswell ,but there are other liner products available . You might also consider sending the tank to a specialty company for repair and lining .
There are kits available to rebuild the factory petcock but they tend to be leaky ,finicky things . If you don't care about originality an adapter and after market petcock make life much easier .
Again ,good luck with your project and keep us informed of your progress .

Thanks!
I might buy a tank from ebay, I dont really care about originality, how would one go about using an adapter for the petcock? I have never seen or used one before.
Dad took the tank with him to work to get bead blasted,so we will see what that does. I purchased some gas tank repair/filler to fix the wholes. I will take pictures and post them soon

The bike looks good ... an "early" CA95 from what I can see, with the shorter rear fender braces. I really like the original dealer emblem on the side panel ... that adds some authentic history to the bike. The gas tank emblem has been messed with, as the Honda wings are flying backwards.

Red body ... black rear swing arm ... blue headlight cover and white forks ... this covers all 4 colors that were available. :-)

The chain guard appears to be missing, which is a fairly common situation. Some folks simply leave this detail off the bike. I bought a used one on eBay yesterday for my project, so they do surface on occasion, if you're interested in doing a complete restoration.

Overall it looks like a good foundation for a project. Best of luck, and welcome to the forum.

-Kevin

Before you buy an E-Bay tank make inquiries of the seller about the condition of the tank AND the sellers return policy if the tank isn't in the condition you want .
Also check on E-Bay , there are several sellers that have made adapters to use a more conventional style petcock . It's very easy to make your own adapter plate drilled and tapped for a 1/4" or 3/8" Paugco petcock .
Also it your dad bead blasts your tank at work be prepared for more holes . A good radiator shop can solder the holes assuming you have clean metal or make weld repairs but you should still use a liner product thats compatible with todays ethanol blended fuels .
Good luck !

Welcome Hunter!

thanks guys!
I should be getting the tank back from him tonight, so we will see what it loks like then. As far as the petcock goes, I have been weighing out my options, and If the one I have leaks or does not cut off, I think I am going to get some thing like this: http://www.demonscycle.com/Gas-Tanks...-p4602706.html
and just fabricate a matel plate like you are talking about.
Another thing I am going to need is a gasket for the gas cap. Do any of you guys know where to find those for cheap?
also too, last night I used those soapy brillo pads with steel wool, and the chrome looks brand new! I think I will end up painting her black.

Dad Beadblasted it today and said it worked really well! I will post pictures tonight or tomorrow. I think I am just going to put some of "The Works- thick formula" in there for 30min.-1hr. then rinse and hit with wd-40 or oil to stop flash rust and soak up any remaining rust. There are a couple of pin sized holes I am going to fill and then my petcock project begins.

Good work. It's important to get that tank taken care of so take your time. Nothing worse than getting everything ready to fire up finally... and your tank starts leaking somewhere. Happens to me most of the time on the old bikes. :) I just don't like tightening things up super tight unless I have to.

That's a common petcock for replacement. I know they make an adapter plate somewhere for that but yea... it's not hard to make if you can work with metal.

welcome. Don't worry about searching for an air filter if you are not worried about originality. By one of the foam k and n or another brand from the motorcycle shop and make it work. I cut one up to make it fit over the existing air filter frame. Enjoy:):)

anybody know what the red light right above the speedometer means?
I got my battery filled/charged today. I plugged it in, the tail light, horn, and the backlit speedometer all turn on and function, but the headlight does not turn on, the starter wont turn the engine at all, ( it just makes a single click noise every time i press the starter.) and I am not getting spark.....
Looks like this will be more of a project than I hoped so.
can some one point this noob in the right direction?

The red dot in the speedo is the high beam indicator. Don't fret that the headlight does not turn on as there is a 99% chance that the bulb is bad.

Test the connection to the starter with a continuity light. Connect the light and with the ignition on and hit the starter button. The click you hear is the solenoid making the connection between the battery and the starter motor.

If the continuity light illuminates at the contact at the starter, then you may need to take the starter apart and clean it. Odds are that the starter may be frozen due to old soap based grease gone solid or brushes or rust.

If the continiuty light does not illuminate, you may need to just clean the contacts at the solenoid and the starter.

The lack of spark:
With (again) a continuity light, turn on the ignition and check for power. If the light illuminates, your OK and maybe you just have contaminated points or a bad condenser. If no power at said wire, then maybe the coil may have a broken wire or the coil could be bad.

And always make sure you have the ignition switch one or two "clicks" "up"

spokes...you rock!
I just bridged the connection from to my starter, and what do yoa know? i got spark, and the engine started turning over!
Im so excited to get her going!
Thanks so much!

How odd, in the UK the red light is a neutral indicator. A high beam warning light would be the only way of telling you were on high beam, you would never know form the amount of light!

Using every trick in the book, i think i finally got the tank clean with muratic acid. I put some motor oil in there after I drained the acid out to keep it from flash rusting again. Im going to fill the holes, put in a new petcock, and keep my fingers crossed that she runs after that.

I removed the wire that runs from my starter to my solenoid, and the hosing it was in was ful of black water, so I temporarily replaced it with a lighter gauge wire I had lying around, and that fixed that problem.

I will keep you guys posted on my progress. I am addicted to this stuff lol.
Ever since I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I have been so eager to get an old bike(coincidentally the author rode an old Honda Nighthawk.) I cant wait to get this bike on the road. The verdict on the paint is black btw.
-Hunter