Honda CT110 'Postie' Bike rebuild and restore

[(RIP) Kaister]

I'm sure you won't see many of these on here - a true Aussie icon. Ridden by postie's all over Aus to cheerily deliver the mail .
These things are sold off by the Post Office at Auction at around 25000 kms to the public.
CT110s are well regarded for their extreme reliability, economy and ease of operation. The clutchless four speed transmission (centrifugal clutch) does not require a clutch lever. In Australia and New Zealand the freeing of the left hand of the rider makes mail delivery easier the posties.


I've been searching for one for ages that was the right price ( dirt cheap ) in the right condition for a bit of a rebuild and found this old wreck locally.
There is no registration with it so i'll have to apply for that. I have no idea what year it is yet.
I got it home and had been told the crank had gone, but i had a suspicion it hadn't.
The primary gear is a known weak point and makes a big clunking noise as it spins with missing teeth.

I started it and it made a horrendous noise, sure enough but by jiggling with the gear lever to get a neutral the noise stopped as the load on the gear went away - voila - the engine noise became nice n quiet so i had the confidence i didn't need to invoke major surgery.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

So it was duly power washed to within an inch of its life, degreased, de matt blacked as best as possible and stripped down.

As you can see - it was a rusty nasty wreck.

The primary gear stripped of teeth - lurking in the crankcase somewhere...

Credit to Honda, there where no seized bolts, stripped threads or nasty stuff anywhere.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

The required parts were purchased and installed into the engine and it was sprayed with a can of aluminium wheel paint - this isn't going to be a concours rebuild by any means - it'll be a 'working' bike.

I bought a used kickstarter that needs some paint - as the original was bent and worn - probably by people leaping up n down on it which caused the primary gear to strip - that or trying to wheely it from neutral to first by stamping on the gear lever.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

this is as far as i've got so far.
The frame has been rubbed down and primed, repeat, repeat and i've been searching for the right shade of red.

The Honda paint colour is 'Tahitian Red', but Dulux do a 'Wildfire red' which is very close, so it'll get that.

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

Nice one Phil

You planning an Ed March type adventure once finished?

 

[oblertone]

Dream bike ever since the first TiTS trip

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Lovely little bikes, looking forward to see the finished result

Andres

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

I'm not saying i'm going to do this trip....but... ?

http://www.thepostman.org.uk/the-bike/

............ the only part I had to change on Dorothy in 35,000 kilometres was this sprocket, which made it as far as Kyrgyzstan before needing to be replaced.
Two years on from the trip she’s still running and I haven’t had to do anything to her yet.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Dream bike ever since the first TiTS trip

Ha Ha..not BMW, not Harley....a postie ??

 

[oblertone]

Ha Ha..not BMW, not Harley....a postie ??

Nope, been there, done that but this is an itch I've yet to scratch; unfortunately they're like rocking horse shit over here

Although there's a 2009 Fi one in Shepherds Bush for just shy of £1700

 

[Phil Reynolds]

I have an itch for one of these too. I looked into buying a batch of them from the Oz Post Office but the cost of shipping and all that follows was not worth the hassle.

Good luck with your resto and look forward to seeing the pics when it's finished.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I'm sure I remember, some time ago now, over on Facebook, Proff mentioning some guy that imports them into the UK - does that ring any bells with you Phil?


Andres

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

i offered to source a container load for proff at $1100 (550 quid ) each for about 20 of them.
i reckon shipping would be about $6000 - i'm sure a profit could be made over there cos of the scarcity of them.

They go for about $1500 at the auctions to the public in good condition.

I paid $75 for mine....

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

On the Honda C90 Trail there is a lever on the left handle bar:-

It looks like it is liked to the rear brake, seems odd to have a foot or bar operated rear brake.... is this right?

Sorry for the slight hijack here

 

[andysdad]

Not sure about the hand control but "did you know" the Posties have TWO sidestands (AND a centre stand too) - see Phil's second photo. So the postie can leap off to deliver either side.

Looks a great project - I miss having an Aussie garage....warm all year round!

A

 

[oblertone]

The CT90 has a hand clutch, just like a proper bike. Very early ones have two rear wheel cogs too; high and low ratio

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

Thanks Paul. I've seen ones fitted with twin rear sprockets.... was an extra few chain links needed to swap ratios?

 

[oblertone]

Thanks Paul. I've seen ones fitted with twin rear sprockets.... was an extra few chain links needed to swap ratios?

Apparently so; later ones (as pictured in #14) have a reduction gear box activated by the small lever just in front of the kickstart. Dog knows how it works but apparently gives 8 speeds

 

[Humbug]

There's one for sale on eBay at the moment. It clearly shows the two rear sprockets.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-C90-TRAIL-/221672106930?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item339cafebb2

 

[Humbug]