So I'm a geographical bachelor for the next year or so, no dogs, no space or time for my normal hobby "stuff". Work is fairly stressful, so I figured a small, easy project might be in order to help distract me for a few hours on the weekends. Maybe something that can help keep the other nephew entertained while one is playing with the go-kart I picked up last year.
Enter this beauty.
This is a 2006 (I think?) Honda CRF-50 that lived briefly with my old neighbor. I coveted it then, he moved, I ultimately talked him into parting with it for $100 and hauled it home in the back of my Cooper.
Let's bear in mind, the standover height on this little guy is right around 22". I'm 6'4".
I have the best bad ideas.
Why so cheap, you ask?
Well, it would run. Kind of. But only if you held the no-longer-friction-set choke in just the right spot while you were goosing the throttle with the other hand. And some genius had managed to do this:
Those should be straight. Neighbor flipped the bends to the front because otherwise the tire rubbed on the valve cover.
What fun!
In reply to JohnInKansas :
Nice! Get it sorted, put some street tires on it & send your nephew to do some laps with Seth & his kids?
Even with the bent forks, you stole that for $100. Fork tubes should be cheap on ebay and a carb clean and return to factory settings should get it running again. At that point, ride the crap out of it and change the oil when you remember.
One of my other neighbors has a fairly late model Africa Twin and I dig the look, so I thought I'd emulate it.
Front tire wouldn't hold air, and the wheels were getting a little crusty. New tubes and fresh paint.
Both back wheel halves are cracked at the central bolt holes. I don't have my welder and I don't really want to spring for new wheels right now (I'd rather upgrade to 10 or 12" wire wheels and a longer swingarm down the road a year or two as the boys need it). Going to forge ahead and keep an eye on them for further damage.
The plastics were pretty rough, and replacements are too cheap to neglect. Lots of painters tape...
Couple days later:
We'll see how well it holds up in the long run. Not my finest prep or spray work, but it'll do.
Father of my nephews is a whopping 6'10" or something like that, and the boys are big for their age. As such, I opted for going a little overboard on suspension.
A set of extended chromoly fork tubes, new fork bushings, up-rated front and rear springs, and a longer front brake cable from Fast 50's. This lot set me back more than half my total budget for the project. Should be stout enough to last until the boys are ready for something bigger.
Stripped and painted the old fork uppers and assembled with the new guts.
Made it all the way through abusing my tools breaking the new chain before discovering the new chain tool in the chain package.
Also took the opportunity to swap out rear swingarm bushings for Teflon and steering stem bearings for tapered rollers.
Fiddled with the carburetor until I was blue in the face. Couldn't make it happy. New carb was almost as cheap as a rebuild kit, and made it run pretty quick and easy.
As it sits right now.
And a glamour shot with big brother.
Total investment - about $400.
In reply to JohnInKansas :
That cleaned up nice!
It's probably a little late now but most auto craft shops on base have welders you can use cheap.
I love the Glamour Shot! Did ya buy its big brother to ride while out here? Or is that at the campground?
In reply to 03Panther :
Belongs to the neighbor, I'm not that flush.
Buddy from school brought his daughter by this weekend. First time on anything motorized. She was doing hot laps around the neighbor's camper within an hour.
Mission accomplished.
