With the engine, frame and suspension done, it was time to put some wheels on. This turned out to be the
biggest challenge of the whole restoration. The wheels that came on the bike were a mess with more than
one large dent per rim. The rims starting in 1978 included a DOT engraving which immediately eliminated
the earlier, more readily available rims. All of my usual sources were dry and I was getting desperate. I
knew the OEs could be restored, but the cost, time and effort would be huge.
As luck would have it, a gentleman in Japan that had been following the build (gotta love the internet),
came to my rescue. He was already aware of the zero availability of these rims, so he went to one of his
old friends at DID and asked him to produce a small quantity of the original rims using the original material.
his friend agreed - can you imagine a company of comparible size in the U.S. doing the same? So my bike
would have brand new 1979 DID rims! I was beyond stoked.
New rims fresh out of the box
Original product stamping
With the rim problem finally solved - Thanks Holly, I started on the hubs and spokes.
I blasted the hubs with glass beads and sent them out to be relined. When I got
them back, I powder coated them Satin Black and installed new Honda bearings,
distance collars and seals. I also installed new honda brake shoes and shoe retaining
springs. The brake actuating arms and cams were corroded so i restored them and
had the cam re-anodized.
I set the finished hubs aside and started on the spokes. These spokes were NLA
from honda and the ones I could find were too costly ($30+/each), so I decided to
restore the originals. This was a multi-step process that had to be repeated 72 times.
The spokes and spoke nipples were rusted and corroded
Spoke as removed from wheel.
Spoke after 24 hours in vibratory tumbler
Spoke after polishing
The spokes, spoke nipples and washers were sent out for clear and Gold cadmium plating,
the same process used when they were first manufactured.
A bucket of Cad plated spoke nipples.
With all the components restored, i laced and trued the wheels.
With the wheels done, I started on the air box restoration. The air box is plastic
on this bike and had seen better days.
I removed all the hardware and used a technique used on flexible auto bumpers to
restore the plastic. The plastic had numerous deep scratches and gouges, so I had
to sand the plastic smooth to remove all of that, then reapply the texture before
applying the satin Black plastic dye.
I sent all the hardware out for cad plating and powder coated the air box retainer.
I had to purchase a special rivet gun and rivets to duplicate what honda used to
re-install the air box stiffeners. I re-assembled the box with a new drain cap and
air box cover rubber.
With most of the big items completed, i started assembling the bike.
Frame with freshly restored air box and restored CDI and NOS coil
Close up of coil and CDI
Wheels and first look at the restored forks, handlebars and front number plate.
I'll finish the assembly in the next post.
dogger
