Modern Rectifier Upgrade & Electrical Wiring

This is a modern rectifier replacement for the unreliable stock selenium rectifiers of the old Honda's.
Inside the frame of my project CL90  I found what looks like a rectifier and another unknown part
A more detailed tutorial can be found at the honda trail ct90 & ct110 website here. 

 The silicon bridge type rectifier for this mod was cheaply purchased new at a nearby electronics store.

After failing to get fully colored wiring diagrams online for the cl90, I decided to colorize the available black & white diagrams.  I colored two wiring diagrams, one is for the s90.  With this it will be easier to decipher the decades old wiring I pulled from the frame.  

 To anyone who needs it just click on the images to get high res versions.

CL90 Engine Teardown

For some time now I have been itching to start restoring the CL90, or at least have it running again.  I wanted to tear into the thing every time I watched diy Youtube videos, Wheeler Dealers, Rick's restorations or reading restoration forum threads.  But I was reluctant opening that can of worms, this went on for 2 years.  Until one day a self proclaimed mechanic appeared at my doorstep. He claimed he owned a CL90 himself  when he was young and kept it for a couple of years before a Japanese tourist offered him a wad of cash for it.  He said when he saw me wheeling it out of my garage, as he passed by (he was a tricycle driver) he immediately recognized it and had to turn back to talk to me and have a better look.  He pointed out a lot of  features unique to the make & model like it was contact point-battery ignition type and had the same engine as S90.  After talking a while he convinced me he has experience with 60's Honda engines and I agreed we start overhauling the engine asap.  

Actual tear down began after a few weeks I met mang Richard.  I just made sure the guy was legit and sure enough some people and businesses were his customers before.  

We made quick progress and in an hour and a half later everything was dismantled, he had some bad news for me as he made a list of a lot of missing internal parts, like the oil pump gear, 2nd and 4th drive gears, new seals etc. The good news is all the parts are available at a shop he frequents at Valenzuela.  I gave him some cash but not before taking a photo of his drivers license and a signed waiver, just to be safe.

While waiting for the missing parts I cleaned up the aluminum crankcase, you cant tell from the photos but they were spotless - I should have taken a photo of the wire brush  I used  or what's left of it.

Next I tackled the 18" rims - the spokes need replacing, while the rusted stainless rims were sprayed with rust converter -Turco then brushed to see if they were salvageable.  The rear rim has some holes and both have pitted surfaces and now I'm thinking of  either repair then powder coat them black or go buy new ones.
The tires although old and cracking, surprisingly could still hold air.

Next post would be my first attempt at Polishing the crankcase covers.

Honda CL90 Update - Parts Haul

Got some parts in for the CL90 and 1958 Honda C92  frankenstein build . Pictured above are reproduction Honda fuel tank badges.

CL90/CS90 Gasket set

CD125/SS125 Gasket Set

CL90 Fuel tank Cap - which is slightly to big to fit the hole. A little grinding would probably make it fit

                                                           C92 Front arm repair kit

CL90 Exhaust and Intake Valves

Stator - which I may or may not need to replace

 CL90 Tail lights lens, bought an extra just in case

2 pairs of signal lights

Exhaust metal valve stem seal cap

And a new old stock (NOS) CS90 Exhaust muffler 

Above it is the exhaust previously installed, looks like it came from another bike and looks like the previous owner modified it to fit.

I asked for the CL90 Scrambler high pipes but they were more rare and not available.  Not a a bad haul of parts if I may say so myself,  I was fortunate considering the model is close to 50 years old that their is some shops that still stock the rare parts I needed.  

Honda CL90 and S90 Barn Find

I saw the bike while I was being shown around a local VW Beetle & Kombi mechanic's home and work shop.  It was neatly tucked away in his warehouse, Owner said it was his service bike before it broke down and last ran in 1999, he never had the time to fix it. A few parts were missing like the original scrambler high pipes and fuel tank rubber knee pads.

 He offered to sell it to me, but I declined due to having just bought a basket case 1960's Honda C92 and Honda CD125, SS125.  Fast forward a few months I came back and hauled the bike unto my boss's truck as payment for a debt he owed my boss.  Oh and he gave me the S90 lying in his yard after some persuasion, for free.

The CL90 engine is not seized up but is not running, planning on giving it a full restoration treatment, the S90 would need an engine which will be next to impossible getting, may consider bolting in a newer Honda horizontal 100/110/125 engine which are easily available.  Both bikes were rough but previous owner had them painted before storage and seemed ok.

Yep that's a car ignition coil right there, also noticed the metal mounts or whatever you call em for the fuel tank rubber pads are gone, maybe grinded off before the paint job.  Must have been a trend back then as I got a two CL125 tanks with the same issue. The tanks by chance came with these freebies;

 Hmm looks good, just need to glue it in.  Maybe some weatherstrip adhesive or epoxy will do

The tank shape, headlight bikini fairing  and whole silhouette of  the CL90 kinda reminds of the BMW r90s a little.

What a big difference from the reproduction badges 

Three condensers? Not a good sign

Need to replace the whole contact point assembly later, 

After checking the ignition, timing, valve clearances and compression.. still no luck starting it up. May need to call for reinforcements on this one.