Hello everyone,

I finally have a proper category to post up my Nostalgic Japanese Motorcycle. It is a 1982 Honda C70 Super Cub (Passport in the US). It was built in September of 1981 at Honda's Suzuka plant. I found it filthy and neglected in a yard in a small town in Kansas where I was attending college. It had a for sale sign on it so I went to the door and asked about it. The seller could barely get it to run and did not seem to know where to start to fix it. I offered $250 and became the new owner in October of 2005 with just over 3200 miles on it. A simple carb rebuild revealed clogged main and idle jets which I fixed and reassembled it. The little Honda came back to life! Some shifting problems led to an eventual complete teardown and rebuild of the engine which was in pretty poor shape. The cylinder and piston were badly scored, the piston pin had blued from being overheated, the arm that kept the shift drum in gear was cracked allowing it to pop out of gear, and the clutch assembly had two loose screws and one screw had completely fallen out. I gave it a new piston/ring/cylinder set, new crankshaft and connecting rod, new shift arm, seals and other parts and returned it to top shape again. Over the next couple of years, I rode all over the back roads surrounding the small town where I lived as well as around town use. It went on many 80 plus mile trips down dirt roads to Kanopolis State Park in central Kansas without issue. The little Honda came with me back to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex after a few years in Kansas. For a brief period I went back and forth considering selling the Super Cub because the pase of traffic and impatient lifestyle of the DFW area is not fit for the Honda's lesiurely acceleration and speed. Eventually though I made up my mind to keep it and go back to riding it daily. That was almost 2 years and 10,000 miles ago now. I even travel down to the North Texas Japanese Nostalgic meet once a month. This little scooter has proven to be the best mode of transportation I have ever had. I commute daily about 12 miles on it and it gets just over 100 mpg. The only breakdown it has had was when the throttle cable snapped because I had used a bicycle brake cable to replace a bad throttle cable about 2000 miles before. The Super Cub and I have travelled almost 20,000 miles together now and hopefully there will be many more to come.


DSCF0638 by louiethespelunker, on Flickr


DSCF0641 by louiethespelunker, on Flickr

Here is the Honda on one of my rides out in the middle of nowhere in Kansas. Looking at the mud and little pieces of grass hanging out from the rear fender I think this was just after I got it stuck to the axles in a muddy field. I managed to drag it out but my shoes pulled off in the muck and were left behind. The picture is black and white because I developed it myself for an art class project. I don't think my art teacher was too impressed with it but I always loved this picture. That rediculous trunk was what I used to pack camping stuff in when my friends and I would camp at Kanopolis Resevoir.

honda black and white by louiethespelunker, on Flickr

awesome! this gives me hope for my c102 restoration project, although i am super jealous that yours is that clean!!!

I know!

And I'm glad you did.

Thanks. Mine looked like complete crap when I first got it. It had sat outside for a long time and was completely filthy and oxidized with white house paint splattered on the rear. The seat cover was a trash bag rubber-banded to the rotten remnants of the foam pad and the way too big battery was held on with like three bungee cords. I polished it a lot, gradually found replacements for the missing battery box and cover pieces, and ammaturely recovered the dead seat before eventually finding a replacement. Mine looks presentable but is definitely rough around the edges up close.

I really like that C102 that you have. I had a friend who had a '65 C100 (without the electric start) that was identical colors to yours. You look like you have quite a bit more work cut out for you than I did though. Good luck. They are a real blast to ride.

I wouldn't say rough around the edges, but rather it looks like a nice clean rider instead of a showpiece.

And I prefer things to be regularly used.

Today I hit another milestone with my Super Cub. I have now personally ridden it over 20,000 miles (just over 23,200 total). It's still running like a champ. Here's to 20,000 more!

I bought a new chain today to replace the worn one that had been giving me problems for a couple of weeks. While installing it, I happened to look along the bottom of the swingarm and this was what I found:

About an inch and a half of rusted out metal and a crack that extended vertically in front of the axle hole from the bottom to about halfway up the side. Not good!


After removing some paint and inspecting closer there was also an area of rust pin holes extending about 3 inches ahead of the major rust. Also some of the inner piece had to be removed as well because it was getting thin. Here it is all cut out.


I fabricated two patches and welded it back together with some new metal. I then ground down the welds and smoothed out the area. Tomorrow it's time for a little paint and reassembly before heading down to the monthly meeting in Hurst.

wow. i wish i had your fabrication skills...

Thanks. I've been patching up rusty junk for several years now and am finally getting pretty good at it.

lovely thing to ride in the summers !

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All motor or no motor !