A Tribute to the Z50RD. 1980 Honda Z50R Chrome Custom.

A 1980 Honda Z50R frame and a 2004 Honda CRF50 engine were mated along with an extended stock swingarm, tall bars and some other goodies to make this custom, a tribute to the 1986 Honda Z50RD known as the“Christmas Special.”

A stock swingarm was lengthened 55mm using a custom jig. .250” wall DOM steel tubing was used to make the extension slugs.

Everything was stripped and blasted prior to going off for chrome.the mounting screws on the back of the muffler were leaking and subsequently brass brazed. The muffler is slightly larger than the original stock pipe. I have had some good performance from these aftermarket pipes, even though they are slightly smaller than the performance pipes sold for these bikes.

Everything back from the chrome shop, waiting to be fitted together. The footpeg mount was from a CRF50.

I bought some OEM Honda fenders a few years back, that are made to go on the Z50RD.

New steering head bearings, fork internals and seals, and swingarm bushings were used to get the frame back together. A stock ignition coil was mounted in the stock location, but will be later switched out for a Takegawa 12 Volt unit.

The 2004 CRF50 engine was completely dismantled. A takegawa lightened stroker crank, a heavy duty clutch, high volume oil pump, 52mm cylinder and piston, rolling rocker head, four speed tranny, and lightened flywheel will make up the base engine.

With all the chrome on this bike, the cases have to be high polished to match. A lot of aluminum parts were polished out, including the wheels, handlebars and clamps, kickstarter, gas cap, number plates, front fairing, and of course, these cases. Buffing is a nasty job, but the bling is worth it.

The engine is mounted unready for finishing. The fenders, seat, shocks, and tank being placed on the bike make it start to look like something! The rear shocks are 305mm Kitaco brand. The original shocks were 280mm, but the added length is to compensate for the swingarm extension.

New alloy rims, polished wheel hubs and brake panels from 1970-1979 Z50’s, along with some Takegawa reinforcement rings and polished stainless steel hardware make up the wheel set.

The wheels and muffler mounted and we have a roller. There will be a set of Renthal alloy bars coming soon.

The TB Parts CDI was mounted on a custom plate made to fit behind the left number plate. A custom wire harness was worked out, using a 1972-1978 style harness, and some adaptors for the CDI box, and voltage regulator. The voltage regulator is tucked under the frame, just behind the coil.

The flywheel was significantly lighten to allow the engine to spin up faster.

A 90 Watt Ricky Stator was used to keep the light good and bright. This one was made for the CRF50, and has three wires coming off the pigtail.

Number plates made from .050 aluminum. They were made using a powered bead roller. High polishing will be next. It took a couple tries to dial in the size, but they are now exact matches.

A chain guard being made from steel. Because of the extended swingarm, a stock guard would not fit. Though the original was black plastic, this one will be chrome plated. The indentations on the side of the guard were made with a bead roller. Some of the parts of the indentations were worked with a ball end punch, and a coining punch on the backside.

A tail light was built using an existing lens. The final one will be red instead of amber (just using it for mock-up to keep the red one scratch free.) The shell and reflector are made of steel and will be chrome plated. There is an existing hole on each side of the frame that will allow a single long bolt to pass through, and secure the unit.

Coming up: The next post will cover more details of the build including a bikini front fairing, and hopefully the bike being taken off the bench.

1979 Honda Z50R Restoration.

Starting with a 1979 Honda Z50R model that had been around the block more than once, and going for a complete stock restoration. The engine felt like it had some compression, but its actual condition was rather poor on further inspection. The challenge of restoring bikes like this one is always a little harder, but that makes it sweeter when it finally is done.

A previous owner had switched out the tank for a 1978 model. The seat and fenders were trashed, kickstand and chain guard missing, and the engine had yet to reveal some of its ugliness. A later model Z50R might have been something I would pass on doing a restoration, but this first year model is a favorite of mine in stock condition. It is one of the more rideable minis for an adult, with its tall bars. The 1979 also retained the larger 4- hole wheel hubs and rims from the earlier model Z50A, as well as the lighting stator, making it easy to add lights to this unit.It was also the first Honda Z50 with plastic fenders.

The 1979 model also had a unique muffler and heat shield, and the number plate was not used on the right side. The muffler is the same as the Z50J model, but with a larger diameter header and tail pipe. The muffler canister on this bike was showing signs of rot, so a good used one was substituted.

The familiar flywheel from the earlier Z50A model and the four wire pigtail. Even without any plans for lighting, it is nice to know that with a few items like an early model wire harness and a couple of switches, that it is ready to go. This engine had obviously been exposed to some moisture, but nothing too bad.

The engine carnage included a busted transmission gear, A seized output shaft bearing, a stripped oil pump drive sprocket, and a broken shift arm. The broken gear-selector arm was a new defect for me to find. Even with somewhere around seventy-five total engine restorations, you can still see something new every once in a while. A good used gear and gear selector arm were pulled from my bins, as well as a side cover for the head. The head covers change slightly over the early model years, and Honda only used the one for this bike for a couple years. I had probably two dozen of the earl style cover, and fortunately, a good correct one.

The frame was in fairly good shape, but some chain rash on the swingarm had to be repaired.

New coils, plugs,and wiring were used to get the stator plate back to new condition. The store kit and ignition coil are also HondaTB Parts pieces, and come with everything needed, even the seal for the crankshaft and stator plate rim.

The one year only muffler and heat shields getting ready for paint.

Zooming forward, the engine has been rebuilt to stock specifications, and aftermarket tank, fenders, fork legs, shocks, and seat from HondaTB Parts were used. A good used OEM air filter assembly is yet to be added, sitting in a tray in the right lower corner of the picture. The frame was painted with two-stage PPG paint, aquired from Marble Motors, in the Tahitian Red color used on the first couple years of the R model.

The HondaTB Parts fenders and tank match the Tahitian red fairly well. The handle bar cross bar was slightly loose and bent, and had to be straightened and re-brazed prior to powder coating.

A kickstand was made to replace the missing one. The footpeg mount and kickstand as well as the brake pedal are also holdovers from the earlier Z50A models. The one year only handlebar mounts were also common to other small Honda models, and allow for them to be switched out. A year later, the handlebars were fixed in place, and too low for adult riders.

The final product. She starts easy like a Honda should, and runs well. One of the give-aways that this is the early points ignition engine, is the magneto cover. The R model switched to a CDI ignition, using a CDI box, different flywheel, stator, and cover, in the early eighties.

Everything is nice and fresh. All the original hardware was re-plated, and new OEM Honda hardware was used for any missing or mangled pieces.

Finishing the 1967 Triumph Mountain Cub Restoration

The complete restoration of the 1967 Triumph T20M Mountain Cub was finished recently. A year ago, a friend and I were at Big D Cycle. I thought I was getting ready to buy this bike as the basket case it was, when my friend asked my intentions with it. My reply was that I would just put it on a shelf, thinking someone might want it someday. My buddy said he was that someone, and asked if I was interested in rebuilding it for him. Having recently completed another Mountain Cub, I thought it would be a similar experience, but that did not prove to be the case. The wreckage and rust in the engine shown in the previous post, along with some hard to find parts, slowed down the process. A few curveballs, like ill-fitting new parts, a bent sub frame and swinger, and an incorrect points plate added to the frustration. In the end, she is a running, riding example of the stock Mountain Cub.

A lot of small details go into a restoration. New badges had to have the tank colors painted into them.

To paint the tank badge recesses, they had to be masked a couple times: once to scuff them up, and a second time for paint.

The finished Badges, re-plated cap, and kneepads have the tank looking done. The paint was done by Jason Small, of Dallas, Texas.

The original side cover and tail-light mount pieces were in decent shape and were polished up.

The primary cover was said to be NOS when purchased online, but it had a dent in need of some persuasion. The dent was carefully tapped out, followed by a good polishing.

The aforementioned points plate. In retrospect, I should have known it was bogus, given the skill level of the last person to work on this. In the end, a used plate was sourced from Klemph’s British Parts, along with the correct set of points.

The new Lucas stator and fresh cadmium plated hardware have the primary cover looking done, but the factory sheathing on the pigtail, beside being imprinted with white lettering, is oversized, and does not fit through the exit hole. A smaller unmarked sheathing was found, and the original wires were fished through it. Thinking the larger sheathing is not an issue on other larger bikes.The cub has Triumph ET ignition, also found on larger bikes. The new sheathing can be seen in the pictures of the finished bike.

Stainless steel rims and spokes were sourced from Devon Rims in the UK.

Everything starting to go together. The forks were completely rebuilt, with the top fork caps once again requiring three different sets purchased till the “right” ones were found. I say” right” ones, because while one threaded easily, the other one took three hours to fit into the tops. The threads were not quite right, probably as a result of the chrome plating process, and had to be cleaned before a smooth fit was achieved.

With the cam and timing gear in place, ithe engine is just waiting on the push-rod tube, and the head can be torqued down, and the side covers put on.

Getting the timing worked out.

One of the curveballs in the build was misalignment of the rear frame. In this picture, the difference is being worked out using a spacer on the left side. the subframe was taken off and straightened a little bit, allowing the fender to line up.

The finished bike. The oil stains on the concrete were from the first start-up. Yet another curveball, a pinhole revealed itself in the steel oil pipe coming out of the oil pump.

The hole in the oil line was small, but with the oil pump’s pressure, it was a squirt gun. Prior to re-plating, there was no significant rust on the outside of the pipes, suggesting it rusted from the inside out. Kind of unusual, but given the rust in the engine, it now makes sense.

Three miles on the odometer, the bike has been started, ridden, and is going through several heat cycles.

Big change from the before pictures seen in the last post.

Ready for fall.

Have always appreciated the beauty of these engines designed by Ed Turner.

The entire headlight assembly was missing, and was built from an aftermarket shell, and a lot of NOS Lucas Electric parts.

The bike being put together to make it a roller at Big D Cycles in Dallas, Tx. prior to the rebuild. The journey began at Big D, and ended….

…at Big D Cycles! Here in their parking lot, after my buddy’s first ride.