Topic: 1965 CA95 150 Benly Touring 'Baby Dream'

[tango911]

www.honda305.com

these guys, like here, are great with the old bikes from the 60's. not just the 305cc's

both sites are the best forums out there for honda support.

[idaho750]

   Congratulations on your new edition.
I restored one of these bikes a couple of years ago and it gave me the confidence to take on my current 1973 cb750. Parts are still available and I found them all over the country on EBay. I still watch the parts and they have came way down in price.
   I ended up buying a parts bike (yellow) mainly just for the exhaust. (not readily available).
   These bikes are so fun to own and ride. I entered mine in the Idaho Vintage Motorcycle club show in 2009 and received a award for best Japanese Street.
You can view my restoration here. I havent figured out the picture posting yet!
 
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/slideshow/553896133JfwkcW

Have fun!
Greg

[Greggo]

Holy crap Idaho 

Your Benly is beautiful!  Fantastic Job!  I'd be hard pressed to make a bike look that great.  Those plug wires look brand new, and I'm looking into replacing mine.  But, I've been told they're integrated into the coil, and they aren't easy to find.  Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[idaho750]

   I cheated on the plug wires!
My wires had an outer layer that I removed to expose the inner insulation covering the stranded wires. This makes the wires appear new and hasn't affected the function.
   This bike was my fathers and sat behind his shop outside for 30+ years. It still amazes me the quality of chrome that was used on vintage Honda's.
The guy that did the paint did an amazing job and shot it in his garage! I wish he was still around when I had my CB 750 painted.

Have fun!
Greg

[Magpie]

I'm going to watch this thread verrry carefully and with great interest because I just brought one of these home. It's a November, 1964 build so I guess a 1965 model year. I can find the motor number of course but could you tell me where the frame number is please and thanks.
Cliff.

[RAFster122s]

Yours looks pretty complete, even has the carb cover that provides a metal fairing between the tranny and up at the back of the carb.

You will find the Frame number when you remove the left side cover, not far from the cross stamped into the frame.

Fun bikes and great for around town speeds up to 55. They have interesting swoopy looks...

Petcocks can be a challenge but as long as you have a solid unit you can get parts to rebuild them.

Blue ones tend to be the rarer color of the red, white, blue and black. Not too many white ones ended up staying white for their life.

You can spend a fortune restoring one, just realize the market price on your end goal won't be as high as you probably would expect it.  Craigs list and Ebay won't be where you sell it if you want a good selling price for it.

The 305 Dreams go for far more $ and have a little better parts supply.
But given the drum brakes front and rear you won't want to go much faster than stock speeds any way.

David

[Greggo]

Well, there hasn't been much progress.  I rebuilt the carburetor, but now I'm on the hunt for a decent tank, as mine is completely buggered.  Someone Kreemed it a few decades ago, and it's still peeling away.

Have fun with your project, the red ones look beautiful restored.

[Greggo]

I bought a 'new' tank today.  



It's from an early model, complete with petcock and chrome/rubber covers for forty bucks and no shipping (it's local).  Anybody know if I can take the late model covers off my late model tank, and slap them on this early tank?

Also, where can I find some brake shoes without buying them from Thailand...not my first choice.

[idaho750]

   Unfortunately the early side covers and tanks will only work together. On the plus side if the knee guards and chrome will polish up they are harder to come by and will sell good on eBay. I bought shoes from eBay and they didn't ship from Thailand but may have been made there!
Good luck...

[Greggo]

Well, progress has been slow.  I've been gathering parts (petcock/carb rebuild kits, and throttle/brake/clutch cables).  I've rebuilt the carburetor (my first one  ).  And, I picked up a used early model tank with petcock for $45  .  The petcock is way nicer than the ones I have, so I'll be using the rebuild kit on it once it's cleaned up.  The petcock was worth what I paid for the tank, and the tank is in really nice shape inside.

Here's the carb after the rebuild




I used a Keyster kit.


The "new" tank after I pulled the chrome covers off.  The inside is really nice and clean.
 



Here's the petcock that came with the tank, it’s in incredible shape!



A very important lesson my dad (a VW mechanic) taught me years ago really rang true when I opened up the rebuild kit for the petcock:  "Never throw any parts away, no matter how trashed"  I had been expecting this piece to be included, and was very happy I hadn't thrown mine away.



This piece can get really mangled when trying to disassemble these fuel valves, so be careful...

The rebuild kit came with a rubber and a cork gasket...any opinions on which one I should use??

[img] http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5218309661_c4dc34e6bc_m.jpg [img]

Anyhoo, once I get the tank and petcock cleaned up I should be able to get her to fire up!

[RAFster122s]

Nice update.  Been a little busy...

The side covers for the tank could use the electrolysis method or removing the rust.
Or a chemical method. They should polish up nice if not pitted badly. They don't look spidery with black lines so you should have a good chrome on them.

A brass wire brush (rotary and toothbrush) on the exterior of the petcock and then (wet) 400 wet/dry sandpaper will give you a more even and brushed finish on the petcock, making it appear newer rather than tarnished/grey oxidized.

The cork gasket as I recall is more purist or original. Whereas, the rubber is less likely to leak and can handle some variance in parts the cork cannot compensate for. The cork may take a while to stop leaking or may never stop if the parts are way out of tolerance. (can't tell you #s to quantify that tolerance...) What I recall from a discussion on another forum a few years ago...

David

[Greggo]

Today was productive. 

I did a 'The Works' cleansing with the tank, and rebuilt the petcock.  Everything seals up nice, and I'll have her buttoned up tomorrow.  An earlier poster was correct in his assertion that the early tanks and late model covers are incompatible.  Why they would change the latch inside the cover when the tank is the same shape is beyond me, but oh well.  I actually like the way the 'new' early model tank looks on the bike with no covers on it. 

The bike looks kind of gangster without the covers.  I think I'll just rock it that way until I find a decent late model tank sometime in the future.  I'll install the carburetor on Monday, charge the battery, and fire her up (hopefully!).

[HondanutRider]

Can you elaborate on the differences that the "latch inside the cover" has between the two styles?  A picture of each would be nice.  I would be interested to see what the actual differences are, as anything I've read only describes a change in size.  From what you've alluded, perhaps a matching "latch" (or "clip"?) could be fashioned on one or the other to allow a mating, since you say that the tanks are the same shape.

[Zaipai]

Greggo,

  Nice find.  I sold my 1964 CA95 2 weeks ago.  Nice little bike to tool around on.  If you have any questions about parts or maintenance e-mail me.

BTW, the bike you tagged as a black bomber looks to be a '68-'69 CA175 (CD175).  Black Bombers were early CB450s with 4 speed trans '65-'67.

HT

Intresting I did not know Honda went from DOHC's to SOHC's seems a step backwards tho I am sure there was some technical reason.

.: Scott :.

[Greggo]

Can you elaborate on the differences that the "latch inside the cover" has between the two styles?  A picture of each would be nice.  I would be interested to see what the actual differences are, as anything I've read only describes a change in size.  From what you've alluded, perhaps a matching "latch" (or "clip"?) could be fashioned on one or the other to allow a mating, since you say that the tanks are the same shape.

It's cold outside, but I took some pics.  First is the early model tank followed by the cover, then the late model tank and cover.







As you can see, the covers switched jobs with the tanks with the later model.  The tank does also seem to be slightly different in shape.

[HondanutRider]

Looks like your pictures got mixed-up as the tank pictures look the same.

I'm familiar with the later style of tank and side panel, where the tank has a hook at the rear to have a corresponding tab on the panel slide into, and then a bolt or screw under the emblem screws through the panel to lock it in place.  If your earlier tank has the mounting hole for this bolt/screw in the same location and is the same basic shape but with a different hook, perhaps another hook mechanism could be fashioned on the tank.  Can't tell too well from your pictures, but it looks like there is a hook of sorts on this tank, but its in a different position.

[HondanutRider]

Greggo,

  Nice find.  I sold my 1964 CA95 2 weeks ago.  Nice little bike to tool around on.  If you have any questions about parts or maintenance e-mail me.

BTW, the bike you tagged as a black bomber looks to be a '68-'69 CA175 (CD175).  Black Bombers were early CB450s with 4 speed trans '65-'67.

HT

Intresting I did not know Honda went from DOHC's to SOHC's seems a step backwards tho I am sure there was some technical reason.

.: Scott :.

For the history: Honda had a lot of experience in the 60's with DOHC configurations, exclusively used in their factory racers at that time.  They produced SOHC motors for all their production motorcycles (except for the small 50/55cc up to 1969 and the 90cc up to 1965, which had push-rods), until the CB450 was introduced in 1965.  This was the only production DOHC that they produced until the CBX1000 was brought out in 1978, and then the DOHC CB750 that came the following year to replace the SOHC CB750.  The reason why Honda previously shied away from producing a production DOHC was not based on technical reasons - it was likely in response to the negative reaction that the CB450 received.  That machine was banned from production racing venues in Britain because with a DOHC it was deemed to be "too factory race special".

[Greggo]

Looks like your pictures got mixed-up as the tank pictures look the same.

I'm familiar with the later style of tank and side panel, where the tank has a hook at the rear to have a corresponding tab on the panel slide into, and then a bolt or screw under the emblem screws through the panel to lock it in place.  If your earlier tank has the mounting hole for this bolt/screw in the same location and is the same basic shape but with a different hook, perhaps another hook mechanism could be fashioned on the tank.  Can't tell too well from your pictures, but it looks like there is a hook of sorts on this tank, but its in a different position.

You were correct.  The pics have been fixed.

I had that same thought, but another problem presented itself.  Both early and late models have the screw underneath the badge for mounting the cover, but the mounting point for the screw on the early model tanks is depressed about a half inch compared with the late model tanks.  The shape of the tank did actually change slightly.  A longer screw just may fix this, but it would need the same thread pattern.

[HondanutRider]

"A longer screw just may fix this, but it would need the same thread pattern. "

A standard metric thread that should work.  Although early on the Japanese used a slightly different thread shape, I believe the pitches still work on the standardized threads of today - at least for the application you are looking at it won't be critical.  You might need a larger nut or some washers to shim-up under the screw, given the indent of the tank.

[Greggo]

"A longer screw just may fix this, but it would need the same thread pattern. "

A standard metric thread that should work.  Although early on the Japanese used a slightly different thread shape, I believe the pitches still work on the standardized threads of today - at least for the application you are looking at it won't be critical.  You might need a larger nut or some washers to shim-up under the screw, given the indent of the tank.

It would also have to be a very specific length, as only a few threads hold it on to the tank.

Also, I'm hoping my pics will be restored soon, as one of the fantastic moderators is helping me out. 

[Sam Green Racing]

Here's a cool site for the Benly. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=24

Pics here of a few quick ones. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=977

Sam.

[HondanutRider]

Here's a cool site for the Benly. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=24

Pics here of a few quick ones. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=977

Sam.

Hey Sam, what's that lad Benny up to these days?   Have you taught him how to work the clutch yet?

[Sam Green Racing]

Hi Bob, he don't seem to be in any rush, busy with his band mostly, started getting a few paying gigs. Perhaps he can soon afford a bike to learn on. It defo won't be coming out of my pocket.

Sam.

[Greggo]

Here's a cool site for the Benly. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=24

Pics here of a few quick ones. http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=977

Sam.

These are great!  I don't know how I didn't find that forum before 

[Sam Green Racing]

There are probably quite a few more out there, they just pop up from time to time.

Sam.