my Honda Aero 50 restro thread

[refl3x]

first things first my daily is a honda reflex (hence the SN)

has quite a few Japanese parts, lowered, k-mod, jetted etc







I recently came across a honda aero 50 on craigslist. the guy wanted $400 but the bike was a bit beat up and non-running. we settled on $200

i went back through this thread and it's pretty random and unorganized so bare with me haha







first things first i got the plastics off to start inspecting the engine.



quite a bit of dirt

the first issue i found ( and proof the guy that i bought the bike was lying to me that it ran fine)
was some bad wiring





not exactly sure why, my assumption is someone twisted some wires together to repair a broken one and it grounded out and melted a bunch of them.



one of the belt/ variator cover hardware was stripped to crazy so i had to hammer a smaller socket onto it to get it off



i believe this hole is where a kick starter used to be.. wish i still had it...



overall nothing too bad so far



i'm going to recreate these stickers in adobe illustrator so i have brand new ones!



the floor board is going to take some serious love to get black again...





i think the thing looks pretty cool without the plastics



got the suspension off to clean up the motor



how low can you go?



the variator weights have bald spots on them i'm sure they haven't even been inspected sense they went in during manufacture.. i hope i can finds some new ones





this is where i ended the first night


day2...



quite a bit of dirt on the inside of the wheel



engine out



this is the ONLY plastic piece on the bike that isnt broken HAHA



front cover off, this is about all i can to other then the front wheel with the tools i have.



wheel has rust inside i wonder how often the tires were changed in this bike's life



i wish i would have taken before pictures, one of these brake handles was bent but i used a hammer to straighten it







second day i cleaned up and lay'd everything out "exploded view diagram: style (kindof)

next i need to decide what i'm going to have powdercoated and what i need to order to get this thing back on the road

[zuphilius]

That last view reminds me of John Muir's exploded VW Beetle drawing.

[wentwest]

It looks pretty solid from here. Did you check compression in the engine? You're right that the thing stopped because of an electrical issue, but it may have been abused. I'd check the engine out before you start making it pretty.

[motormike]

Really a well done chapter in your Aero resto thread...
White is my choice as a favorite for these 50's, but red is what I have...'85
You'll like the power to weight ratio, I guarantee...
Sweet Reflex...and orange...

[refl3x]

It looks pretty solid from here. Did you check compression in the engine? You're right that the thing stopped because of an electrical issue, but it may have been abused. I'd check the engine out before you start making it pretty.

compression was fine and i do think it was abused and neglected.. poor thing is probably a bit worried but glad to be in my hands

Really a well done chapter in your Aero resto thread...
White is my choice as a favorite for these 50's, but red is what I have...'85
You'll like the power to weight ratio, I guarantee...
Sweet Reflex...and orange...

i will probably have the white plastics re-painted the blue's are pretty good I'm pretty excited to get the thing on the road. no hurry but i am looking forward to it.

the reflex was red. i work as a graphic designer at a car wrap place we printed too much orange for a customer, and rather then throw it away i decided to give it a shot. So the orange is all vinyl. and it was free so, cant beat that!

today was motor day! i dis-assembled the thing and checked the tolerances on everything.. after a few hours of cleaning dirt and carbon this is what I've ended up with...



i also cleaned the starter/oil injector and the associated bracketry



the spark plug still needs replacement, i just have the guy blocking the hole from foreign material





i also cleaned all the blue plastics and used some armor all on them to get them looking nice and blue again



engine mount before (but after cleaning)



mount after



the engine cover is stupid dirty and is taking quite a while to get clean...



painted the exhaust heat-shield with a high temp dull aluminum paint



the wiring is gonna be a nightmare!



like i mentioned before i think the problem was someone did a ghetto job with the harness...



here is my evidence and the reason the ground wires were mostly melted and s***...d*** wire twisters

that's about all i have for today more soon!

[refl3x]

i've been working on that s*** harness. each day gets me a bit closer to getting this guy started ( i cant WAIT to ride it!) i've recently purchased some spraypaint for the frame... it's fairly close to the OEM paint but still a bit light.. it wont matter when the plastics are installed anyway...



I also have finished the layout for reproduction front sticker (the colors are not finalized yet)



i still have to match them to my pantone swatches but they are almost there (the "e" is slightly different but the other letters are practically spot on! the black line around the thing is the cut path, and the yellowish white square is the actual picture i took previously)

i also ordered a new belt and rollers yesterday.., this weekend i hope to get the wheels powder-coated and the tires ordered

[mousewheels]

Good set of build pics

i still have to match them to my pantone swatches but they are almost there (the "e" is slightly different but the other letters are practically spot on! the black line around the thing is the cut path, and the yellowish white square is the actual picture i took previously)

Pro work there - If not a trade secret, what do you programs do you use for artwork capture and generation?

[refl3x]

Good set of build pics
Pro work there - If not a trade secret, what do you programs do you use for artwork capture and generation?

to re-create a decal all you really need is a good picture and the measurements of it. there are plenty of ways to do it but the way i prefer is to re-draw it in adobe illustrator using the pen tool so you have a vector path of the outline. then you can fill it with any color, stretch it to any size, and is completely editable. if one has a good eye for detail it's not too hard to get it close to exact

funny thing is if you look at the picture where i first mentioned i was going to re-create the honda aero sticker you'll notice the OEM one was actually crooked on the front fairing! i joke that the quality control guy was sick that day

[refl3x]

got these in today



put them on



that is all (been pretty busy lately)

[eliteguy50]

Your Aero would probably prefer a "new" harness rather than repairing the remnants of a harness in the pictures.

[66SIX]

Your photos are excellent .
The parts laid out on the ground perfect .
Great job good work ...

[refl3x]

Your Aero would probably prefer a "new" harness rather than repairing the remnants of a harness in the pictures.

i agree but i've almost finished... just have to find my soldering iron, and re-tape everything and i'll be ready to go!

Your photos are excellent .
The parts laid out on the ground perfect .
Great job good work ...

thanks

[smasher04]

I wish i could do a full restore on my bike. Your work is DETAILED. so f***ing amazing. cant wait to see it finished.

[refl3x]

I wish i could do a full restore on my bike. Your work is DETAILED. so f***ing amazing. cant wait to see it finished.

i appreciate it

this weekend i put the motor back together and mounted it back on the bike, i decided not to paint the frame until i ensure the motor is running i dont mind taking the bike apart again, but i'm more motivated to ride the bike then to get it looking perfect at the moment







next is to get the harness situated, the battery charged, and to do a bit of rust removal on the inside of the tank, then the moment of truth!

[refl3x]

got a few things accomplished today...

first i repared some of the cracks with some plastic filler (clear)
i'm trying this stuff for the first time so we'll see how it holds

here is a before/after of a slightly polished rear tail



here is the slightly modified air filter





cleaned up most of the rear plastics







doesnt look like much from the outside but i used the penny/solvent trick to get the gas tank de-rustified clean and dry and ready for some fuel!



at the end of the day i mounted the seat.. if all goes well i'll finish the harness, ( the battery is charging as I type) fill the tank and, take it for a spin (knock on wood)