My little Nifty 50

[kingyachan]

Hey!

Thought I'd introduce my build here and show off how I'm getting along as I go.
So I'm real new to scooters and bikes, I'm more used to working on cars but I saw this little guy up for sale and fell in love with it!
I'm over in Australia, where for some reason what y'all know as the Honda Spree is called the Nifty 50, which to be honest is super funny and cool.

It was in pretty poor condition when I got it, covered with heavy oil, dirt and dust, but managed to get the engine running and have started cleaning it up! having a blast so far and learning a heap.

[motormike]

Welcome kingyachan to the site.
It looks like you have a complete bike.
That will hopefully keep your costs low to bring it up to snuff.
Shipping costs to Aus. are so darn expensive.
Is the Nifty 50 running currently ?

[kingyachan]

That's been what I've noticed, I was going to order a bunch of stuff but the postage and exchange rate are brutal.

Yeah I got it running!
There's a couple issues though, seems that half the electrics aren't working, but I should be able to fix that.

I cleaned the carb yesterday, if was pretty dirty, so I checked the air filter and ..... There wasn't one the airbox was really dirty and grimey, the previous owner must not have had a filter in there for a while.

Other then that it's all looking ok, just some cosmetic things like the seat and plastics are looking rough but I'm looking forward to sorting that out.

[kingyachan]

Ok so my plans are to do a full new paint job, so I'm stripping the frame to repaint, I tried two different methods to see which would be better.
First I tried a patch with the grinder and a wire cup, which came out nicely



And then a second patch with paint stripper



The stripper was messy and dangerous

Obviously, the grinder came out better so I went in that direction.

HOWEVER, I wasn't happy with how that went since you can't get all the little nooks and crannies, So I've decided over the weekend I will be sandblasting it, I think that's going to end up being the best option.

[motormike]

So. Much. Work....but why?

[kingyachan]

Changing the whole colour scheme of the bike, including the frame!

The whole point of getting the bike for me is purely for a project, so basically the more work the better haha

The frame is now white, still needs sealing but it's coming up nice!

[kingyachan]

Making progress!

Here, behind the weird beer you can see the panels all prepped and hanging for base coat



Here they are after base, prime and first colour coat



and here they are after the white accent and clear coat (taken seconds after final coat)



I've done everything but the front shield thing and the floor as they are going to be white but they need a lot of prep to get right.

the frame is also finished, white and clear coated, probably won't' spend to much time on the sanding and finishing of that though, it's not really seen.

The other big thing that's next on the list is reupholstering the seat in white, can't seem to find anything online so I'm going to have a crack at doing it myself!

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Nice work, but I'm insanely jealous. Forum members will tell you that Wheelman's "Painting" skills leave much to be desired. That doesn't stop me from trying, but success is elusive. Very envious of your nice job.

I can see the attraction of a white saddle, living as I do in blistering-hot Deepinnaharta, Texas. Since I ride most of the time in shorts, it might reduce my leg burns from 3rd to 2nd degree...

Keep posting, I'm following.

[kingyachan]

Thank you so much! This is my first time painting something like this so its been a bit of a learning experience!
Hopefully I'll have some more updates this week with more painting and hopefully I'll have the electronics fully tested by the end of the week

[kingyachan]

Alrighty! So all the painting, clear coat and clean up have been done and I'm just about ready to start putting it all back together!

I feel pretty good with how it's coming out so far







The only real notable thing I did was I chose to finish the floorboard with rubberised white paint, I'm hoping it will be a finish that gives a bit of grip and holds up a little better than a clear coat.

I'll get it all back together then turn my focus to the electronics, I'm not completely convinced they are complete and operating as they should.

Oh yes, Since I had to destroy the decals to do the painting and I can't find any replacements for my Nifty 50 variant, I had a friend knock up some custom decals, when they come in I'll put up some pics

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Too clean! Soichiro-san weeps tears of joy!

[kingyachan]

I took a big break from my Nifty project but I'm back at it now, done some more and getting close to having her done, mostly working out electronics, But I thought I'd share a couple of pics of where I'm up too.

Keep in mind none of it's mounted properly, just sitting in place to get an idea of how it'll look.

Also thanks to noiseguy for the air filter and spark plug!

[ntonar]

Nice work! looking good.

[Heni]

Is it running now? Ive got the same Nifty50 but NZ rego says its a 1986 but parts etc suggest it's 1984. Mine doesn't have a mileage counter. Have you discovered what year yours is? There is a good page on this forum showing the differing years/models with different parts. Painful. I need a carb and am not sure whether to get the 1984-5 or 1986. Looking good.