1970 Honda SL100

[bmcdonau]

Tomorrow I take it down to get the VIN verified by the anti-theft unit of the SAPD. Once that's done I can get the paperwork from the DMV for the bonded title.

I have the engine back in the frame and the wheels and front brakes on. I had a hard time not throwing everything on it, but that would be premature. I've found myriad parts that I forgot to order, hardware and stuff.

I need to polish that cover.

Those handlebars are off a larger bike. I should have measured the distance between those grooves before I had them rechromed.

I need to replace the upper pinch bolts and spacer.

Missing the screw in the middle and need to replace the axel nut.

Missing the shock mounting nuts and axel nut.

I'd like to find a new dipstick.

I have a clutch problem, the lever doesn't move anything. I measured the fiber and metal plates and they were in spec. I must have assembled it wrong. I can work on that in the frame!

 

[jduff8505]

I'm having a hard time getting the color to show up right in the pictures. I think I was close with two coats, but the third made it too dark. From what I understand the colors varied from bike to bike. I remember mine as a lot deeper blue than what I see today.

I'm going to be around $2K which is way more than I could ever sell it for, but its only money right?

I don't think it's a throw away either. I wish I had 1/4 of your talent, I can't believe your only in ~$2K. I can't wait to see this one finished, the frame and engine are going to look great with the blue. Amazing.

Jeff

 

[MCM]

Amazing progress! Your bike is going to be a real beauty.
Have been riding my 70 SL100 quite a bit lately.
With stock gearing & my 230 lbs on it I can hit 45 mph no problem.
Unless the cars are going 50, then its a problem...... LOL LOL

 

[bmcdonau]

I've been fighting this thing tooth and nail and haven't made much progress, I bit the bullet and ordered a set of repro bars from the far east that turned out to be a waste of $75. It was a braced bar and the bar ends weren't long enough to put the lever bracket, switchgear and grips on. I ended up with the last inch of the grips empty. I chalked it up to experience and have been looking for a good used set. The bars I have are too wide and the front brake and clutch cables aren't long enough to turn the bars lock to lock with the stock parts installed on the bars.



The sl100 forks I have are too pitted to use, but I had a set of what I thought were sl125 forks that weren't too bad and I found a set of sl125 NOS tubes for $100 so I thought what the hell, I'll just rebuild the sl125 forks. Like everything else, it wasn't to be that easy. The fork tubes were a perfect match for the sl125 forks, however, the allen screws and copper sealing washers I bought wouldn't fit in the sl125 fork lowers, the hole is too small. They do fit the sl100 fork lowers so I thought I'd just swap the lowers out. Turns out the internals for the sl125 fork lowers won't fit into the sl100 fork lowers. According to the honda parts breakdown, they should, so the sl 125 forks are not from an sl125 or the parts breakdown is wrong.



The lowers look identical, but one set has a larger bore and a smaller diameter hole in the bottom. I don't know what they came off of but I've looked at every 90/100/125 and they cl series comes closest, but they aren't identical. I wonder if they are a *******ized set which would explain the glue I found when I disassembled them.

 

[beanoil]

Amazing work. Keep it up! And while not to your standard, perhaps, if the dipstick is a nylon/plastic, vinyl dye made for auto dashboards will make it look practically new. I used black vinyl dye on the transmission fill plug on my 1981 YamaHopper last winter. I thought my rebuild ( I won't claim a restore) was nice... yours may as well have come down the assembly line yesterday!

 

[bmcdonau]

Amazing work. Keep it up! And while not to your standard, perhaps, if the dipstick is a nylon/plastic, vinyl dye made for auto dashboards will make it look practically new. I used black vinyl dye on the transmission fill plug on my 1981 YamaHopper last winter. I thought my rebuild ( I won't claim a restore) was nice... yours may as well have come down the assembly line yesterday!

I found a NOS dipstick! I also found the parts I need to finish a set of forks! Once I get done with the CB400F engine I can get back to work on the SL100.

 

[bmcdonau]

I found the parts I need to use the forks I have so I can get back to the SL100 as soon as I get the CB400F motor finished.

 

[Justytroll]

Looks like a labor of love. Good luck with that.

 

[Lou65]

Sooo impressed with your work ..... love the fact that someone can do this, totally not me. The color reminds me of my '66 396 Chevelle, Nassau Blue ....
good days.... had two little Honda bikes back then, the 90 and the 125 dual purpose something or another, precursor to the un de bar Yamaha 360 dirt bike dragon.

look forward to seeing your finished product.

 

[bmcdonau]

You'd think I'd learned my lesson and would just chuck this and find a better bike and just move my good parts to the new bike, but noooo.

These are the parts I needed to finish the forks.

The copper washers are the problem because they are an odd size. They were the problem, now the problem is that this bolt just keeps spinning! Crap! Have to decide if I want to use a helicoil or just drill it and tap it larger.

Then I started on the wiring harness, but it goes places where other parts need to be so I attached the rear fender. New parts.

That went well so I put the front fender on too. The bike came with a key that fit the ignition and the fork lock which was really funny considering the condition of the rest of the bike. The fork lock had been painted rattle can black which probably protected it from 30 years of weathering.

Then I attached the coil and the other electrics, but I'm not really sure where the wires go so I'm going to have ask someone with an SL100 to tell me how it goes. Neither of my bikes had a full loom.

I wanted to make sure the tank would fit so I installed the new petcock, but ARRRGH, this screw won't tighten, the threads are stripped! I think I will just drill this out and tap it larger since there is a lot of metal where it screws into.

I also have a problem with the tank and seat mount, all these parts were gone on the bikes I bought. The rubber tank mounts at the front fit fine, but when the tank is all the way forward, the hole for the bolt at the rear of the tank doesn't line up with the hole in the frame. Also, the rubber at the back fits the shape of the tank, but not the shape fo the seat. I'll have to figure that out.

And finally, this'

I put the new front axel bolt in, but its too short to tighten down the castle nut to the hole for the cotter pin. Took it back out and sure enough its too short.

I put the side covers on to see what it looked like.

 

[John]

Wow!!!

That takes me back a lot of years.

Have patience (really rich coming from me), take a break when you need to, and come back to this project when you can. It is BEEE YOUUU TIFULLL!

 

[kempco]

I commented on the blue color way back when you painted, Now the color looks just like I remember, Although that was 42 years ago.

 

[George]

Why I keep my old service manuals.

Does this help?


I owned both an SL100 and an SL125 back in the day.

Luv those ol' 4 plate full wave rectifiers.

<edit, add> Oops, forgot to mention, neck of the frame is on the left (in case that's not evident) so the harness mostly sets on the left side of the backbone.

Please continue to keep us poSTed.

 

[bmcdonau]

I commented on the blue color way back when you painted, Now the color looks just like I remember, Although that was 42 years ago.

It's a very difficult color to capture accurately, but it looks like I remember, but like you it was a long time ago.

 

[bmcdonau]

Why I keep my old service manuals.

Does this help?


I owned both an SL100 and an SL125 back in the day.

Luv those ol' 4 plate full wave rectifiers.

<edit, add> Oops, forgot to mention, neck of the frame is on the left (in case that's not evident) so the harness mostly sets on the left side of the backbone.

Please continue to keep us poSTed.

Thanks George, that picture looks like an XL250 with that plug next to the coil.

 

[bmcdonau]

I finally figured out what was up with the tank and seat. The two ears that held the tank rubber in place are gone so I'm going to have to make a couple and weld them to the frame.

 

[Trailhand]

That is just like my first street legal bike. Really brings back some good memories. Fine craftsmanship nice to see one restored to it's former glory.

 

[bmcdonau]

I fixed the tank mount issue today. I wish my welds were prettier, but hey they work!

This is what I had to work with. I'll be the original rubber disintegrated and instead of spending $5 on a new one, someone decided to break the ears off and bolt the tank to the frame.

Here's a close up view.

I bought this 1/8" thick bar stock at Lowe's. It's a little narrower and thicker than the original, but it will work okay.

I stuck it in the vice and wacked it with a hammer to bend it, then I shaped it with a grinder so its sorta pointed and tapered on the end.

Here's what it's going to look like when its finished, of course it'll be a lot more obvious with the ugly welds that will be on it when I'm done.:rofl:

I draped this wet towel over the bike to protect it from the sparks.

One down.

all done

I tried the rubber out for size.

With the tank installed. I need to prime and repaint it.

 

[Coucours Grad]

Alot nicer then I could do.....


Nice job so far!

 

[bmcdonau]

Another success, I was able to drill out and retap the hole in the tank for the petcock. It went from 5 mm to 6 mm and now it tightens right up.