Cars and bikes I’ve come across in my travels

Took these pics yesterday while buying gloves for the other half's birthday. The was an attached warehouse about 1 Ha in size absolutely chock full of wild and crazy stuff. Including this 1957(!!!) Honda C71, with a dry sump ... so our twins actually use a design dating back almost into the Dark Ages!!

C71-1.jpgC71-2.jpg
 
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piranha-bro2 said:
Took these pics yesterday while buying gloves for the other half's birthday. The was an attached warehouse about 1 Ha in size absolutely chock full of wild and crazy stuff. Including this 1957(!!!) Honda C71, with a dry sump ... so our twins actually use a design dating back almost into the Dark Ages!!

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Dem crazy Japs, I was trolling the WWW and had an optic at the 2026 Goldwing …. Honda have come a long way since 1957, that’s for sure
 
piranha-bro2 said:
Took these pics yesterday while buying gloves for the other half's birthday. The was an attached warehouse about 1 Ha in size absolutely chock full of wild and crazy stuff. Including this 1957(!!!) Honda C71, with a dry sump ... so our twins actually use a design dating back almost into the Dark Ages!!

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My 1st ever bike when I was a kid was a 125 version of these from the late 50's I believe. (Pic below)
A bit later my brother had a C71 or C72 similar to above - but have no pics of that and unfortunately it didn't run for long. Couldn't kill the 125 with a stick - even seized it late one night on a secret mission and had to call at a nearby farm house, phone (wake) the old man to get him to come tow me home, I was probably 13 or 14 - he wasn't happy. Just put some oil down the bores and each day I'd come and gradually turn the crank bit by bit with a spanner and after a couple of weeks, it freed up and we were back on the road - I'm sure the local sarge had missed me :LOL:
Don't worry about the silencers, I just used to grab whatever old waterpipe I could find down the back, chuck some chicken wire in and crimp the ends a bit, always with scientific testing procedures........................
Honda 125.JPG
 
That's a very cool tale, Peter! I'm told the pressed metal frames made for precise, razor-sharp handling ... in keeping with the general reputation of Nippon's finest back until the late 70s
 
I still have an original red CA77 305 with whitewall tyres etc, I like these old Hondas and even though they handled like pogo sticks they were good fun and reliable. The electrics were years ahead of anything else at the time.
 
It turns out the high end shop messed up my tire change: set the pressures at 3 bar and 4 bar instead of 2 bar and 2.25. The also mounted the front tire backwards. So I took it to three guys with a tiny shop that specialize in suspension. They put YSS shocks on and installed emulators in the forks, plus switched the orientation of the front tire. Total cost for four hours work including turning down the emulators on a lathe: $26 usd.IMG_4292.jpegIMG_4291.jpegIMG_4288.jpeg
 
piranha-bro2 said:
I hope you offered them a bit more.
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Nope, it was their shop and they set the price. Rich foreigners coming in ànd overpaying for things because they are thinking in their home currency is a major driver of inflation. Locally, the 600k vnd is enough for my wife and I to eat dinner for 5 or 6 nights: last night night we ate for 105k. What would be the cost of six meals for two, without drinks in your own money? In the US it would be at least $300 usd. So à fair price…

BTW, it looks like these guys would be hammer mechanics based upon their shop, but things were measured with micrometers, the fork caps were modified in a lathe and the fork oil was measured in a graduated cylinder. Just like in à good shop in the west. The fact that it was done on the floor by barefoot young men is irrelevant.
 
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Alzero said:
Nope, it was their shop and they set the price. Rich foreigners coming in ànd overpaying for things because they are thinking in their home currency is a major driver of inflation. Locally, the 600k vnd is enough for my wife and I to eat dinner for 5 or 6 nights: last night night we ate for 105k. What would be the cost of six meals for two, without drinks in your own money? In the US it would be at least $300 usd. So à fair price…

BTW, it looks like these guys would be hammer mechanics based upon their shop, but things were measured with micrometers, the fork caps were modified in a lathe and the fork oil was measured in a graduated cylinder. Just like in à good shop in the west. The fact that it was done on the floor by barefoot young men is irrelevant.
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Valid points, Alzero - it was odd coming from Vanuatu where the opposite seemed to be the case - very high (western) prices charged for very basic services, where there was no correlation with how the local economy works. The result is a tendency to dissuade return custom. I wasn't the only visitor who commented that it was one of the most expensive places to travel in. No idea what the solution would be.
 
Exmoor beast said:
Finally off my bucket list, got to drive the Morgan! I have known this car all my life as it belongs to a family friend who lived next door to me when I was a kid- 55 odd years later Dave throws me the keys when we are out to a pub. He has owned it since ‘68 ( year I was born) but it’s a ‘53. When I was a teenager he asked if I knew someone who could rebuild the engine- my mate worked for Tony Ponds mechanic, Dick Prior, so we whipped out the engine & he rebuilt it- 40 years later, same engine, still running well. My Dad drove it in the ‘70’s and didn’t like it, used to refer to it as the Hulk. I quite liked it but it would be scary to drive fast. Good day for me.
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You need to go and visit Morgan in Malvern and do the factory tour, a real eye opener and a step back to the time of hand built cars using wood, aluminium, leather and pure skill.
You can buy one as you leave the gift shop😉, I could only afford the tee shirt!
 
triton said:
You need to go and visit Morgan in Malvern and do the factory tour, a real eye opener and a step back to the time of hand built cars using wood, aluminium, leather and pure skill.
You can buy one as you leave the gift shop😉, I could only afford the tee shirt!
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Morgan rebuilt this Morgan’s chassis whilst we did the engine…except they took six years and didn’t make a note of what they’d done! They charged Dave about £8k then , 1990 by the time they’d finished! I think they let an old boy do it when he had time and it came back like new but I remember thinking what a funny way to do business. I think they had an 8 year waiting list for new cars at one point.
 
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