On Saturday, a nice gentleman from the west side of the state didn’t budget his time well that day. He showed up at my house at 9:30pm to buy my 1964 Honda CT200 or CT90 as it’s commonly known. The ’64 was the first year for the bike. It said Honda 90 on it, but was VIN plated a CT200 and went by that name for a number of years. The distinguishing characteristic of it was the rear dual sprocket. It has one chain ring mounted on top of the other and two master links on the chain. If you were headed for a mountain romp or trollop through the streams, the large gear was in order. At the end of the day when you wanted to get home fast, unbolt the gear, mount it behind the other, take the chain apart, store the extra pieces and cruise. By the end of the 60s, Honda did away with this feature and added a high/low switch next to the foot peg to save you the trouble.
The west side guy had a nice story about his father having a CT90 that he inherited but wanted a second one to cruise around town. Mine as advertised was a low mileage, 670 miles, new seat cover, new tires, new coil, good chrome, new side covers, mostly original paint bike. The original down draft carb had a stripped petcock screw that made it leak gas, so I pulled intake a side draft carb from another bike and made it work. The problem was, the carb always sounded/felt under jetted. It would pop at high rpms. He asked me before making the 2 1/2 drive with trailer, would it be good as it sits for driving to and from town. I said no. I really tried to talk him out of it for his needs. The carb needs to be rejetted I said. In an attempt to show him what I meant, I shot a video of me driving down the street (see below). Hear the popping? Yeah, neither did I. It ran better than it ever had. Trying to tell me something little bike? Too late. You’re on the chopping block for being nearly impossible to start and not being good for my 12 year old.
Which brings me to part two of this saga. The buyer didn’t leave my house until 10:50pm. Yes, with the bike. But not before trying to start it again and again and again, take it for a test drive, stall it, push it back up the hill to my house, then start the adventure all over again. Why wouldn’t it start? When I pulled the battery off the 6V charger, kicked it over four times, it came to a perfect idle and ran it down the street for my sweet video. Why wouldn’t it start five hours later? Turns out the battery was bad and would not hold enough power to allow it to start. Apparently 6 volt systems are very temperamental. Another reason it’s not good for a 12 year old. We had to hook up the charger in order to get it running each time. I know, I know. Buy a new battery. Well I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And at this point, I was happy to make a deal and go to bed.
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/2d8PvLvufXA” ]
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