First bike, first mod, first everything - kind advice appreciated!

mjenson17

New Member
I just bought this 1980 Honda cm200 Twinstar on ebay. The seller lives nearby and will be bringing it over this weekend. This is the first bike of my own. I've always been a passenger so I'm really excited to have one of my own that I can customize.

I'm also going to include some inspirational pictures I've found so far. Right away, I'm thinking new clubman handlebar and lights, and eventually seat. I'd like to get the frame and wheels painted a matte black, and tank/filter box painted either a matte gray with cream stripe, or something like that.

I have no idea where to shop or buy anything, but I'm diving in!!

I'm a 5' 3" chick who used to help her dad change out his Harley tires. I'm little but mighty and don't mind getting greasy! I want to be able to do as much as possible by myself.

Thanks for any advice!!
 

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Welcome to the club

Great starter bike and it seems like you want to ease into biking which is awesome because a lot of people get waaaay to much motorcycle for their first ride......sounds like you have thought this out
All the stuff you want to do is cool, but first make sure the bike runs properly, then ride it for a little while before you start changing things because this will give you a better idea of what changes to make that suit you better as well as make it look the way you want.

Plenty of places for parts, some are the site vendors here.
Don't be afraid to ask any and all questions, there are no dumb questions when it comes to learning
And most of all, ENJOY THE RIDE!
 
Welcome aboard ! Like Kamn said just make sure its in good running and working order 1st...then dive in the deep end !! Good luck
 
Kamn said:
Welcome to the club

Great starter bike and it seems like you want to ease into biking which is awesome because a lot of people get waaaay to much motorcycle for their first ride......sounds like you have thought this out
All the stuff you want to do is cool, but first make sure the bike runs properly, then ride it for a little while before you start changing things because this will give you a better idea of what changes to make that suit you better as well as make it look the way you want.

Plenty of places for parts, some are the site vendors here.
Don't be afraid to ask any and all questions, there are no dumb questions when it comes to learning
And most of all, ENJOY THE RIDE!

Thanks! It sounds like the bike was well taken care of. The guy that has it now was good friends with the original owner, but he ended up in senior living. The new owner has added some new parts, and likes to talk, so I'll try and get a list of all the new stuff he's installed and find out as much as I can about it. I can't wait to get it going!
 
Welcome aboard! In my experience and opinion, little changes and mods can make huge differences in the look of a bike without hampering its performance. A new set of bars, slimmer taillight, smaller turn signals, and shave the stock seat to a more aesthetically pleasing shape, have it reupholstered (or DIY), and you've pretty much got a whole different bike. Do all the little maintenance stuff first to familiarize yourself with the new bike, get yourself a manual and it will walk you through everything you need for a tune up. Then ride it like ya stole it!
 
coyote13 said:
Welcome aboard! In my experience and opinion, little changes and mods can make huge differences in the look of a bike without hampering its performance. A new set of bars, slimmer taillight, smaller turn signals, and shave the stock seat to a more aesthetically pleasing shape, have it reupholstered (or DIY), and you've pretty much got a whole different bike. Do all the little maintenance stuff first to familiarize yourself with the new bike, get yourself a manual and it will walk you through everything you need for a tune up. Then ride it like ya stole it!

Great advice. I think I'll definitely see a huge change in the look of it from the changes you mentioned. I think the only thing I'd need to have professionally done is the seat work. I dont have the tools to shave off the back seat area, and I want the seat to look nice. Maybe something with diamond stitching. I've seen some DIY seats that look pretty bad. :)

I'm getting so antsy for the end of the week. I get the bike Friday. Happy Birthday to me!!!
 
Welcome! I'm working on what started as a CM200 (and admittedly hasn't made any significant progress in almost a year :-[ ), and I always like seeing people work on small Hondas.

Just my $0.02, clubmans with the stock pegs might be pretty cramped. I'm keeping the stock pegs and put on a set of superbike bars, I really like how they feel and it also gets rid of the mini-apes. Then again, I'm 5'11" so at 5'3" you might be fine with the clubmans. Also, the rear shocks from a cm250 (nighthawk 250 too I think) will be slightly longer and set up for a slightly heavier bike, that's what I put on mine to lift the back up a little bit and to compensate for re-lacing the wheels to 18".

Looking forward to some updates!
 
CALfeRacer said:
Welcome! I'm working on what started as a CM200 (and admittedly hasn't made any significant progress in almost a year :-[ ), and I always like seeing people work on small Hondas.

Just my $0.02, clubmans with the stock pegs might be pretty cramped. I'm keeping the stock pegs and put on a set of superbike bars, I really like how they feel and it also gets rid of the mini-apes. Then again, I'm 5'11" so at 5'3" you might be fine with the clubmans. Also, the rear shocks from a cm250 (nighthawk 250 too I think) will be slightly longer and set up for a slightly heavier bike, that's what I put on mine to lift the back up a little bit and to compensate for re-lacing the wheels to 18".

Looking forward to some updates!

I'll definitely have to give it a ride around and a feel to see if the clubmans work. I'm guessing they will for little ole' me. My inseam is probably around 29-30 inches and I have small arms and hands. Ha. :p
I'll be shopping around for different wheels as well. I'd love for this bike to eventually be matte black or matte gray just about everywhere, including the wheels. But first, as I've been told by many, get a good feel of it and change those items first, then focus on the aesthetics. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the bike soon enough and I'll be posting more soon. Thanks for the $.02!
 
Update: Re: First bike, first mod, first everything - kind advice appreciated!

Not a whole lot done yet on her. I took and passed the motorcycle safety course. Woohoo! Big first step I'd say. I've taken it out a couple times now. Trying to build up my confidence.

I did take off the highway bars. Already looks better and took off about 10 pounds. Where is a good place for a replacement spedo and all the lights with it (neutral indicator etc). I'm looking to replace those along with handle bars to start....

On the mechanical side I think it needs a carb cleanup. I have to keep the choke up at all times and pretty much can't idle in neutral without it dying on me. And I have an oil leak behind the filter cover. Not sure the exact source yet. Will have to trace it. Any suggestions are always appreciated!
 

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Congrats on passing ! Sorry I can't be of much help on those bikes but I am sure some help will come along. Sounds like your pilot jets are stopped up if it won't idle without choking it.
 
If you have an oil leak behind air filter it's probably overfilled and blowing out breather. Should be a tube on top of crankcase or from cam cover (I haven't worked on one for about 30 yrs) Does it have twin carbs? Picture doesn't show that too well. Motor is basically the same as 'Rebel' and even the 125 twin from around 1979~80 (that was a 12,000rpm crank destroyer)
The big ends are not pressure fed so keep an eye on oil level plus learn how to check oil properly. Bike needs to be upright and dipstick doesn't get screwed in. As long as oil is between the marks your good to go.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll probably play around with it some this weekend. Life has been pretty dang busy lately so it's pretty much only weekends right now when I can look at it.

One other question. I'd LOVE to put on a new spedo. This would be a dream one for me: http://www.dimecitycycles.com/2-5-inch-black-mini-kph-speedometer-with-black-face-indicator-lights-and-tripometer.html

But I just realized the ignition is connected to the current gauge of the cm200 twinstar. How hard is it to "re-wire" a new ignition to the bike? I'm relatively new but I learn quickly given a good manual/instruction set. Example here: http://www.lttmllc.com/misc?lightbox=dataItem-il3xcr0q

Is this spedo option actually an option for me?

Thank you :)
 
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