Re: 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

[mitchellsk]

Well it's been about 4 years since I sold all my bikes and moved to California from Memphis but the timing for a new project is finally okay and a bike nearby popped Thursday on ebay for $250 buy-it-now.

Everything about it is great... clear title, bill of sale, engine turns, plugs & carb still attached so cylinders not exposed to the elements, original & complete, never wrecked, no mice in the airbox, 8k miles, & not left sitting outside. It was last registered 21 years ago and last started about ten years ago.

Here's the new 185cc 1978 Honda Twinstar for my son Michael and I to play with. The tank insides aren't as bad as it looks in the picture... dust and some surface rust but the tank will likely be swapped out anyway for this project. The bike even has a toolkit (but not all original) and registration papers from 1995.

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Ordered and on the way:
✓ New Tires: Dual Sport knobby
✓ Shorai lithium-iron battery
✓ Fuel Line
✓ Fuel filter
✓ Metal polish

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Lookin good. 8)

Should I airlift Mike an emergency bottle of 409 and box of rags? ;D

Did you add a bit of oil through the sparkplug holes?

Like I said earlier place a light bulb under it to warm up engine. helps drain the old oil.

Expecting to see the start up vid...next week.

I got a lower tracker style bars I took off Rachels 200 I can send ya, if you want em?

 

[Hurco550]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Looks like a worthy start to a neat project! Never knew they made a 185 twinstar. Happy building buddy

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Thanks. Almost no time to mess with it right now But looked over electrics a bit today finally.

Got a couple lights around the bike. The ignition doesn't work at all, the key just flops around hence the PO installed the on/off switch so the bike is on if the switch is on. The front right controls are loose on the handlebars so something was going on there too... I'm guessing he stopped riding it due to electrical issues and tried to fix them.

The home-wiring had me a bit scared to look inside the headlight but it all looks uncut in there.

Shorai battery arrived... and a co-worker used to work there (Shorai is about 15 miles away) and is getting me a free refurb charger Fuel lines and fuel filter here too, tires should be here in a day or so I hope.

 

[adventurco]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Nothing better than some good old previous owner ingenuity. Could've at least installed the toggle right side up ;D

What's the plan for the build? I thought I saw something about knobbies...!

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Keep in mind. Michael is a wiring expert. When he was 9yo. He and I spent 3 hours, went through every wire on the 360. Found the PO had ignition coils mis-wired and then she ran!

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

What's the plan for the build? I thought I saw something about knobbies...!

Yup, knobbies arrived today. Not a solid plan really yet... will probably be a cross between a cafe & flat tracker somehow. It's just a 185 so something skinny & lightweight.

Keep in mind. Mike is a wiring expert. When he was 9yo. He and I spent 3 hours, went through every wire on the 360. Found the PO had ignition coils mis-wired and then she ran!

Ya, I need to get Michael busy after school each day


Tires arrived today, battery came in the other day, fuel line & filter, and I already have tailight, mirrors, and few things in storage... parts stacking up.

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Ya, I need to get Michael busy after school each day

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

So sorta a dual sport kinda thing then?

Only half cafe, Half tracker, Half dirtbike way.

 

[sbruton]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t

Cool little bike! I'm in.

Giver.

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

So today we pulled the plugs to check for spark. No spark on either cylinder... so I showed Michael how the boots unscrew from the wires, we cut about 3/16" off each plug wire to get to fresh metal, screwed the boots back on and abra-cadabra we had spark on both sides Woohoo! I had 2 new NGK boots in my stash so we put them on.

Then we gave it a bath and did some scrubbing and it looks at least 20% better

I told him we need to name it so we tossed some ideas around and Michael came up with The Black Pearl (after I vetoed The Millineum Falcon) so... welcome to The Black Pearl build thread.

https://youtu.be/a18_xVpSQ4Y

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl


For anyone looking for the 185 Twinstar Manual I found one, link below (the actual pdf is in English):

;D http://fuzol.atw.hu/letoltes/Honda_cm.pdf

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

Per the previous owner this bike hasn't been tagged in 20 years nor started in 10+ years.

✓ Spark in both cylinders
✓ New battery installed
✓ New 10w-40 oil change
✓ New plugs and plugs gapped
✓ New fuel line & inline filter
✓ Clean fuel tank
✓ Teflon tape on the petcock threads
✓ Kicked engine over a while with the ignition off to circulate the oil through the engine

Then this.... The Black Pearl lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1acS2SECpw

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

ROCK AND ROLL!!! #gingerbreadman

Are you gonna mount the tires yourselves?
Dont forget to line the "red dot" painted on the tires sidewall w the valve stem. Set the tires in the sun for a bit. Coat the tube liberally w baby powder. spray a bit of silicone lube on the bead to help it slip onto the rim. put just a tiny bit of air in the tube. and DONT PINCH THE TUBE!!!

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

The Shorai vs the battery that came in the bike.

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

ROCK AND ROLL!!! #gingerbreadman

Are you gonna mount the tires yourselves?

Too soon to tell.

 

[mitchellsk]

Re: Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

After we got it started Michael's first question was "When can we ride it?"

His second question was "When can we ride it to Chicago". I was thinking hmmmm.... 2,200 miles on a 1970's 185cc 4spd at a max possible speed of 70mph (in the best possible weather conditions) over real mountain ranges... then he said "We coukd take Route 66" and it suddenly sounded plausable ??? :-\

 

[trek97]

Re: New Project Finally! 1978 Honda Twinstar CM185t: The Black Pearl

Just sayin 70mph is not its max possible speed. Unless its doing it in the back seat of the Jeep.