Honda NC50: Restoration and rebuild

I was disappointed to find that the front wheel was very stiff to rotate and the bearings clearly needed attention. I took some pics left and right before removing- note spacer and castellated nut on rhs. Castellated nut on the lhs of the front wheel. Split pin to secure Rhs of front wheel I removed the crosshead screw and slipped the speedo cable out. The brake adjuster was slackened and the cable detached. Brake and speedo cables detached Stripping was quite straight forward-  Disconnect the brake and speedo cables, then remove the split pin and castellated nut. Finally  tap the spindle out towards the left- catching the spacer as it drops free. Lift out the brake plate and speedo drive unit complete with brake shoes to reveal the bearing. Remove the oil seal from the hub on the lhs. Usually I would tap the bearing out from the opposite side, but in this case there was no obvious ridge to tap on so I used a blind be...

The Ballast Resistor  I have already started to reconnect the electrics on this orange bike. This process was very similar to that on the blue bike. However I needed to make a new retainer for the front basket carrier which carries the front indicators and headlight. I also needed to refit the rear indicator bar (including ballast resistor) which holds the rear indicators, as well as the number-plate holder which carries the rear tail light/brake light combination. I also changed the ignition switch and fitted a new battery (AGM type). The wiring seems to be functional for both parking brake lights and indicators.   The ballast resistor was missing from the rear indicator bar and although I had acquired a spare, it didn't look to be in good condition; the wiring insulation had broken and the ceramic  insulator was cracked. I measured the resistance and found values of 1-10Mega ohms - far too high as the cited value is only 3 ohms! New resistors are a silly price, so ...

Carburettor The carb on this bike is a PA11- it is similar, but not identical, to that on the blue bike which was a PA25. In particular it seems to be a more primitive design. The throttle needle jet isn't removeable and the float needle seat is coarsely moulded into the carb body- there's no brass insert. The Chinese replacement looks a much better engineered alternative with pressed-in brass jets and seats. However, that carb doesn't have the self-mix option for 2-stroke oil and so has to be run on pre-mix. It may come to that, but I would like to use the self mixing facility if it works so in the meantime I'll try to fix the original carb. There are a few differences in the connections to the carb where the junction unions look more complex with cubic facets and the oil pump connection to the throttle cable is now contained in a separate trapezoidally-shaped junction box. I photographed the hose connections before easing them off with a screwdriver. Carb connections-...

Moving onto the orange bike, its obviously a bit of  a task. The steering head was loose and either needed adjustment or new bearings. The headlamp is missing, the piston and barrel need replacing and although it turns over readily, the rear wheel is very stiff. All indicators are missing. I'm intending to strip it and renew motor and wheel bearings and seals, but maybe not the main bearings unless it proves to be necessary. There's a lot to sort out round the carb (which is different from the blue bike) and the fuel/oil tanks need de-rusting and a new petcock. The tank here also differs from that of the blue bike; oil and fuel tanks are joined and both situated behind the saddle. The space under the saddle on this bike is used for the battery and electrics rather than fuel. I started with the tank and the fuel gauge. The tank is hidden by the rear orange fairing which needs to be removed to release the tank. Undo the forward top fairing bolt Front fairing bolt ...