The Sign of the Beast!

350 KM, some mods

Yesterday, Chris and I violently removed the silencer from the exhaust. A lot of hammering and cutting was involved... but the bike is breathing much better. It sounds slightly louder and much deeper now.










































I also cut the key I had made, to fit to the original key cover I got with the second order. The original keys were lost looong ago...

Carburetor

Yesterday we installed a new carb to test, a 24mm Mikuni from a two stroke Yamaha 125! The bike runs really fast with this, I was afraid of breaking the speedo after going past 95Km/h!

I have the motor from the Chally, I'm thinking of modding that on September to make the Dax seriously fast.














Basically, I want to freeze Chris' ironic smile when he passes me with his Gilera Runner 125. Like this... :)

Good news

Today we started checking what went wrong, and it turned out to be the circuit breaker. The plastic part on it had melted causing a short circuit. NEVER use a non Honda part!!!
I took the bike for a ride, and it was running rough and smelly. After further examination, the spark plug was also faulty, probably from the circuit breaker's short.
Now the bike is running smooth again, I'll ride home tonight to check it out.

Bad news...

I decided to take a longer ride yesterday, but after 25 km the motor stalled. I had to take it back with the road assistance. It's probably the original '70s coil, which I didn't change...

I forgot to take photos of the bike on the truck.

Next week I will have checked everything needed for the final order. Mainly the fenders, so that the rusty ones can be painted to something close to the original Silver Cloud, which was silver paint over chrome, impossible to replicate.

I need some hand-cream. My hands are like sandpaper...

More photos

The oil leak turned out to be nothing, a seal in the clutch.

First ride!

I rode home today. A small oil leak means that tomorrow I'll have to visit the mechanic again.





















The ugly carburetor is temporary.

Almost finished

Shiny!

















The second order arrived today! Exhaust, rear suspension, switches, installed. Wheels, brakes ready. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be finished with the major parts.














On the front suspension problem, we had to dismantle it again, and I found out that the brand new original Honda nylon guides that control the lateral movement were 2,9cm in diameter instead of 3 of the old ones. So we used the old ones, as even a new order could be 2,9cm again. They were definitely the right part number...

Front suspension and motor installed

Today we assembled the front system, twice, as there was some sand from the sandblasting left, and the motor (partially). Unfortunately, even though all the parts from the front suspension are original and new, there's some lateral play and it has to be disassembled again. On Monday...

A bike again

Stickers, wiring, fuel tank, fenders, rear light installed. Front light and speedometer also ready.

























The speedometer cable was stuck and we destroyed it... Good thing I waited for the final order! These photos show the color more accurately.

Frame painted

The painted parts just arrived! The photos don't do the color justice.








The seat arrived as well, but the HONDA sign in the back was too big and I had it removed...

Powder coating

It' amazing how good the powder coating turned out! Extremely strong too.

Motor reassembled

Today, George, the mechanic, assembled the motor.














A new camshaft from an SS50, it will let the valves stay open longer, to allow more gas to the cylinder. We had the cylinder machined from 49cc to 72cc, got a new piston and rings, new cam chain, and had the bearings of the crankshaft and rod changed. We will use the 19mm Keihin carburetor from the Chally, instead of the original 16mm.

Shiny stuff

I got the brushed and chromed parts back yesterday.













































Everything turned out well, except the mudguards. They were too rotten to be chromed properly... I found a new set of fenders, but I have to wait and see what other parts are needed for my third (and hopefully final) order though!

The seat

The new seat cover I got was for the European models, mine was made for the Japanese market, sportier!

So I took it to an upholsterer to be modified. Next week...



I gave my second order today, mostly rubber parts and cables.

First delivery

The parts have arrived!

The chrome and brush guy is taking his time... but the frame has been sandblasted and is ready for painting.

In parts

The bike is completely disassembled and the frame, fork and peripherals are ready to be sandblasted and powder coated for corrosion protection. Then they will be painted in Elephant Grey, as it's called by Honda.









The rest of the things to be chromed.

Motor OK!

The motor started today, it only needed a new contact breaker, took a very small ride standing up, the clutch was stuck and the seat was missing. On Monday I will start disassembling the motor, to get it to the shop for brushing to a shiny finish.

Some restored Dax photos

A 1971 Dax restored by André Neukens.








This is a 1976 Dax restoration by Bruno Vermeren.








I ordered an exhaust, exhaust shields, seat cover, grips, various small bits today.

More photos

This is the Dax after removing the easy parts. The guy who will brush the aluminium parts and chrome the fenders came by in the afternoon, and gave me a price for them. Expensive, but worth it.
We decided that the exhaust is beyond cosmetic repair, so I need to order one from Holland, along with a not very long preliminary list for other parts, like grips, heatshields and handlebars.



























In the Galleries of CMS I saw some real masterpieces, and started having small panic attacks! Especially this by Bruno Vermeren, and this by André NEUKENS.