Evening all. Newbie to mbikes and horizons here. CBT booked for Jan 19th. Bought a Honda C90. Had a look at a couple of C90 websites, and i know roughly how to do the basics. Chnage a wheel, spark plug etc...

Looking for a bit of advice on what to do to get the best out of a C90 mileage wise.... Obviously carrying as little as possible.... anyone know about an enlarged petrol tank?
Any good maintenace tips?
Manage to get myself an AGV Airtech helmet and some HG gloves. Any tips for touring kit for the C90...

In all honesty guys and gals i am a complete begginer at all this. Any hints or advice would be appreciated..

Thanks.
Matt

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Honda C90 RTUK

[quote=MW2K8;166995
Looking for a bit of advice on what to do to get the best out of a C90 mileage wise.... Obviously carrying as little as possible.... anyone know about an enlarged petrol tank?
Any good maintenace tips?
Manage to get myself an AGV Airtech helmet and some HG gloves. Any tips for touring kit for the C90...

In all honesty guys and gals i am a complete begginer at all this. Any hints or advice would be appreciated..

Thanks.
Matt[/quote]

C90 doesnt make a lot of difference loaded or not....

forget the bigger tank, carry a 5 poly fuel can, easier, cheaper, neater

regular oil changes, keep a spare plug handy as well as a spare plug cap

on a C90, thats about it.

to the world of Two Wheel & Adventure Matt!

Martyn is true & very true indeed.
Always have a spare tubes & always check oil & tyre pressure & if the jorney is really long bring a spare throtlle cable aswell.
Besides that have fun matey!

met Thomas Weilecki in Broken Hill (a pro photographer) doing an OZ tour on a C90 in '96. He took my picture, wonder if I could get his contact.

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"man without beard is like porridge without salt": Ned Kelly

He writes regularly for MSL, you could probably get through to him via the magazine -
www.mslmagazine.co.uk

The c90 is a suprisingly good touring machine, although I would suggest you stick with the cub 12v cdi variety.

As for mods, firstly go light. and I mean it.

Get a granny basket on the front, this will house a 1 gallon plaggy easily, and apart from giving you a total range of 200+ miles, will get some much needed ballast over the front wheel.
what time of year? and expected weather conditions? the leg guards can be extended giving fantastic weather protection, at the expense of drag.
What terrain? if the bike will be used mainly on flatish roads, up the gearing 1t bigger on the front, less screaming, but it will accentuate the chasm between 1st and 2nd.
get a single seat conversion, mine was £40 off ebay, saves taking all the luggage off to re-fill. the seat was a bit weak so I reinforced the mounting points.
For serious winter use, I used an old clutch cable setup, to put the rear brake on the bars, so on ice, could use both feet and slow down at the same time.
The headlamp is a bit feeble, some people use an led ear bulb and swap the 25w glow-worm for a 35w halogen bulb.
I carry all the heavy stuff (lock, tools etc) in a small bag, hanging from eyebolts that replaced the upper leg guard mounting bolts (m6).
This gets the weight forward and down. Don't overload the top-box, this will make the steering seriously dodgy in sidewinds, and when being overtaken by truck. (a natural hazrad to c90 riders)

As for spares, the front and rear use the same tyres and tubes (bonus), so a couple of tubes, spare plug, lead, cdi,reg/rec, split link for the chain etc.

put a new good quality chain on, soak it in ep90 gear oil, and every day, open up the chain case and lube it. it will stretch a bit but will last forever.

Take the wheels off, stick new bearings in (dead easy), remove the brake pivot points, clean and lube with moly grease. people alway neglect this, the brakes become stiff and less responsive. The same people always critisise the drum brakes, when fettled, they will lock the tyres, what more do you need.

The c90 is a fantastic machine for the newby, incredibly reliable, crash proof (oh yes) cheap to run and maintain, field serviceable etc. They are not funny on motorways, so stick to the small roads and you can fairly tram on. With the comfy riding position and fairing ,my record is 450 miles in one day, rotterdam to bavaria in winter.
the weak spot is the exhaust valve can burn out, this is due to the small .05mm clearance, and lack of maintanance and it is worth checking every oil change. very easy, just unscrew the inspection port. and keep an eye on the oil level, they tend to burn a bit when past 12,000 miles.

They are a great giggle, people always come up to me and heap praise on them, most bikers have had one at some stage, and have a grudging respect for them!
http://www.scarabis.co.uk/Photos/And...07/1240032.jpg

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Thanks for the help folks....

Got another quick question, realistically what mileage can i expect from a standard tank on a C90?

My CBT has now been postponed until the 27th. An ill instructor or something? Still planning to ride from Portsmouth home to Dundee ( and back again ) in mid Feb. So if anybody sees me on a blue C90 with an old Army Bergen on my back in 3 weeks time, give me a shout. lol.



Thanks again

Matt

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Honda C90 RTUK

though im sure you will get someone who has a C90 on here can tell you more accurately.
From memory I used to get 100-120 depending on hills/wind/throttle usage/ etc

Martyn

PS, I am going back 26 years now..... had to clear away a cobweb or two..

thats 120km right? not miles!

just making sure....

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"man without beard is like porridge without salt": Ned Kelly

nope.. about 100mpg or MORE is well possible from a C90!

Same as Martyn, I used to get 100 miles on a SH50 Honda City Express 2 stroker before filling up; it held exactly 4.5 litres which is almost an imperial gallon.

Full throttle everywhere, in the power band; you have to with a stroker - it was the most aggresive riding I have ever done, stopping for no one or anything.

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Dave

thought a C90 was 4 stroker

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"man without beard is like porridge without salt": Ned Kelly

Mines a 4 stroke

Thanks again folks

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Honda C90 RTUK

Correct Osama, as MW2K8 says.

The SH50 is a 2 stroke that also does around 100 MPG (at constant full throttle); now sold as a 4 stroke SH125 in the UK for the sake of the bureaucrats in Europe.

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Dave

an ON/OFF switch would have been more appropriate!

Martyn

Had myself a kdx 220 Kawasaki a few years back.That was an on/off bike

Took it to IOM, it was great for embarrassing sports bikes on roundabouts but for offroad I found it unrideable and during the 2 weeks I was there I change sprockets 3 times and still could not keep the front wheel on the ground.......!!

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