New here

[hondadiver]

I have been lurking this forum for a few months. I recently inherited a Honda dream when my father-in-law passed away. I am a pretty hands on guy but I have very little experience with motors so I came here for some help.

Story of the Bike: My father in law purchased it new in 1969, he was in an accident with it, and there is another frame (i just found out about this) in my in-law's garage hanging on a wall. I am going to get the serial number for that frame ASAP. The bike was red i think after the accident it was painted black. My FIL sold it to his nephew who neglected it and left it outside in the NJ winters for an undisclosed amount of time. It was purchased back by my mother-in law for my Father in law about 5 years ago. He fixed it up (not much, he was a very utilitarian man)enough to get in running.

I am not sure when it ran last. My order of operations right now is as follows: change oil and spark plugs, change battery and see if it will run. Then begin to piece out what needs to be replaced while learning about the bike in an effort for a total tear down and repaint and recrome?

The engine # is ca77e 1035132 but the frame is ca78 1028665. At first I thought this meant the frame and engine were not original but after looking over the forums I saw mis matching #'s? what is up with that.

Also, I was thinking of not necessarily restoring to original, i don't want a chopper but may want some different color paint etc.. is that something frowned upon?

Thanks for all the help!

Bill

IMG_9557 by William Ferry, on Flickr

IMG_9556 by William Ferry, on Flickr

IMG_9559 by William Ferry, on Flickr

IMG_9559 by William Ferry, on Flickr

[Nick]

Congratulations, looks like you found a good one! A little TLC and that should make a great daily rider.

Among the other things you mentioned, you should disassemble and clean the carb, remove valve covers and squirt oil over the guides, cam, etc. and squirt a bit down the plug holes as well. Check for spark, points may need cleaning/filing/sanding, put a small dab of grease on point's cam.

I'll bet it fires right up.

If the clutch is frozen, try riding with the clutch lever pulled in and pressing on the rear brake pedal, that usually frees them up.

Lube the cables, new tires/tubes.

[casamere]

You have a nice project there and it all depends how far you want to go. I wanted my CA77 as near original as I could get. As for the paint I have seen some beautiful colors on here although not original it all depends on your choice.