[Spridgets] LMC no LBC

[Bud Osbourne]

I have no clue as to what it's worth, Frank, but you can probably do a 
Google search and come up with some websites pertaining to old Hondas.

Speaking of old Hondas:  Nearly 40 years ago, right after finishing college, 
I took a part time job (my "regular" job was on a big horsepower towboat and 
for every day I worked...typically 30 days at a time.....I got a day off 
with pay) for a friend, who was service manager at a Honda motorcycle 
dealership.  The owner had some connections, and for a very meager sum he 
bought Honda's entire inventory of shipping-damaged motorcycles (still in 
their lightly to heavily damaged crates) from the port of Baltimore.  There 
were something like six or ten trailer loads of them.  After experiencing 
the joy of unloading the crates (crammed from top to bottom for the length 
of the trailers), my job was to open the crates and disassemble the bikes 
too badly damaged for resale, and assemble the bikes that were lightly 
damaged, replacing damaged parts with parts salvaged from the bikes I had 
parted-out.  Many of the bikes were actually in pristine, undamaged 
condition.  Many of them were from the very early 60s, with the rest spread 
right up to current model year (1971).  I could have taken my pick and had 
any one I wanted for next to nothing.......but, I was driving a brand new 
BMW 2002 and I thought I was also in the process of building a race car, too 
(an MGB that I finally did complete several years later).  So I passed on 
the Honda bargain.
And, yes, I often kick myself for that.  The Hondas were really very well 
engineered, well built machines that would run just about forever if given 
proper care and maintenance.
Bud Osbourne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frank" <spritenut at comcast.net>
To: "Spridgets" <spridgets at autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 4:36 PM
Subject: [Spridgets] LMC no LBC


>I just, um, "acquired" a 1962 or 63 Honda 50cc motor scooter. (Little
> Motor Cycle)
> Or Vespa type thingy.
> It looks like this but not quite as nice.
> *http://tinyurl.com/yayc52t*
> It is missing the carburetor but the air filter is there, it has keys,
> 3700 miles on the odometer
> I do not know what else is missing, I am tempted to restore it but me
> and jap vehicles never did get along.
> I can see steel screws in aluminum engine parts that look like they are
> permanently fused together.
> Is this thing worth the time and effort? Anybody have a carb for this
> thing or can I use a Briggs & Stratton carb from a lawn mower?
> If anyone knows a little about this thing, please email me off list
> I think I drove a motorcycle maybe twice in my life, I fell off one once
> too. I know nothing about them.
> Thanks
> **
>
> -- 
> Frank Clarici
> Toms River, NJ
> My own Fleet of Sprites