QuestionHello Bill,
I am trying to help my friend with this one, he is the owner of the motorbike "Honda C70 Deluxe" with electric start. A bike shop had it for a year and only managed to replace his front tire...loose his old solenoid and put the wrong battery in it.
We need help *if you can I know this is asking a lot* finding a repair shop or scooter place that can do the repairs of the electric start system and get his lights and all working again. It does start with the kick starter...and it did start by the *start button* before the last guy got it. All he initially wanted was the tank and carb cleaned, a new front tire and battery. The shop isn't a bad shop...the guy just didn't know older stuff as he works on all the newer dirt bikes, rice rockets, Rhinos and other OHV's. We live in Northern San Diego County in California. There has to be some little shop that rents scooters that has all the connections for parts. My friend won't spend the time searching and purchasing parts over the internet but would be happy to pay some one who will and fix the Honda too.
Hope you can help....Mark San Diego
AnswerMark, The C70 Passport is still around in various incarnations. You can usually find some good used parts on Ebay and install them yourself. If you are in N. County, check with my friend Scott Brown at NC Motorcycle Salvage, in Escondido. They have tons of parts and do repair work there, as well.
You can see Honda parts microfiche online at many sites, including www.houseofmotorcycles.com to obtain an idea of current part numbers and pricing for some of your bike's needs. Honda OEM parts are only going to come from Honda dealers or Ebay sellers.
Honda switched to a 12v system in 1982 to help combat the electric starting woes of the earlier models, but I don't think it was that helpful, in the big picture.
Most "scooter" rental shops are dealing in Chinese-made models, some of which are copies of Honda products. I wouldn't recommend having them swap out Chinese parts for OEM quality items, however.
If the bikes are operated with a dead or missing battery, the charging system can be damaged and/or will overcharge and blow out most of the light bulbs, including the expensive front headlight. So, in some cases, the repair bill will be a lot more than one might thing is "reasonable" for repairs on an ancient small capacity step-thru bike, like this.
Bill Silver
www.vintagehonda.com
