Ok folks here we go... my 3rd brainstorming thread for what to do with my completely trashed honda c70.
All kudos for this idea go to Ben (who is never short on good ideas). One of my issues with just flat out restoring the Passport is that the 72cc 4 stroke OHC engine may not be enough to pull my 6'1" 215lb frame up the hills of Ann Arbor Mi. Ben's idea... put a larger motor on it and possibly an aerodynamic fairing.
First the good: I never wanted a real motorcycle, and the first time I saw a picture of the Cub/Passport body design I immediately fell in love... this bike is classic, cool... everything. But I'm a big guy... and the bike isn't really designed for someone like me. So upping the anti to 90-125cc's is perfect (depending on the thoughts I get 150 might be going to big for me Ben). If I can find a reliable Honda engine that still pulls close to 100mpg and gets the kind of torque/top speed I need then perfect.
Next the bad: One concern I have is that these bikes were never built with more than an 89cc engine (i.e. the Honda c91m) and so would even putting better brakes on the bike be enough to keep it safe? Would a larger engine even fit on this frame with the leg shield? What about the clutch? The Passport is a 3 speed semi-automatic bike (not 100% sure how it works but I know it's different than most other bikes).
Other thoughts:
1. Sprocket: Could I adjust the sprocket ratios to play with torque vs. max speed to get the hill climbing and top speed to exactly what I need?
2. Hybrid: This is super out there, but what about some kind of hybrid technology (haven't done any reading so if this is totally ludicrous just go to no. 3 without thinking too much about no. 2)
3. The Fairing: How much does a good fairing setup affect the performance of a bike?
4. Degree of difficulty: I am going to be working with someone who has a lot of knowledge working on cars, tractors, trucks, and other big machines... and I think he may have fixed up a motorcycle once, but will this project be outside of our range (him teaching me and helping me do the work)?
Thanks for the thoughts I'm really excited about this, the more efficient, cool, eco friendly, and rideable the outcome the better!!
p.s. here's a link to pics of my bike (including the problems with the current engine casing)
http://www.freewebs.com/papaslides/a...lbumID=1153521