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yep, i've got a Honda H100A here that i aquired last october.
i have always wanted an old bike, and preferably a jap bike, being that when i was growing up, the 2 stroke jap stuff was totally dominant in the racing circles, and having a few old jap cars, it makes sense to add an old jap bike....... or 2 one day??....... to my collection. i don't have any brand preferances in bikes, and with the luvly's ok, i started the ebay search. had to be a small capacity jap bike, old enough to 'look' old, 2 stroke, running, and importantly, cheap. i was keen on a 1969 suzuki t250 hustler that was once a race bike and needed work, but that went for waaaaaaaay more than i was willing to part with. then this popped up a few weeks later.
it's a 1982 Honda H100. they were a 100cc commuter bike that was built between 1980 and (believe it or not) 1996! they went thru the normal model running changes during that time, and being mine is an 82 model, it's the first version, called the H100A. i believe these things are popular these days in small capacity classic racing too, as the head design is very good for it's time, and the original 10 hp can be upped to over 20hp with full race prepping!
i picked it up from outer northern melbourne, and paid very little for it. story goes that it was bought in 1982 by a farmer (hence why it had the knobby tyres instead of the normal road ones when i got it) to use around the farm and to go to the shop for the milk and paper. it clocked up 4600km in 4 years, then ran funny one day, and was parked in a shed. forward to 2009, and the guy i got it from is doing some work on said farm, sees it in the shed, and as he put it, "it followed me home". this guy is a collector of many jap bikes, including some beautiful 60's and 70's suzuki's, yamaha's, kawasaki's and honda's. his shed was amazing! he sold it as he already had a nice H100, and didnt want to wreck this one as it was so good. the funny running was casued by, of all things, a small blockage in the fuel line, so a quick clean, some fresh fuel, and away it went! 5 weeks after i brought it home, i thought i'd better start it and let it run for a while. so ignition on, fuel on, choke out, and 2nd kick.....yes 2nd kick!!.... it starts and runs like a swiss watch! amazing really. it picks up all 5 gears (most H100's were 4 speed, and the 5 speed option is rare), stops and turns, and rides well for an untouched 28 year old bike, still with 4600k from new! best of all with this bike is that most parts are still available brand new, and as it has spoke wheels, drum brakes, and a 1960's-70's look, it fits exactly to what i wanted.
my plans are: a full strip down (bar engine re-build as it runs too well to touch), clean, re-paint and re-build along the style of a "cafe racer" or 1960's-70's race bike. i won't be riding it on the road, so it'll be a lightweight race looking unit. when it's done, i'm hoping to put it on the back of my Wasp for car shows/displays for some added interest, or put it in a trailer behind the Wasp or GT, to have that "tow car going to a race meeting in the 60's" look.
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