'81 CM200T with its little brother.

[RyGuy]

Hey everyone. I'm glad to be here.
I'm new here. My names Ryan. The bikes pictured are 2 of my 3 Hondas I have.
The Twinstar I picked up last week and is actually what lead me to this site. I feel I'm pretty good at looking over things before I purchase something from a private seller so I'm a little embarrassed by some of the things I found when I got it home. But all in all it's a pretty nice bike.
The NC50 in the photos was bought about 3 years ago. Original owner, all original (even came with the hard to find rear basket), real low miles. Kept in a garage all its life. It needs nothing and is fun to fire up once in awhile.

Things I'm learning about the Twinstar:

• Aftermarket carburetor on it at time of purchase. Came with the original. Throttle would catch a little at first, then when you got to a certain spot it would release and all was fine from then on. Figured it was a simple adjustment in the throttle cable. Found out when I got it home that the top part of the carburetor didn't have the metal throttle cable guide. Thought that was strange so I went and grabbed the original carb, took that top off and found that the throttle cylinder were not the same size. The aftermarket carb had a bigger sized top cylinder than the original. The air intake and the out were a match. So, did what I thought to be a thorough cleaning of the original carb and installed that. No more throttle stick. But found more issues. Once I give it gas it doesn't always return to normal idling. Sometimes it will and sometimes it takes on a mind of it's own.
  Upon researching found some troubleshooting tasks. You can clearly tell the cable is returning to where it needs to be, the hand throttle has no play in it like the cable is stuck. Adjusted the idle and the jet (actually don't know if I'm using the right term, the one thats hard to adjust and it makes it run lean or rich), both seemed to help it run a little smoother but it didn't solve the revving. So, while running I sprayed some starter fluid in spots that I thought there could be a possible vacuum leak and nothing. Then last night when toying with it some more I just thought, "well I'll tap on the top of the cylinder while its revving high and see if it comes back down and it did. Now I'm wondering if the needle guide is sticking inside the carb and that maybe it's catching on something?? I don't know. I will be inspecting it further this afternoon. Would love some suggestions on what to look for on the smooth needle guide.
• The clutch!
  I really don't know much about clutches. All I can say is that in any gear, whether taking off in first or changing gears while cruising, right when you start letting the clutch out it "slips". That's how I would describe the feeling. The initial catch of the clutch makes a sound almost like a soft grinding of gears and you can feel it. There are times, and I don't know yet what I do differently, where it doesn't happen but I have to be very delicate with it. I saw on here the other day where ancientdad suggested using a particular oil. I did pick some up the other day and changed out the oil. Hoping that would make a difference and it did not. Would cable adjusting make any sort of difference? I feel that the lever on the clutch housing does not travel much when you pull the hand lever. Maybe it doesn't require much to activate the clutch. Again I don't know.

That's where I am with this bike. I am actually very grateful for it. It's really in great shape but I think some people might have got a little handsy with it when they shouldn't have.
It was a bike that my whole family used to ride around at my uncles farm in Iowa. I showed the for sale post to my mom who is 68 and she told me to go get it. "Oh my gosh, is it still for sale, contact the guy right now, I'll even give you the money for it, wow it looks just like the one we used to ride", is what she said. I've included a picture of her on it the day we picked it up. She was thrilled.View attachment 46814View attachment 46815View attachment IMG_4999.JPGView attachment IMG_5001.JPG

 

[LongDistanceRider]

Welcome aboard Ryan, good to see you here

 

[ancientdad]

Aftermarket carburetor on it at time of purchase. Came with the original. Throttle would catch a little at first, then when you got to a certain spot it would release and all was fine from then on. Figured it was a simple adjustment in the throttle cable. Found out when I got it home that the top part of the carburetor didn't have the metal throttle cable guide. Thought that was strange so I went and grabbed the original carb, took that top off and found that the throttle cylinder were not the same size. The aftermarket carb had a bigger sized top cylinder than the original. The air intake and the out were a match. So, did what I thought to be a thorough cleaning of the original carb and installed that. No more throttle stick. But found more issues. Once I give it gas it doesn't always return to normal idling. Sometimes it will and sometimes it takes on a mind of it's own.
Upon researching found some troubleshooting tasks. You can clearly tell the cable is returning to where it needs to be, the hand throttle has no play in it like the cable is stuck. Adjusted the idle and the jet (actually don't know if I'm using the right term, the one thats hard to adjust and it makes it run lean or rich), both seemed to help it run a little smoother but it didn't solve the revving. So, while running I sprayed some starter fluid in spots that I thought there could be a possible vacuum leak and nothing. Then last night when toying with it some more I just thought, "well I'll tap on the top of the cylinder while its revving high and see if it comes back down and it did. Now I'm wondering if the needle guide is sticking inside the carb and that maybe it's catching on something?? I don't know. I will be inspecting it further this afternoon. Would love some suggestions on what to look for on the smooth needle guide.

On models with bolt-on carbs, the body of the carb can get distorted if someone goes gorilla tightening the nuts that hold it to the head and it can cause the slide to stick sometimes. Pull the carb off and use a flat file on the mounting area to see if it's "high" in the area of the holes and if so, file it down so the entire area is flat again, then bolt it back on (fresh gasket if necessary, or new o-ring if that's what it uses) and carefully tighten it with good "feel" so it's tight enough but not overboard. Hopefully that's all it is.

I showed the for sale post to my mom who is 68 and she told me to go get it. "Oh my gosh, is it still for sale, contact the guy right now, I'll even give you the money for it, wow it looks just like the one we used to ride", is what she said. I've included a picture of her on it the day we picked it up. She was thrilled.

Nice to see Mom get interested in it, good for her. I was fortunate to ride with my Mom when I first started riding, here is my favorite picture of us both riding.

 

[RyGuy]

On models with bolt-on carbs, the body of the carb can get distorted if someone goes gorilla tightening the nuts that hold it to the head and it can cause the slide to stick sometimes. Pull the carb off and use a flat file on the mounting area to see if it's "high" in the area of the holes and if so, file it down so the entire area is flat again, then bolt it back on (fresh gasket if necessary, or new o-ring if that's what it uses) and carefully tighten it with good "feel" so it's tight enough but not overboard. Hopefully that's all it is.

Nice to see Mom get interested in it, good for her. I was fortunate to ride with my Mom when I first started riding, here is my favorite picture of us both riding.

View attachment 46843

That picture of you two is great! Love it man!
It reminds me so much of when I would ride with my mom or my dad and sometimes my uncles. Most the riding we did was on and around their farm. Zooming past miles of cornfields.
And thank you for that advice. I will look into that. I'm the one who tightened her down and honestly I gave it some good tightening thinking it needed it. I appreciate it.