Joined
·
206 Posts
Aloha!
My name is Alika, I live in Hawai'i and grew up in France.
I built another bike posted here although I think most pics are dead. It was a Z50 with a 140cc Lifan engine with a well executed frame mod to fit the carb straight under the gas tank though the frame , that set the thread on fire
Well after 8 years, the frame still hasn't split and I'm still alive ...
Let me count you a story about my SS50
Last year I ran into an SS50 into my friend's garage, his landlord's bike buried under some shit. I had never seen one so I took a picture.
A day later I met up with a very good friend who was a lot into old Honda's and Vespa's back in the days, showed him the picture and he named the model.
He said, oh that's funny, I know of the exact same bike at my Japanese friend's scooter shop sitting there for years, maybe you can have it. I will speak to him as he doesn't speak much English and see what's up.
Well, a couple days later, I got the bike with a lot of convincing and prolly an over paid sum of $500.
The bike was missing a few little things but mostly complete.
It had been abandoned by a customer half way through the work, garage never got paid. So I convinced them they were protected by garage lienholder law especially after 5 years.
All I knew about the previous owner was his first name ( Mr G.) and that he had 2 of them imported from Vietnam, he fell with mine and was having issues with it, never ran right etc...
I immediately started researching about the bike as I had no idea what year it was or what. Engine number SS50E-301925 and frame 322734.
Looking up for parts and info to tackle this up, I was more and more confused as it seems there were many different markets for these with each their own hair pulling specs and no solid one source info for all.
I ran across a business in Vietnam specialized in the Honda 67, as it is popularly called over there bc of the year it came out.
Who better than a Vietnamese can help me out about a Vietnamese bike? Perfect!! 🕺
I find their Facebook page and contact them seeing if they could date my bike with the engine and frame numbers, as I only found a few European numbers on pictures that were way off yearwise with my bike style, confusing!
Right away I get in touch with the owner, super friendly guy who said he's been riding them in the 70's.
Well it turns out it's a 1973 bike, but I guess they didn't use the 70´s style European tank out there, so ok, let's go with that.
We start speaking about 5 gear transmissions which he advised me against and it's better to use the one out of a Honda Dream 100CC 4 speed transmission .
He then asks me where I lived and he said oh, I sent 2 SS50 to Honolulu 7 years ago, send me a picture?
Non-conclusive as he said they were mint and not plagued with Chinese parts, since mine stayed 5 years off the road, he said no way they could have turned to shit and modified that bad with all Chinese parts in 2 years.
I mean the more I started to try to fix this bike the more I realized this was a big pile of Chinese crap bodged like 3rd world country style....🤦♂️
What are the odds, eh? Well, read on my friend
I was then looking for a gas tank as it turns out the SS50 NOS Honda cap I got didn't quite fit the smaller opening. I thought, maybe it's a Chinese tank retrofitted on a newer frame?
Lost more than ever... Pinched and welded seams on the top as I saw other tanks with flat seams. What the hell ?? Original tank or not? But I found both style while browsing pics from 4strokebarn... I finally found a Chinese cap that fit looking by size. Went to the dark side on Aliexpress and spent days searching high and low for compatible parts. Learnt about Chaly's, Benly's CD, Jialing JH, E22 heads , Lifan parts, Tao-Tao and al, the Brazilian bikes to find me lost on Honda Atlas Pakistan where I realized I lost it completely. Obsessed !!
Alright, let's try to at least put good quality parts on this , I discover CMSNL.com . Sick but pricey with shipping costs ...
Got a couple things to fix up cables and small trim stuff.
Got the bike started after a good carburetor clean up and a shut off valve rebuild, but impossible to ride as the clutch engages abruptly.
And that's when I opened the Pandora box. O-M-G!!
Clutch parts worn out to death weld-recharged and grinded. Clutch housing welded up , clutch arm actuator mounted on needle bearings in a destroyed bore. Some of the parts were from unknown source and heavily modified beyond identification. I see that the cylinder is 97cc markings too.
At this point I realize I lost a battle trying to get this shit be all stock . Fnck it, I need Aliexpress to save me from a big mistake and have this thing a least rideable to enjoy it a bit. I still hadn't ridden it!
I ordered a bunch more parts like a reinforced clutch on Aliexpress after comparing pics of what I could find from regular vendors and determined most of the same shit is sold at a fraction of the cost out there. At least if it breaks, I can only blame myself. Very hard to navigate Aliexpress, keywords, description and all, if you're not smart with details and cross referencing pics and other info out there, it will be your demise!!
In the meantime, I go back to my friend's house to take more pics and to look at how this other SS50 is made. No shit, same electrical tape around the headlight too.
Well, wait, What?? The speedo/ odometer is fake !! Who manufactures stuff like that? What the hell? Now I have a speedo cable on the way but no speedo. Great. I tried to find a fake one online , impossible. I have no idea if it's still produced in unknown markets but I fascinated by it! And mad too...
Back to the other bike, I also noticed the stator cover has the exact same bodged disc grinder type of job cut out for the rear control arm pivot. That's way too much of a coincidence, don't you think?
Well while I'm leaning on the bike like a thief, here comes the landlord's wife. We chat a little bit. She says hubby imported 2 from Thailand, he doesn't do shit with it bla-bla-bla . ( where is the other one?...)
Hubby shows up and interrupts the conversion from afar, no it comes from VIETNAM, not THAILAND
He comes closer and introduces himself, Hi I'm Mr G. 🤝
Could you hear the gears spinning in my head? ⚙
Small fncking world eh? Turns out he lost all paperwork, he eluded the part of what happened to the other bike he imported and I surely didn't insist as I felt something fishy. Told him I had "almost" the same one and that I would love to have a copy of some paperwork to help me register mine.
That was a crazy coincidence , in no time I found the previous owner out of thin air.... now I needed some more proof about my gut feeling these 2 SS50 were actually the ones exported from Vietnam by Honda 67 Factory for some gullible collector.
I went through years of pictures on his albums online, and bam, found it! Different seat on some pics but the same odd looking red shocks!
Ok done with the story, now let's see some pictures!
Mr G's bike.
My bike as I went to see it the first time.
And the bike from Honda 67 Factory, even the rubber handle grips match, just not the seat, it got switched out later on prolly to look more vintage for selling.Same black electrical tape around the headlight lens, same rear foot pegs. Coincidences at too big to be ignored lol!
So I guess I own one out of 2 SS50 here and probably in the entire state 🏍
More horror and mechanic pics to follow as I have to get them on my device to load them on the forum.
Aloha!
My name is Alika, I live in Hawai'i and grew up in France.
I built another bike posted here although I think most pics are dead. It was a Z50 with a 140cc Lifan engine with a well executed frame mod to fit the carb straight under the gas tank though the frame , that set the thread on fire
Let me count you a story about my SS50
A day later I met up with a very good friend who was a lot into old Honda's and Vespa's back in the days, showed him the picture and he named the model.
He said, oh that's funny, I know of the exact same bike at my Japanese friend's scooter shop sitting there for years, maybe you can have it. I will speak to him as he doesn't speak much English and see what's up.
Well, a couple days later, I got the bike with a lot of convincing and prolly an over paid sum of $500.
The bike was missing a few little things but mostly complete.
It had been abandoned by a customer half way through the work, garage never got paid. So I convinced them they were protected by garage lienholder law especially after 5 years.
All I knew about the previous owner was his first name ( Mr G.) and that he had 2 of them imported from Vietnam, he fell with mine and was having issues with it, never ran right etc...
I immediately started researching about the bike as I had no idea what year it was or what. Engine number SS50E-301925 and frame 322734.
Looking up for parts and info to tackle this up, I was more and more confused as it seems there were many different markets for these with each their own hair pulling specs and no solid one source info for all.
I ran across a business in Vietnam specialized in the Honda 67, as it is popularly called over there bc of the year it came out.
Who better than a Vietnamese can help me out about a Vietnamese bike? Perfect!! 🕺
I find their Facebook page and contact them seeing if they could date my bike with the engine and frame numbers, as I only found a few European numbers on pictures that were way off yearwise with my bike style, confusing!
Right away I get in touch with the owner, super friendly guy who said he's been riding them in the 70's.
Well it turns out it's a 1973 bike, but I guess they didn't use the 70´s style European tank out there, so ok, let's go with that.
We start speaking about 5 gear transmissions which he advised me against and it's better to use the one out of a Honda Dream 100CC 4 speed transmission .
He then asks me where I lived and he said oh, I sent 2 SS50 to Honolulu 7 years ago, send me a picture?
Non-conclusive as he said they were mint and not plagued with Chinese parts, since mine stayed 5 years off the road, he said no way they could have turned to shit and modified that bad with all Chinese parts in 2 years.
I mean the more I started to try to fix this bike the more I realized this was a big pile of Chinese crap bodged like 3rd world country style....🤦♂️
What are the odds, eh? Well, read on my friend
I was then looking for a gas tank as it turns out the SS50 NOS Honda cap I got didn't quite fit the smaller opening. I thought, maybe it's a Chinese tank retrofitted on a newer frame?
Lost more than ever... Pinched and welded seams on the top as I saw other tanks with flat seams. What the hell ?? Original tank or not? But I found both style while browsing pics from 4strokebarn... I finally found a Chinese cap that fit looking by size. Went to the dark side on Aliexpress and spent days searching high and low for compatible parts. Learnt about Chaly's, Benly's CD, Jialing JH, E22 heads , Lifan parts, Tao-Tao and al, the Brazilian bikes to find me lost on Honda Atlas Pakistan where I realized I lost it completely. Obsessed !!
Alright, let's try to at least put good quality parts on this , I discover CMSNL.com . Sick but pricey with shipping costs ...
Got a couple things to fix up cables and small trim stuff.
Got the bike started after a good carburetor clean up and a shut off valve rebuild, but impossible to ride as the clutch engages abruptly.
And that's when I opened the Pandora box. O-M-G!!
Clutch parts worn out to death weld-recharged and grinded. Clutch housing welded up , clutch arm actuator mounted on needle bearings in a destroyed bore. Some of the parts were from unknown source and heavily modified beyond identification. I see that the cylinder is 97cc markings too.
At this point I realize I lost a battle trying to get this shit be all stock . Fnck it, I need Aliexpress to save me from a big mistake and have this thing a least rideable to enjoy it a bit. I still hadn't ridden it!
I ordered a bunch more parts like a reinforced clutch on Aliexpress after comparing pics of what I could find from regular vendors and determined most of the same shit is sold at a fraction of the cost out there. At least if it breaks, I can only blame myself. Very hard to navigate Aliexpress, keywords, description and all, if you're not smart with details and cross referencing pics and other info out there, it will be your demise!!
In the meantime, I go back to my friend's house to take more pics and to look at how this other SS50 is made. No shit, same electrical tape around the headlight too.
Well, wait, What?? The speedo/ odometer is fake !! Who manufactures stuff like that? What the hell? Now I have a speedo cable on the way but no speedo. Great. I tried to find a fake one online , impossible. I have no idea if it's still produced in unknown markets but I fascinated by it! And mad too...
Back to the other bike, I also noticed the stator cover has the exact same bodged disc grinder type of job cut out for the rear control arm pivot. That's way too much of a coincidence, don't you think?
Well while I'm leaning on the bike like a thief, here comes the landlord's wife. We chat a little bit. She says hubby imported 2 from Thailand, he doesn't do shit with it bla-bla-bla . ( where is the other one?...)
Hubby shows up and interrupts the conversion from afar, no it comes from VIETNAM, not THAILAND
He comes closer and introduces himself, Hi I'm Mr G. 🤝
Could you hear the gears spinning in my head? ⚙
Small fncking world eh? Turns out he lost all paperwork, he eluded the part of what happened to the other bike he imported and I surely didn't insist as I felt something fishy. Told him I had "almost" the same one and that I would love to have a copy of some paperwork to help me register mine.
That was a crazy coincidence , in no time I found the previous owner out of thin air.... now I needed some more proof about my gut feeling these 2 SS50 were actually the ones exported from Vietnam by Honda 67 Factory for some gullible collector.
I went through years of pictures on his albums online, and bam, found it! Different seat on some pics but the same odd looking red shocks!
Ok done with the story, now let's see some pictures!
Mr G's bike.
My bike as I went to see it the first time.
And the bike from Honda 67 Factory, even the rubber handle grips match, just not the seat, it got switched out later on prolly to look more vintage for selling.Same black electrical tape around the headlight lens, same rear foot pegs. Coincidences at too big to be ignored lol!
So I guess I own one out of 2 SS50 here and probably in the entire state 🏍
More horror and mechanic pics to follow as I have to get them on my device to load them on the forum.
Aloha!