So they say a Honda c90 is bullet proof, even bomb proof! In my case no. I had my first breakdown today, just 30 km from Miguel's house. All was going fine, running smoothly and everything sounded normal but then it died. It just cut out and stopped dead. I wheeled it off the road (thankfully I was on a small one) and checked the spark plug. Everything was fine there. After a few minutes I managed to get it going again but the tick over was pretty shoddy. I thought that maybe just the float in the carburetor might be stuck, maybe and air bubble, but the sound the engine was making made me think otherwise. This high might abrasive squealing screech accompanied the rumble of the engine. I thought I might just correct itself so I hopped back on the bike and got about 1 km before it died again, accompanied with a more high pitched screeching.
There was nothing else to do but wheel the bike off the road and sit down and make some phone calls, and
luckily Miguel and his Mum came to the rescue. We managed to get 90 into a 'large car'. Actually just a large car. The faring, indicators, mirrors and the front wheel had to come off but we managed to get it in. The thing that worries me about the bike now though is that the kickstart is now lodged tight. It won't move and the electric start isn't budging anything. I think there's something wrong with the engine and this is beyond my skill to fix so I'll have to wheel it to a mechanic tomorrow.
I genuinely thought this machine would be okay. All this after 2000 miles. Fuck's sake.
Oh shit! I hope you get it fixed room!! Good luck. I am back here for 2 days if u guys wanna grab a coffee tomo
ReplyDeleteSorry you've had problems lovely :( I'll try contact you today see how things are going xxx
ReplyDeleteHello. Yep, I've been checking the oil, changing it every 1000 miles with the correct oil etc. It does look and feel like its seized up. Its in a garage now and I'm waiting for a phone call to give me the diagnosis and a quote. If its too much money and I know what's wrong with it then I'm going to attempt to fix it myself. It would be good to learn. But right now I'm not in the position to tell what's wrong with it.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank's. Its good to know I can put in an alternative engine. A 110 too! Right now I'm not that opposed to having a new engine. The legend of the bullet proof 'mighty ninety' has somewhat diminished with me at this moment in time. We'll see what the mechanic says.
On the bright side at least its happened here where I can stay in comfort with a nice family and access to all the tools instead of it happening in the middle of the desert. My faith in riding the thing across the Sahara has now shrank also. But if it gets fixed I will try.
I cruise around 35/40 mph, occasionally getting 45 mph downhill and very seldom 50 mph. At the time when it died I was going for around an hour and a half between 30/40 mph. I changed the oil 600 miles ago and the oil level was fine, I checked it before I set off. I can't work it out. The bike was stood still for 13 days before I set off again, I don't know if that could have done anything to the resilience of the oil? Doesn't seem right.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input though. Its appreciated.
Would a seized engine mean that my rear wheel would lock though? It slowed down to a standstill smoothly whilst in gear.
ReplyDelete