Honda Benly Handlebars and Footpegs

[Smithers]

Things start getting pretty exciting at this point. The only cable I didn't replace was the throttle cable. To my surprise the throttle housing is a traditional style that uses a cable winding up around the throttle housing as it rotates. This is probably the mechanism that is used when other bars besides the laid back, high style are used. I know on my CA160 the high bars have the slider type throttle that turns the rotary motion of the twist grip into a sliding motion which pulls the cable inside the handle bars. I installed a lever perch on the clutch side which required disassembling and removing the horn button as well. This is a much bigger job than one would think. I'll go into this in the next post since it takes a little time to explain.

So I have a throttle cable on order that should be here soon but I need to seal the muffler to front pipe connection with some material. The footpegs on both bikes were bent which is what happens anytime these bikes lean over. Honda puts indents at both sides of the foot bars in order to create a point at which they can give if the bike is laid over. If the pegs didn't bend at this weak point the engine case would suffer and crack (just like my one clean engine did&#33 . First I took the footpegs off and compared them to see just how I was going to bend a pair back. I had to completely install the engine in the frame, attach the shift and brake foot controls and then put the mufflers on. At this point the footpegs can be set in place and it will be obvious if they need to be bent. The pegs really don't have much room to fit where they need to go but I was able to bend them back to fit just perfectly. Once made straight I took them to my friends to have them powdercoated black. If anything the pegs will take a little abuse so a nice hard black finish will be perfect.

The before picture:

[Smithers]

Wow I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted. Well I should be able to finish up this little bike just in time for Christmas. Here is a picture of the reason that I've been away from this little Honda project.... my new bike!!

Here is my pride and joy, the bike I've always wanted - An Aprilia Mille 998 !!


Talk about kick A$$ this baby has the EPROM chip installed on the motherboard, titanium exhaust and some other goodies. My friends tell me it blows flames when I hit the rev limiter when I do wheelies on the freeway. Nothing is more fun. I have the racing Ohlins front end and rear shock ready to put on it as well as an Ohlins steering dampener. Then some new GP tires will be put on and it will be ready for the springtime. What a beast!! Santa brought me the Aprilia racing leathers to match.

Back to the Honda - Here is a shot of the new brake and clutch cables. They are sooo smooth it's wonderful. I put the throttle cable on also but the one in the picture is the older one.



Nice and shiny! I had to modify those cables to look like they are factory. They are the high mount cables so they have plenty of slack in them.

[Smithers]

I have the reworked footpegs also. I massaged them back into shape with a couple hammers and they were powder coated by my friends over at Pacific Metal Finishing. They look awesome! I'll surely get a picture soon. They had to heat up the pegs with a torch in order to get the oil and contaminates out of the grooves and crevices before they could coat them... what a pain in the butt!! But they did it for me for pennies since I bring them so much work! Good people!

[Smithers]

Here is a cool picture of the lights functioning with the ignition on. Everything looks great and is ready to ride at night. The brake lights work great as well. Very happy at this point. With the carb cleaned out this baby will fire right up! The only thing I have to work on once it starts up is the electric starter. The battery wasn't really at full charge yet so you never know. It might spin much faster once it has some charge in it.

And of course here we have a shot showing the throttle cable installed as well. And of course the tire looks like pooh because the camera really picks up the lubricant I used to help the tire slip over the rim when replacing the tubes inside. Nonetheless - looking good!!

[Smithers]

So here are those footpegs I was telling everyone about. How sharp are they? I had to give them the big hammer treatment to smooth them out some. From the factory they have a very peculiar bend but when you put them on the bike around the exhaust and the frame it all makes sense. Trust me on this one: You will want to take them on and off a few times as you make small adjustments to the bends. They do not look symmetrical when they are bent but when they are in place under the engine they will look like straight.



Straighten them first however you want to do it. Then have them powdercoated so they will resist oil and scratches forever. I still don't know exactly what I'll be doing for footpeg rubber. You can't buy them from Honda so I'll probably have a set send over to me from Thailand.

[Smithers]

The handlebars? Sorry I wish I knew. They are some aftermarket bars that were purchased by the previous owner 20 years ago.

[Smithers]

I wonder how much work it would take to make more bars like these... The problem is having anyone that will actually pay for them. The tubing would easily cost $20 and the time to make them would add another $30 and then shipping... it would almost be $90 or $100 for the handlebars which really isn't bad at all for custom made handlebars that actually WORK with the Honda throttle and controls.

[grandolepete]

great looking bike, just wondering which throttle control is that? really like the look.

[oldschool101]

Bike looks great!

[Smithers]

Thanks guy. I'm really attached to those handlebars and the bike is a great little runner too. It's got a few funky parts on it like the newer grips but I have just left the bike as it is since I'm not going to make it a show bike or anything. The white seat is a good reminder of the old custom style.