New member
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 9:12 pm
I actually signed up to this forum a fair while back, having been searching for a C90 for a year or two, but decided to hold off posting until I actually found one - and I was very specific as to which version I wanted. This evening I bought one, just got to get it back here, re-commissioned and on the road.
That's the first question.... Does anyone know if a C90 will fit in a Berlingo? If it does if it will it'll save me having to use a courier or hire a bigger van!! It certainly won't fit in my other car...... I hope it will, though I might first have to take the back seat(s) out.. I googled it at 72" long so I'll have a measure up tomorrow!
A bit about me. Now retired, originally from Stepney in London, moved out to Essex when I got married, since when I've slowly migrated further north, spending 30 years or so in the Leighton Buzzard area, now residing (and remaining) in Mansfiels Notts.
From the late 1960's until the early 1980's I always had a "chaser" to use for work, both for commuting when I lived in Essex, thereafter kept at the office to rat around on during the day in my job as a Lift Engineer. Starting with a new C50 (in 1968 when I was still an apprentice) I quickly upgraded to 90's and stuck with them for a decade or so. Tended to buy a new one every 15-20,000 miles or two years or so. My main commuting steed became a motley selection of different bikes, my favourite of which without doubt was the CB500/4. Tried the bigger and smaller versions as well as a "plastic maggot" but always went back to the CB 500/4 - in total I had 3 of them and I still have one now. My other vehicular "vice" is Reliants... My old mum bought me my first, a 3-wheel Regal van, (in 1967) to try to keep me off bikes, which failed spectacularly, but since then I've always had one or more, (various models, mostly 4-wheelers) in the fleet. The current one, a 1975 Kitten, I've had since it was 3 years old. 620,000 miles to date so it's just about run-in!!!
The CB500/4 with the Kitten in the background, both restored to my minimum standard..... The Nissan behind the Kitten in the picture is not and never has been anything to do with me!
My specific version of the C90 was a pre-1972 model, with the "cantilever" front brake. When Honda changed this to the later system I was mortified, in fact the first new 90 I bought after the change, I nearly fell off the first time I braked!!! The one I've bought popped up on e-bay a couple of hours ago and I was on the phone and bought it "on description". It's been in dry storage since it was 3-4 years old, still on the old buff log book, and is completely in-messed with in every way. It still has its original tyres on it (but not for long when I get it back here). The pictures in the ad clearly show that it's not suffering from the frame corrosion that has been present on the few I've viewed over the last year or two too, in fact it's quite "time warp" so a straightforward restoration, which will be as original by the way, as is the 500/4. The Kitten looks original but under the skin is anything but. Rebuilt in 2012 (when the chassis was restored then galvanised) it now boasts 21st century power disc brakes and poly bushed and gas shocked adjustable suspension with a tuned (albeit original) engine which makes it easy and safe to keep with modern traffic, even at motorway speeds, plus stop safely too if the need arises.... No such mods are planned for the 90 (but then you never know!).
John
That's the first question.... Does anyone know if a C90 will fit in a Berlingo? If it does if it will it'll save me having to use a courier or hire a bigger van!! It certainly won't fit in my other car...... I hope it will, though I might first have to take the back seat(s) out.. I googled it at 72" long so I'll have a measure up tomorrow!
A bit about me. Now retired, originally from Stepney in London, moved out to Essex when I got married, since when I've slowly migrated further north, spending 30 years or so in the Leighton Buzzard area, now residing (and remaining) in Mansfiels Notts.
From the late 1960's until the early 1980's I always had a "chaser" to use for work, both for commuting when I lived in Essex, thereafter kept at the office to rat around on during the day in my job as a Lift Engineer. Starting with a new C50 (in 1968 when I was still an apprentice) I quickly upgraded to 90's and stuck with them for a decade or so. Tended to buy a new one every 15-20,000 miles or two years or so. My main commuting steed became a motley selection of different bikes, my favourite of which without doubt was the CB500/4. Tried the bigger and smaller versions as well as a "plastic maggot" but always went back to the CB 500/4 - in total I had 3 of them and I still have one now. My other vehicular "vice" is Reliants... My old mum bought me my first, a 3-wheel Regal van, (in 1967) to try to keep me off bikes, which failed spectacularly, but since then I've always had one or more, (various models, mostly 4-wheelers) in the fleet. The current one, a 1975 Kitten, I've had since it was 3 years old. 620,000 miles to date so it's just about run-in!!!
The CB500/4 with the Kitten in the background, both restored to my minimum standard..... The Nissan behind the Kitten in the picture is not and never has been anything to do with me!
My specific version of the C90 was a pre-1972 model, with the "cantilever" front brake. When Honda changed this to the later system I was mortified, in fact the first new 90 I bought after the change, I nearly fell off the first time I braked!!! The one I've bought popped up on e-bay a couple of hours ago and I was on the phone and bought it "on description". It's been in dry storage since it was 3-4 years old, still on the old buff log book, and is completely in-messed with in every way. It still has its original tyres on it (but not for long when I get it back here). The pictures in the ad clearly show that it's not suffering from the frame corrosion that has been present on the few I've viewed over the last year or two too, in fact it's quite "time warp" so a straightforward restoration, which will be as original by the way, as is the 500/4. The Kitten looks original but under the skin is anything but. Rebuilt in 2012 (when the chassis was restored then galvanised) it now boasts 21st century power disc brakes and poly bushed and gas shocked adjustable suspension with a tuned (albeit original) engine which makes it easy and safe to keep with modern traffic, even at motorway speeds, plus stop safely too if the need arises.... No such mods are planned for the 90 (but then you never know!).
John