Honda is a pretty amazing company

Most of you probably don't read the Sprockets forum, so if you don't, I recently purchased a 1980 C70 Passport.

35 years old. 70cc's of fury.

The head of the oil drain plug is pretty rounded. I'd like a new one, so I download the C70 parts book, and find that the p/n for the drain plug is 92800-12000.

Guess what? It's still available. Why? Because that same part, from a 35 year old, 70cc motorbike also fits dang near EVERY Honda, car or motorcycle, since forever.

Do you need a new drain plug for your 2005 Honda S2000? You can use one from a Honda C70.

I find that pretty amazing. Meanwhile, GM doesn't even build motorcycles, and has used 126 different drain plugs since 1980.

On the subject of old bike parts still available: 1975 BMW R90S. Built in 2014 by ordering all the parts from BMW:

http://www.maxbmwmotorsport.com/max_bmw_r90s_build/

Antique Ford tractor parts are shared with Ford cars. Kept costs down and availability up. Wish more were like this, too.

EvanR wrote: I find that pretty amazing. Meanwhile, GM doesn't even *build* motorcycles, and has used 126 different drain plugs since 1980.

No kidding. If GM were to do something awesome like design and build an engine where practically everything interchanged between 4 and 6 L of displacement for over 30 years, they could probably dominate motorsports with it.

Chevrolet.

50+ years. All kinds of stuff.

Yeah, but if you want to rebuild the motor on your mid-eighties GL1200 Goldwing, oil seals and piston rings are NLA.

keethrax wrote: On the subject of old bike parts still available: 1975 BMW R90S. Built in 2014 by ordering all the parts from BMW: http://www.maxbmwmotorsport.com/max_bmw_r90s_build/

And I sure would like one.

Honda makes one oil filter that fits almost every boat, bike and car built in the last 25 years. We have 6 different Toyota numbers, and often have to run out for another.

Yet they all use the same size wrench on the cap...

EvanR wrote: Most of you probably don't read the Sprockets forum, so if you don't, I recently purchased a 1980 C70 Passport. 35 years old. 70cc's of fury. The head of the oil drain plug is pretty rounded. I'd like a new one, so I download the C70 parts book, and find that the p/n for the drain plug is 92800-12000. Guess what? It's still available. Why? Because that same part, from a 35 year old, 70cc motorbike also fits dang near EVERY Honda, car or motorcycle, since forever. Do you need a new drain plug for your 2005 Honda S2000? You can use one from a Honda C70. I find that pretty amazing. Meanwhile, GM doesn't even *build* motorcycles, and has used 126 different drain plugs since 1980.

Last I check I could still go to the dealer and get a speedometer gear for my 72 Firebird, so I wouldn't bag on GM too much. I doubt they'd have any problem getting me a drain plug.

spitfirebill wrote:

keethrax wrote: On the subject of old bike parts still available: 1975 BMW R90S. Built in 2014 by ordering all the parts from BMW: http://www.maxbmwmotorsport.com/max_bmw_r90s_build/

And I sure would like one.

So order all the parts and build one...

Didn't read it closely enough to get a handle on how much ordering every single part for a 40 year old bike cost, but I bet it wasn't cheap.

And I'd bet that 35 year old Honda usually starts on the second kick.

keethrax wrote:

spitfirebill wrote:

keethrax wrote: On the subject of old bike parts still available: 1975 BMW R90S. Built in 2014 by ordering all the parts from BMW: http://www.maxbmwmotorsport.com/max_bmw_r90s_build/

And I sure would like one.

So order all the parts and build one... Didn't read it closely enough to get a handle on how much ordering every single part for a 40 year old bike cost, but I bet it wasn't cheap.

Of course not. I know one time when I still helped out with the local Yamaha dealership. A 2005 R6 MSRP was ~8400 I think. To order all the parts individually to build one came in around $33,000 IIRC. (It was a slow day)

In reply to z31maniac:

I was messing around with the computer at the dealer my friend worked at......we priced everything to build a Yamaha R7, it was astonishing. As in, they priced things in the system to prevent people from building their own. By Yamaha's listed numbers, it'd have been $350k+, but if you put the vin of an R7 in the system, it dropped to around $35k.

I have a feeling the H2 and H2R are that way

Woody wrote: And I'd bet that 35 year old Honda usually starts on the second kick.

Nope. The first.

Since it's my topic, I can drift off it if I want to!

WRT that BMW, that's pretty neat that they can build it. But here's something no one seems to have addressed... How do they get a title (or MSO) for a pile of parts??

Way back when, Sochirio Honda said 'if you buy a motorcycle from me I will guarantee you can always get parts for it'. Those little horizontal Honda engines have been built by the millions; if you add the Chinese clones it probably touches the billion mark.

EvanR wrote: Since it's my topic, I can drift off it if I want to! WRT that BMW, that's pretty neat that they can build it. But here's something no one seems to have addressed... How do they get a title (or MSO) for a pile of parts??

The frames should be stamped with a vin number, or you could have it done if it didn't come with a vin. My Muzzy was technically that way, as it never actually rolled off the Kawasaki assembly line. It was built here.

My wife's uncle is very anti-Japanese auto manufacturer, Honda included. He feels that Honda and Toyota should have been banned from US shores on account of the owners of those companies fighting brutally against the USA during WWII. He believe Japanese manufactures "dumped" cheap vehicles in to the USA as a way of getting back at us.

It's a shame that American auto-manufacturers took nearly 50 years to catch up. I firmly believe that at least in the auto industry, until recently, our manufacturing just couldn't adapt and compete against the competition. I think that's changing quickly, especially in our technology industries.

Speaking of Honda oil filters, we recently replaced Mrs. Editor's 2000 Civic Si with the 2015 edition. Yep, same oil filter.

In the late 90s I had a '69 ford pickup. you could still order things like a manual steering gearbox for it from the dealer. Of course it was $1200 then.

There was some late 80s Ranger that required a VIN number to get some normal part when I was working at the parts place. Like, you couldn't get the right alternator unless you had the VIN or something.

So, yeah, Ford.

I heard that after the last CEO change Honda finally stopped carrying all the parts for the earliest model cars - like the chain drive and such.

Speaking of how amazing Honda is, and turning this thread back full circle back to EvanR's post about his Honda 70, my son has a Chinese Pit Bike with a knock off of that engine in 50cc form. that engine was designed in sixties, and has had no signifigant changes other than CDI ignition. Don'tcha know that little thing can pull my fat self across the grassy field and up a decently steep hill like it means it! It's plenty of engine for a second grader just learning to ride. After the last time that I rode it, I stopped to check the model number on the bottom of the engine case to make sure that it wasn't really a 70 or 90cc.

Honda doesn't have many cars that interest me, but from the few times that I've wrenched on them, I must say that I don't have anything bad to say about them.

keethrax wrote:

spitfirebill wrote:

keethrax wrote: On the subject of old bike parts still available: 1975 BMW R90S. Built in 2014 by ordering all the parts from BMW: http://www.maxbmwmotorsport.com/max_bmw_r90s_build/

And I sure would like one.

So order all the parts and build one... Didn't read it closely enough to get a handle on how much ordering every single part for a 40 year old bike cost, but I bet it wasn't cheap.

At the end of the video they said the total was around $46,000 for the R90S. 1,655 parts.

I have a base model 2011 Accord LX 5-speed (98,000 miles) and I am usually impressed with it "when" I have to work on it. So far all maintenance and 1 noisy blower fan motor that took 15 minutes to change.