It was bound to happen someday and today I cracked my left mirror while backing up out of my garden. Plastic breaking off makes such a horrific sound. Because that sounds means there's an expensive repair to be done. Oh well, time to practise plastics repair.

The Honda CS 90 is a sporty appearance in the light motorcycling regions and looks very similar to the sports moped which of course has a 50 cc engine and was introduced at the same time as the 90 cc engine at the beginning of this year.

The technical department of the ANWB has made an extensive driving test report of this CS 90 with 8 hp four-stroke engine and overhead camshaft. This report also includes a description of the construction, maintenance recommendations and technical data. For interested ANWB members, this report is available free of charge from ANWB's head office, Technical Department PO Box 2200, The Hague and all other offices. Below we present the main conclusions of our driving experiences.

This Honda is not "big", which is why we noticed in the first place that also the drivers of average Dutch size came to a relaxed driving position, in which the controls were well positioned for the tyre and the foot. Nice was the wide soft double saddle and the good connection of the thighs to the typical shaped tank.

The clutch is extremely light and smooth. Personally, we have always preferred to use the front part of the gearshift pedal. The heel/toe pedal has a very short stroke. First gear is down, 2, 3 and 4 up. Depending on the talent of the rider, the shifting itself is more or less silent. A few clicks when shifting up and down from and to the lowest gears are still audible. Finding the clearance between 1st and 2nd gear was not an easy task. After about 500 km it went a bit better, but the "always price method", i.e. a few meters before standstill "free" appeared to be the most useful solution. During the entire test period the engine has run over 1000 km very well. Although the primary gearbox with straight teeth can be heard under certain circumstances, the motor can generally be called mechanically silent. Partly because of the effective exhaust damping, idling was a surprise for everyone who was in the vicinity, e.g. especially at a traffic light. At high revs the exhaust sound was clearly audible, yet not disturbing.

The sports handlebar with its well-placed controls and the km-counter/speed indicator, which is located exactly in the field of vision. On the left the dimmer switch with the horn button, on the right the indicator switch.

In 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears, the tractive force is considerable. From standstill to 60 km/h, we recorded 10 seconds with a not too heavy rider. The "overdrive" character of 4th gear really only comes into its own on the road. The minimum speed in 4th gear is 60/65 km/hour.

The compact engine with the small cylinder and large
cylinder head has a power of 8 hp at 9500 rpm.

For sporty riding, the shifting speeds for 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears are at 30, 50 and 70 km/hour. In the suburbs of the built-up area, 3rd gear is ideal. If the engine makes a lot of revs (according to the manufacturer the ceiling would be at 9500 rpm), it runs completely vibration-free. Only when driving at insufficient rpm in front of the gearbox does a slight vibration occur. In our opinion, the stripes placed on the speedometer indicate minimum speeds that are slightly too low for the different gears. When driving in a sporty way and when the gears are used appropriately, the speed seems to be unlimited. It is certainly an achievement to be able to reach 95 real km per hour with a capacity of 90 cc under not too unfavourable conditions. The steering quality, handling and road holding are excellent. In short and wide curves it is not possible to get the whole thing out of the track. Even at top speed one could drive with their hands of the handlebars.

This is made possible by the very stiff frame, the solid rear fork, the efficient tyre profile in combination with a tread rubber of the right composition. The front wheel suspension reacts very well. Remarkable is the low diving effect with strong braking. For a heavy driver the rear suspension may be a little too flexible. The front and rear brakes are amply sized for their purpose and can be operated effectively with little force. Just the maximum deceleration of the front brake with 4.0 m/sec is sufficient to generously meet the current legal requirement of 3.86 m/sec. A deceleration of 4.1 m/sec can be achieved with the brake rod operated rear brake. Both brakes at the same time give a brake deceleration of 6.2 m/sec, with which this motor cycle already meets the requirement of 4.5 m/sec as of 1 January 1966 for new motor vehicles. The lighting, consisting of a duplicate lamp without a city light, is more than enough to be used in the evening as well.

The oil filler plug with dipstick, the battery pushed out of the frame, the carburettor
with the choke valve and connection to the air filter after removing the side cover.

Dimmed for this displacement, the headlight that has not been subjected to a government-appraisal has the effect of a "sealed bearn", i.e. without the sharp separation between light and dark. In built-up areas, the headlight tube can easily be lowered slightly. The main light reaches quite far and is well spread. The rear and traffic lights, which are so important in current traffic, have sufficient effect. The counter clock is illuminated in the evening, which makes it easier to keep to the 50 km limit. The needle of the speedometer stops nicely while the deviation above 30 km/h is no more than 5 km. Especially in the evening in the city, the flashing lights are very handy. It is a pity that the switch in the middle position does not click heavily enough, so the danger of confusing signals is not unimaginable. The consumption of premium-grade petrol is modest. Depending on the driver's pulse and temperament, the average fuel consumption will be between 1 : 50 and 1 : 60.

The engine remained completely dry during the test period. The difference between the total permissible weight (196.5 kg) and the own weight (86.5 kg) stated by the factory clearly shows that it is not the intention to go abroad on this motorcycle with 2 adults and some luggage. For occasional duo use, duo steps are available. By removing the ignition key in the '0' position, the horn, the flashing lights, the lights and the traffic lights have also been switched off. In addition, the ignition key can also be used for the steering lock. Once we had to walk when the spare supply of gasoline was completely used up with the tap normally open and once it turned out that air had entered the bulb of the duplicator lamp.

The 6-pole alternator mounted on the crankshaft and the one mounted on the camshaft
interrupter. The marks on the rotor allow the ignition to be adjusted cleanly.

Conclusion
Very manageable motorcycle for sporty solo use. Excellent workmanship down to the last detail. The stable running four-stroke engine is nippy. For the sporty motorcyclist who only goes out and also wants to use the Honda CS 90 for daily commuting in the city and on the road, this Japanese motorcycle of NLG 1,460,- is an interesting candidate.

Importer: HONDA Motor N.V., Zenostraat 186, Rotterdam-24.

"De Kampioen" - July 1965

AMSTERDAM, 28 July - Very soon the first Japanese mopeds will be offered in the Netherlands, coming from the Honda factories. Striking is the four-stroke engine, with which these mopeds are equipped. This means that pure petrol - and therefore no mixture of petrol and oil - can be used as fuel. The fuel consumption of the engines would be very low: the factory gives at 1.1 litres per hundred kilometres.

The mopeds are assembled in Aalst (Belgium) where a new company was founded and where production will be increased as soon as possible to 10,000 units per month. With this, not only the European market but also other export areas will be processed. The one-cylinder air-cooled four-stroke OHV engines come straight from Japan. Several parts of the mopeds are sourced from suppliers in the Benelux countries.

According to Mr. W. Aarsen, sales manager for the Netherlands of Honda Motor, who will arrange the distribution from Rotterdam for the time being, the price of this Japanese moped will be between six hundred and eight hundred guilders. In Belgium, where the Honda 50 "Moped" has already been introduced, the price will be over seven hundred guilders.

Source: "De Tijd - De Maasbode", Page 7, Date: 26-07-1963.

I am sure that other websites reach this number easily, but since the reboot (read: fixing a very destructive update that was completely my own fault) of the website in 2015, this website reached 10 million page views. Not only that, but I'm also very close to 10.000 registrations since 2005 since actual user registration began in that year.

Since this is quite a milestone for me, I will see if I can make a proper history page about this website.

Thank you, everyone!

It is always a good habit to check the repairs done on your bike or parts of it. I needed to replace my rear tyre and brought it to the shop I always have my tyres fitted. This time there was an apprentice mechanic that accepted my assignment of having my new tyre fitted to my Honda PC800 rear wheel.

So two days later (planning on my side) I had the wheel picked up by a friend and when I got home, I instantly noticed something off. The red dot did not seem to be on the side of the air valve. So I looked on the other side and there it was. But also not even near the air valve.

I then scratched my chin and noticed that the rotation was not right and it appeared that my tyre was mounted on the wrong way around. Well, that sucked because that meant that I was unable to ride my bike together with my friend that day.

I was then told that the mechanic also balanced the wheel for me. And indeed, 35 grams was added to the rim. 35 Gram. Then i noticed that on the exact opposite of the rim was 30 gram of old balance weight. So. Yes. The mechanics detected an inbalance, corrected it and considered it done. Normally, you remove all the weights, fit the tyre correctly with the dot at the valve and then balance it with new, fresh weights.

Everything has been corrected the next day, but this was just a huge waste of time. I know that they have to learn and so did I, don't get me wrong. But, it could have become dangerous with the tyre being mounted the wrong way around. 

So, check the work that has been done to your bike. It may save you a lot of trouble!