Rebel Restoration

When my Dad was alive, back in 1985, he bought a brand new Honda Rebel.  The first year they made em.  I bought the bike from Dad several years ago, and I used to ride it as often as I could.  With a bunch of kids, that wasn't all that often.

When it came time to move down to Pendleton, I put the bike in the barn for safe keeping.  It's been in that barn for the past 4+ years and I decided it was time to go for a ride! 

My buddy Todd, helped me take the carburetor off.  My poor bike was rusting away and I knew it was going to need cleaned up.

I took the carb back to my house, to rebuild it.  The trouble was, the screws were so dang rusty, that I couldn't get it open.  I tried some WD Penetrate-- nope.  I tried the ole rubber band and hammer trick--- nope.  Finally, I took it over to Joe's, my mechanic, and he loosened them for me with that special gadget he has. ;-)

I polished up the chrome!

And went to work on the carb.

I could tell right away it needed a good cleaning.  It's not supposed to have built up residue and the gaskets are not supposed to be gunky.

It's a good idea to keep an eye on all the pieces.

The smaller piston is the good one from the rebuild kit.  The kit comes with one of these and a few new gaskets; that's all there is to it!

It's important to get all the holes, and all the gunk, clean.  Otherwise, it won't run right!

The old gasket was melted on.

After CAREFULLY removing what I could of the old gasket, it got a bath.

Special carb cleaners do exist. 

This is what I had on hand, so it's what I used:

Some old stubborn gasket gunk remained on the track, so I lit a match and melted it off.

I got that baby immaculately clean!

 

After, a new battery, a new air filter, new tires and fresh gas, the bike ran great!

 

Vvvvvrooooom!  VVVVrrrrrRRRRRRRoooooom!!!!  ;-)