Honda Beat FC50

[kicker]

Here is my new toy, A Honda Beat FC50
The unique styling, water cooling and the VTACS system have made me want one for a while and I finally found one that had been sitting in a garage since 1991 with only 2000km's on the clock.



Some info from Honda Japan

www.honda.co.jp/news/1983/2831118.html

It's dirty from storage and the paint has suffered but it obviously hasn't been used much.
I have started pulling it apart, it wouldn't turn over fully as there was some dirt and corrosion jamming the piston.

You can see the water pump in the middle


VTACS chamber is at the top of the pic, it works off a foot operated pedal.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-stroke_power_valve_system#Honda_V-TACS


I have a new piston to go in after a hone.
Here are the gauges


Just waiting on a headgasket then hopefully have it all together in a few weeks.

[ryan_ott]

That's one cool Honda. Very interesting for sure. Is that the waterpump that's run off the cvt? Looks very similar to the AF16/18 engines.

[oldgeek]

Yep, that thing is cool!

[kicker]

Cheers, the engine is an AF07 apparently, seems to sit somewhere around those models.
The waterpump is driven by a tiny toothed belt off the crank behind the starter ring gear. The radiator sits between the headlights.

[niz76]

Ya that's a cool scoot. Very different!
I'm guessing this is a model that was never even available here in the States? Hope you get it running and purring nicely!

[lordverminaard]

Yeah that is really cool! Honda was the king of quirky-ass scooters back in the day. I bet that thing will rip when it is done too. That gauge cluster alone is really fabulous!

Brendan

[Lucass2T]

It's one of the most ugly, strange but definetly coolest scooters i've ever seen! All the tech thats put into it! LC engine eventhough everyhting was AC at the time. That weird V-TACS system, the gauge cluster with a powercurve graph and somehting like warning lights along that graph? Man it looks like a UFO but thats just 80's styling to the max!

[moofus02]

Man that thing is cool

[kicker]

I finally got my new headgasket, custom made by gasketstogo.com
I had no luck sourcing a factory one through Honda, one of the joys of a scooter not sold much outside of Japan.
Anyway I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, I had to scan the old one and send some measurements, cost 12.50
New on the left


Need to give the cylinder a hone then I can put the new piston in.

Also started giving it a cleanup, 25 years in storage had given it a nice coating of dirt.

[Lucass2T]

Awesome project!

[kicker]

Since last time I gathered a some bits still needed.





Then started cleaning things up to put it back together.

[kicker]

New piston, rings and small end bearing. Honed the cylinder and put all together with the new head gasket.

[kicker]

The replacement piston took a bit of searching to find, genuine and replacement parts for these are hard to get.
I can't remember much of the details now but the engine was a bit unusual compared to the other Hondas of the time, it used the same bore and stroke as the older models but had a 12mm wrist pin like the newer models which made things tricky.

I eventually found the right one on eBay, this one here if anyone needs one
www.ebay.com/itm/50cc-40mm-12mm-Piston-kit-Minarelli-vmoto-Milan-1E40QMB-50cc-scooter-moped-/222189538727?hash=item33bb874da7:m:myxgIVeKjNlcGtQCHw1Imfw&vxp=mtr

[kicker]

The FC50 belt has the part number 23100-GMO-0000, it seems to be a hard one to get hold of. After some measuring and searching it looks like the Suzuki Address belt might be a good replacement (part # 27601-09E00-000).

The Suzuki belt is 666mm long by 16.8mm wide with 30 degree side angle, looks pretty close to the factory Honda one, width is spot on. So far it seems to be working well.

[kicker]

I had some funny business going on in the tank in that it would seem to run out of gas when still half full.
I had already replaced the fuel tap way back when I first got it running, which was annoying as it uses a vacuum tap with a M14x1.0 thread which was hard to find. Manual taps were a no go as it is all hidden up behind the sidecover. (Here is the one I bought www.ebay.com/itm/Benzinhahn-CPI-Keeway-Generic-ATU-Explorer-Longjia-2Takt-50ccm-Roller-M14X1-/161821009433?hash=item25ad48a619:g:7ZkAAOSwHmhV8HDh)
When I replaced the tap I couldn't get the filter out so just left it, I finally pulled it out. It was good and stuck so I had to thead an M8 bolt into it then slide hammer it out and of course it was all varnished up and fuel could only get in through the hole on the very top. The replacement is a bit different but will still work.