1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Bart Staton /

Apr 16, 2019 09:57PM

Hi all, excited to be here. I recently acquired a 78 and 77 NC50. Both orange, both with several issues. I have some experience working with old UJM's (70's-80's) but I am new to Mopeds (or in this case "Nopeds"?) so any general advice (or resources) particular to this machine is welcome since these are my first.

In this case both bikes have the same issue that the Oil sight gauge on both takes is leaking copious amounts of 2 stroke oil. Eventually I may switch to premix but for now I would like to keep the oil tanks and pumps. Usually I am really good at finding parts but but im afraid these oil sight gauges (honda part #55118147010) may be made out of "Unobtainium" ? Any idea where to locate these or if there are other ones that can be made to work? Any help is welcome!

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Born to be WillD /

Go to branch

willd

Apr 17, 2019 09:59AM

In this case, if it were me, i'd be running premix anyway. Had one of those express oil injectors bail on me, and aftermonths of being just fine. As for the window, your best bet might be creative engineering. find some oil safe glue and gob in a new window. I don't think those were ever intended to be replaceable so I doubt replacements exist, and even if they did it's not likely they'd be any easier or more reliable to get in than just gluing on a new window.

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Stephen Keller /

keller_stephen

Apr 17, 2019 03:19PM

^ this, or just advertise for a clean unrusted tank on buy/sell forum, be careful many times the divider between the oil tank and the fuel tank can rust through, then you are running pre-mix and injection!

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Jack Rutherford /

churioz

Apr 17, 2019 09:02PM

I'll look around. Some guy machined a piece of aluminum to replace the oil sight. And then I think somebody found a replacement sight that would work - check the Honda Express FB page.

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

simon judd /

bobsimes

Apr 18, 2019 01:41AM

dosnt seem to be any oem or replacement sight gauges around but someone said a Kubota mini tractor sight works or a plain black rubber hole cover.

in google search for the following

kubota hydraulic oil sight glass

Kubota Hydraulic/Transmission Oil Sight Glass (Guage)

and look in images, loads of options come up, guess you just need to work out the thread size and order something to fit.

https://www.colemanequip.com/parts/details/KubotaParts/Hydraulic-Transmission-Oil-Sight-Glass--Guage-/TC220-14614/

anyone know the thread type and size of the original sight glass for bart?

simon

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

simon judd /

bobsimes

Apr 18, 2019 01:47AM

even better search for this in ebay.

air compressor fittings sight glass

loads of results surely one will be the right size.

you may have to remove the one you have and measure with a vernier.

Simon

U.K

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Bart Staton /

orangechicken007 OP

Apr 18, 2019 08:36PM

Thanks for all the responses guys! I had heard the rumor about the guy using the Kubota one as well but I never found any specifics, so thanks for that! Since I actually have two tanks with the same problem I may try two different approaches, see which one works better, and post the results. Im thinking a transparent epoxy on one and full transplant/replacement on another.

Churioz, I watch your youtube videos! they were part of my inspiration to buy these projects!

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Jack Rutherford /

churioz

Apr 18, 2019 10:59PM

nothing like an orange express. simon hit it on the head!

is the gas tank your last issue? if not, consider a temporary plastic tank mounted in the rack just to get it running

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Bart Staton /

orangechicken007 OP

Apr 19, 2019 12:24AM

for the 78 the tank is one of the last issues, there will be some wiring but it currently runs when fuel is put down the intake. it needs a copper exhaust gasket that is in the mail and that should be it.(the 77 honda nc50, and the qt50 are gonna need more work) What kind of temporary gas tanks are people using that fit in the rack?

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

P D /

pdcomm

Apr 19, 2019 08:35AM

Something like this would work nicely :

Gas tank .

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Jack Rutherford /

churioz

Apr 19, 2019 09:18AM

I like that little gas tank. maybe I'll try it

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Bart Staton /

orangechicken007 OP

Apr 20, 2019 12:19AM

PD I like that tank idea, one of my favorite projects ever was a motorized bicycle kit that I put on a bike with no brakes. Would you happen to know what size will fit in the luggage rack? there seems to be several sizes from 1-3 liters. Also for future reference for anyone else looking into this, the hole for the oil sight is Exactly 20mm according to my calipers.

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

P D /

pdcomm

Apr 20, 2019 08:15AM

The motorized bike tanks measure 30CM long by 15CM wide ( 3L ) and 14CM wide ( 2L ) .

Motorized Bicycle Tanks

The down page descriptions usually have measurements .

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Jack Rutherford /

churioz

Apr 20, 2019 08:52AM

i ordered the 2L. i think it will fit

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

P D /

pdcomm

Apr 20, 2019 09:07AM

> Jack Rutherford Wrote:

> -------------------------------------------------------

> i ordered the 2L. i think it will fit

Let us know , Jack .

Maybe a pic , too ? ;)

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Jack Rutherford /

churioz

Apr 23, 2019 01:27PM

so the motorized bike 2L tank fits in the rack. It has 4 studs on the bottom of it so that you can attached two brackets around a bike frame. Of course, we don't have that on the Express unless you were to try to mount it on the frame in the front which could be a possibility. The studs are about 1 1/2" long and make it a little difficult to get inside the rack. You could cut them down some if you wanted to make it easier. Anyhow, I'll work on a solution for securing it to the rack and maybe look into mounting it on the frame and report back with pictures.

Btw, get one with the petcock included. I didn't so now I have to buy the petcock separately and make sure it's the right size.

Re: 1978 Honda NC50 Gas/oil tank question

Dr. Jan Itor /

dr_jan_itor

Dec 06, 2020 09:38AM

I know this post is kind of old, but, did you guys ever find a fix? My tank is roached inside and the gauge is leaking gas. I’m tired of trying to clean it out, and replacement prices are getting unreasonable. Let me know what you did.

I found this tank I’m going to use until I find what I want. If it works well, I might use it forever.

Bike gas tank

MOPED ARMY

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