Introduction
This is my first post on MyChinaMoto.com, I just joined today. I've been living in Shanghai for a couple of years, and last year picked up a Honda Cub from a friend leaving the country.

I haven't seen many Cubs - if any - in Shanghai since I've been here, so either they're not popular in China (as compared to southeast Asia) or Honda never seriously sold them here. In any case, the Cub is in pretty rough shape: I've left it under a tarp for a year and it hadn't been ridden for a year or two before that. I won't try to fire it up right now, I'm certain the fuel is stale. The wiring is ratty, and some of the brightwork is looking pretty poor.

I came across this site while searching for toolkit suppliers in Shanghai, since I'm just not fluent enough in Chinese to search for and negotiate for the right tool set and I want to kick-off a rebuild of the Cub.

I'll document the project as I go (should post up my first photos next weekend) in this thread. This will be my first such project, so I'd appreciate any advice that people here have.

Objectives
  1. Learn about the bike - I figure the Cub is about as simple as they come, and so I'll use this project to improve my mechanical skills. I had a modern Triumph Bonneville back home, but that's hardly the same; and although I have an engineering degree, it's more theoretical than practical.
  2. Improve my skills - Ultimately I'd like to be able to take on some more ambitious projects. The worst I could do to this Cub is ... well, it can't really get much worse. I guess the worst would be if I somehow injured myself.
  3. Maybe get to ride it - I haven't yet read the forums on licensing and registration, but I have no plate, registration, fa piao, or proof of purchase. So if it turns out to be impossible to register, that's fine: I'll be happy just to have restored it to running condition.


Sources


Appreciate any help or comments about parts, the project, or licensing and registration. Anybody else on this board have a Cub?

Up next: Photos, assessment, clean-up, and then disassembly. And the resultant mess.