The Mighty Kiney – Kinetic Honda DX ‘92

deville_56 · Nov 24, 2022

bhvm said:

Had seen the shield in the ball-type bulb, but not in the bullet-type halogen version. Dad always used the ball-type bulb stating the halogen bulbs were illegal.

Beam pattern is weird irrespective of the bulb, thanks to the old school reflector design. Spread is very poor compared to newer multifocal reflectors. Even the high beam is not useful for the rider nor irritate the traffic [lol]

. Most of the Kineys used to have an Autopal 100-rupee aux lamp then. Used to ride with high-low switch balanced between two for combined beam [evil]

. With new sturdy clicking switch, that jugaad not possible now and the only way to ride safe at night is to ride (too) slow. (I had a recent slow speed fall because of the poor lighting, will update with timeline).

deville_56 · Dec 7, 2022

July 2022 - New Shorter Choke Cable

Recently replaced all cables on my sister's Suzuki Lets, so knew it will fit Kiney too and bought Suzuki choke cable as the first option and thought of installing the pull lever in the front. Then dropped the idea as there was no recessed space like other scooters, with the box occupying most of the space.

Then imagined installing somewhere near the battery cover, but the cable was too long and curling it up with make it inoperable.

After some homework, found Honda Unicorn 160 choke cable had a similar end and bought it. Got it from Autoland, Bakery Junction.
Choke Cable - Honda 17950K38901 - ₹ 82.00

It was just over a foot long.

Met with a roadblock. There was 3.5 cm extra length, which made huge free play.

Fully closed position. Many stupid ideas came up.

Had FZ's choke parts lying around, but couldn't find one in time to try. Jugaad came up in mind, a spacer. This ball point pen had to sacrifice.

Removed the ink with thinner. It was all mess.

Drilled a bigger hole through to allow free passage of cable, then made the mouth bit bigger for seating of the cable outer and trimmed the outer diameter on the other side to fit inside the brass fitting.

It took 4 prototypes before the final one. Slaughtered one more pen.

Installed on top of the battery cover. Had to check clearance before finalizing the position.

Done with the choke cable.

deville_56 · Jan 8, 2023

July 2022 - Insurance and Road Tax

Renewed insurance with Go Digit. Liability only. Acko didn't offer one for such an old machine.

TP - ₹664.00
GST - ₹119.52
Net Premium - ₹783.52

Road tax was paid in June 2021. It was pending from July 2020.

Five-Year Road Tax - ₹927.00
Late Payment Fine - ₹90.00
Total - ₹1017.00

Valid till June 2025.

bhvm · Jan 9, 2023

Congrats on getting the beast renewed & road legal.
I also renewed my Activa 2007 for 5 years.

deville_56 · Feb 1, 2023

July 2022 - New Rim and Tyre

Got Scooty Pep rim after an unsuccessful search for KH rim. The guy at Venkiteswara Agencies suggested going for this rim, assuring the holes are the same, but rim width was a bit less. He also offered to arrange original rims in a week if I need them. Being impatient on getting new tyre, bought the Pep wheels.

Scooty Pep Rim - BA-3262 - ₹ 550.00 (MRP ₹ 566.00)

Boltholes matched perfectly. He asked to check and confirm before installing tyres and to return if misfit.

Bought Michelin City Pro from Nayana Tyres. I wanted something in the 90/100-10 size with chunkier pattern, but he recommended fitting stock size as the rim was already narrower than stock.

Michelin City Pro 3.50-10 - ₹ 1,500.00

.0

Installed in the front to check for wobble.

Fixing other missing bits.

Old vs new bulb.

Brimmed up with the second bottle.

Replaced battery terminal with proper one.

Fuel gauge was erratic. Checked all the wiring and even the gauge, and finally found wire was off the float.

Original 1992 float, Pricol make, survived all these years.

Fuel float from the scrapped Zoom. It was Multilink make. Cleaned and installed.

Float won't fit without this rubber bush.

Almost done.

95% complete. Didn't like the look of 3.50-100 in the front. 90/90-10 looks better, making the stance right.

deville_56 · Feb 26, 2023

July 2022 - New Battery

Kiney gets his own battery after living batteryless for some time. Got the Amaron Pro-Rider 5Ah with usual 24+24-month pro rata warranty.

Amaron Pro Bike Rider AP-BTX5L - ₹ 1,350.00 (MRP ₹ 1,650.00 - Buyback ₹ 300.00)

My usual battery shop for quite some years.

deville_56 · Mar 31, 2023

July 2022 - Final Touch-ups Before Hitting the Road

Fixed the loose connections.

and de-tangled the wires. Tightened the steering.

Swapped the wheels. New Michelin goes to the back.

Managed to screwup axle threads. Couldn't find a Kinetic axle, so settled with Activa one, which was longer by an inch, but would serve the purpose.

Front Axle - Honda 44301KPL900 - ₹ 122.00

Front Axle Nut - ₹ 30.00

Kinetic vs Honda front axle comparison. Third one is the foundation bolt.

.

The extra one inch was messing with the hub cover. Went back to get some thicker washers, which wasn't available, they gave ones for Bajaj Chetak. Washers were bent/curved, covering extra space.

Perfect.

Hub Cover Set - VHPL VKH042A - ₹ 80.00

Yamalube Gear Oil - ₹ 52.00

Draining and filling bolts.

Remove them to drain and fill.

Keep the filling hole open for easy draining.

Close the bottom hole and fill up the brim. Rather use a tube than this stupid method. Ended up spilling my 2T oil.

All set and finally fully roadworthy.

Straight to PUC testing and passed with good numbers.

My daily ride for the time being.

bhvm · Apr 1, 2023

Its great to see the beast up & road legal. I have been following this thread for a while now and have enjoyed reading every bit of it.
I love being around like minded people, especially those who have passion for older vehicles.
Long live the kiney!

VISHNUCARCRAZY · Apr 6, 2023

Very great to see Kiney on roads.

deville_56 · May 11, 2023

August 2022 - Updates

Retest was down the corner and the body was in good shape, just needing touching up the rust in the exposed parts of the frame, rims, etc. But thanks to the Kerala PWD (and to some extent, the super bright headlight) hit a pothole filled with water, which was deep enough that the platform bottomed out at dead slow speed. Luckily didn't fall. Front indicator panel mounts broke and fell off. The fallen panel scratched the front body panel. My phone fell right into the crater. Spent some time fishing it out. Luckily it worked and this photo was clicked on the same phone.

Chances of sourcing the panel were less than 10% and no time for a last minute paint job. So, jugaad time. Cut out a piece from an old number plate.

Made a clamp out of it.

The other side had minimal damage, can be managed with a washer.

Industrial grade glue stick.

Moulded the broken bit as support to the aluminium piece.

The less damaged side.

Installed back.

Back to daily commute.

Back to Balan for seat cover. They removed the seat and gave an ETA of 3 hours.

I was about to ride back on the tank and they they gave an old seat to save my precious stuff [lol]

The outcome.

Just a generic old-school seat. Forgot to tell not to put the logo. Paid ₹ 380.00

With the Stealth. Generation gap.

deville_56 · Jul 22, 2023

August 2022 - Final Preparation for Retest

Washed thoroughly.

Got an Esdee Matt Black can.

Painted the rear rim and externally visible black parts. Body painting was intact from last test, with some minor scratches. A quick polishing hid them well.

Firmly connected all the bullet connectors and disconnected the DRL.

Felt the rear brake cable would snap any time and used some brute force to prove me right. Luckily the lever didn't break.

Rear Brake Cable - Minda RB-801 - ₹ 150.00 (MRP ₹ 159.00)

Bought front brake cable too. Suprajit SKH0200 - ₹ 120.00 (MRP ₹ 132.00)

Bought one more set of hub covers, broke the one-month-old one.
VHPL VKH042A - ₹ 80.00

And a couple of screws and bolts to replace the externally visible ones.

Snapped cable was pretty old.

Replacing cables in scooters have always been a mess.

New cables installed.

Indicator flasher was acting weird, so replaced them. Asked for an electronic flasher and he gave this claiming to be one. Checked at home, and it was just normal load dependent flasher, 20+20+5W

Returned and asked specifically for this specific Minda model, which I use for all LED conversions.

Minda Indicator Flasher - 850036 - ₹ 95.00 (₹ 99.00)

Installed everything and set back the scooter. No final snaps as usual, becoming a habit [frustration]

deville_56 · Aug 27, 2023

August 2022 - 30th Year Fitness Test

Last minute prep for the FC test.

Presented and passed without issue. Fees ₹ 1,105.00.

deville_56 · Oct 20, 2023

August 2022 - Update

The brand-new flasher blew up on the day of the test. Got a non-electronic one, Yamaha OE, FZ-16 part.
Indicator Flasher - Yamaha 5TS-H3350-01 (21C-H3351-10) - ₹ 125.00

10 W x 2 + 3.4 W for the cluster indicator.

Installed and working well. Needed to remove the entire front panel.

deville_56 · Dec 11, 2023

November 2022 - Update

The brake lever was not returning properly and had no clue where the brake return spring was located. Couldn't find one on the cam or the brake lever. Checked under the Dio and found where it was supposed to be. Dirt accumulated over time. Missed those even during the retest prep.

Got a genuine Honda spring.

Honda 43472-KPL-900 - ₹ 5.00

Cleaned all the mess before install.

How it goes in.

Works perfectly now. Needs a proper pressure wash.

deville_56 · Feb 4, 2024

November 2022 - Updates

Just weekend runabouts.

Fuel gauge was not working properly. Float was the culprit. Found some sellers on Facebook group. Ordered from a seller called White Smoke Vintage. Sent promptly via India Post. ₹ 580.00 + Shipping. Packing was good and received intact.