1980 Honda H100A review from United Kingdom

The seat has split.

Chrome is badly worn.

Very robust.

I bought my new Honda H100A in April 1980 on a V plate. It was a new model just released in this country in the February of that year. It was also released in New Zealand and was known as the MB100, with a slightly different finish to the look of the H100A.

The bike has served me well over the last 25 years. It has always been a good starter, one to three kicks. Even after a two-year stretch when it was not used, it started with the stale fuel that was left in the tank on the third kick.

When new, I gauged the petrol consumption at 98 to the gallon, when I last used the bike in 1996 it was doing roughly 80 mpg. I could get a respectable 63 mph with no head wind. If the wind was blowing in my face I would often have drop down through the gears to maintain a speed of 17 mph.

In the first sixteen years I clocked up only 14200 miles, which is the original mileage to date. I am now well into a full restoration of the bike. I still have the original receipt from when I bought the bike, £409 new. Also the handbook and original tool kit that came with the bike.

Shortly before I laid the bike up it was stolen from outside my house, As I only live a mile from the Thames, it was worth a look on some waste land next to the river to see if my bike had been abandoned there. Sure enough, there it was, laying in the mud of the Thames with large pieces of concrete strewn over it. Thrown at it by the thieves due, probably, to their frustration at not being able to hotwire it. If only they had thought to turn the petrol on, it probably would have started. Their inexperience showed because they had cut into the loom in 3 places, and prized off the petrol filler cap to check there was petrol in it.

To get the bike running again, I repaired the loom, bought a second hand front wheel, fuel tank and headlight to replace the badly damaged parts. A year later I laid the bike up.

I love this little bike despite regularly getting a numb bum after about an hours ride. It's very reliable, but the brakes are not too hot by today's standards.

It has cost me very little money - a set of brake pads, an oil change and some bulbs. After the restoration I plan to ride this bike again on sunny days around the lanes of Essex and Kent.

A reliable bike.