Project ’90: Blaze Edition Part 4

By far the coolest things I have sourced for Project 90 are these sweet HRC replica parts from Italy. They are soooooo trick and look just like the original stuff ran by Honda in the early 90’s.

Unobtanium: These badass HPP covers were on all the Factory Honda’s back in the day and look way better than the OEM parts. I have no idea what the little bolts were actually used for, but if I had to guess, I would say they were some kind of external adjustor for the HPP mechanism.

Before and After: The powder coated frame turned out great. Now the only hassle is running in all the bolt holes and grinding down some paint in places to make sure everything will go back together.

The HPP doohickey and HRC replica ignition cover really give the bike that Factory touch.

Mmmmm…Factory…

The same guy in Italy who hooked me with the HRC swag makes these cool nineties-style canvas Rental bar pads. Being a Stanton replica, I went with the blue one second from the left, which is just like the one Six-Time ran that year.

Overall, the stock tank on my CR was in pretty good shape for its age, but there was a pretty good gouge on the right side that bummed me out. It was hard to see in pictures like this shot straight on, but was very visible in person.

Good as new: in order to remedy my gouge problem, I employed a product I have used in the past with great success, Plastic Renew. By sanding down the surface and then applying several coats of their chemical, you can bring almost any tired plastic back to life. It is a slow and tedious process, but you can’t argue with the final results.

Caveat Emptor: After my struggles with the first Tecnosel seat cover, I thought I would try one of the many “OEM Replica” offerings on eBay. Well, this one from Taiwan got the graphics right, but the color all wrong. It is some kind of tomato soup color that is nothing close to anything Honda has ever offered. At least it was cheap…

My final solution has turned out to me a two-pronged attack. I had this second Tecnosel cover that I actually love and ran on my 1990 CR250R back in the day, but is not really right for a Stanton Replica. This design was used in Europe, but Factory Honda never ran them over here. Because I love this design, I plan to use this one when I actually ride the bike, but I have other plans for display. 

For Photos and display, I am hoping I can use this stock seat I scored for a song on eBay. Overall, it is in nice shape, but there are a few blemishes I am going to have the upholstery guy at work take care of. Hopefully it will look Factory fresh when he is done. If this does not work, I am going to just say hell with it and just run the Tecnosel.

The guys and gals at Michelin were nice enough to hook me up with some of their new Starcross 5 tires for Project 90. I can’t wait to see how they perform on the track.

One thing I can attest to is how easy they are to mount. I absolutely HATE changing tires, but these new Michelins made it a no-hassle affair.

I just got my suspension back from Race Tech and I can’t wait to try it out. I had them revalve and re-spring them for my weight and add their patented Gold Valves. They did an amazing job on my 1983 Honda CR480R a few years back and I hope they can do the same for Project 90

For the life of me, I could not get the original bearings out of the linkage. Those suckers were really in there and I ended up have Loudoun Motorsports in Leesburg press them out for me. Now, we have fresh Pivot Works bearing throughout.

Now the real fun begins.

Man I can’t wait to get this all back together.