Honda Helix

You guys heard about my 1986 Helix, all pink. Well, my riding buddies threatened to relegate me to the back , a mile back if I took the pink scooter on a ride. Now, personally, I have nothing against pink anything, and would have paid no attention to their rants. However, the paint was not the best, so I priced the job. Went from $1200.00 (pro), $800.00 (pro), $450.00 (amateur) to $400.00 (pro). I left the body parts with the last guy and I got a call today that they are ready. Royal Blue.
Now I've got to clean and touch up the other bits to go with the shiny new body. It never ends !!!!
Jay.

Ah ha! The Blue Comet

Hooray the Comet! Now for a picture!!

$400.00 sounds like a good deal to me. Let us know how it turned out.  
I just bought a nice red one with only 8,000 miles on it and it looks new. Now I need to decide if I should sell one of my two Silverwings and keep the Helix for around town, or sell the Helix and keep both Silverwings.

Took me all day today to put the panels back on. Working all by myself, except for the very end , putting the windshield on. I did get a few steps backwards and had to undo and redo. I left the rubber mats and the passenger footrests off. I'll change the set-up a bit later. At the end of it I was left with 4 Allen bolts, about 1-11/2 inch long. They are not from the grab rails. I am stumped. Everything is holding nicely when I went for a 60 km ride, mixed highway and town.
I took some pictures but I can't seem to move them from my camera to the computer. Recently installed Windows 10, and you know what they say about old dogs. I'll eventually figure it out and will post them here. It is a sharp looking 30 year old scooter, deep blue.
Jay.

Thanks for the follow-up, I look forward to seeing the pictures when you figure out Windows 10.

First attempt at this:
https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/31/28/84/img_3415.jpg

Another one: 1986 Helix, 20000km, Red to Pink to BMW Royal Blue. Only thing missing to finish were the floor rubber pads and passenger footrests.
https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/31/28/84/img_3312.jpg

One more, I'm getting better:
https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/31/28/84/img_3414.jpg

nice job looks good.

I'll put all three here on the forum just for fun.   Wow it looks like it came out pretty nice. It looks new. I think the Helix has the most comfortable stock seat of any scooter I've ridden.  

 

Thank you, guys. I think it turned out real good for a 30- yr old scoot. That seat is overstuffed, and very comfy. I was going to take all that extra padding off, but decided against it for now. More riding time for this season. I'll spray the steel bottom panel , exhaust, side stand and centerstand over the winter.
Jay.

Jay the stock seat on the Helix is like sitting in my recliner, your overstuffed seat must be like a recliner with feather cushions.
It's a Honda Helix, and the Chinese make a clone, so 90% of maintenance parts I can get the same day, 9% the next day and I guess 1% I may need to order.  
The body panels from Honda and the body panels from the Chinese clone will fit on either frame, but(there's always a but) you can/will have problems matching a Honda panel to a Chinese body or a Chinese panel to a Honda body. If you need replace more than 25%-40% of the body panels just buy the whole  Chinese body kit no matter which frame you have. A customer at my friends scooter shop Said he knows a place to get complete Chinese bodys for $400.  Just $400 for a color change(if you'd like), and that new scooter look.

I road along a Helix yesterday. I was impressed with its overall quietness. I was going 65 and he was inclined to show a 70mph. This guy is a thinker, he must work ( law of probabilities) in Florence at the detention center, prison). The ride from where we were is about 40 miles so he has a 50 mile ride 2x a day. Mostly he has fun cept' when its over 105F. In Florence 110F is pretty common. But he gets 60mpg along the way, enjoys the ride and most likely has the Helix paid for. Smart guy. The Helix was impressive.

As far as I know, mine is the only Helix in town. Total strangers have been commenting on the bike. It is a rare one in Canada. Sold only for 1986-87 , later models had to be paid for ( sight unseen) at local Honda dealers who would then arrange for shipping from the US. Needless to say, this arrangement did not sit too well with consumers, hence low sales and relative rarity of the model across Canada.
Total fluke: 3 Helixes for sale in one week in August, all within 160 km . A pink ( originally red) and white 1986's and a black 2001 model. The pink was the cheapest and I got it for half the advertised price. It is proving to be a gem of a bike. I'm more inclined to hop on it than the SWing or the VT. It is a nimble and quick bike, not quite as quick as the SWing, but pretty darned close.
I have taken it up to 111 km/h (70) for short bursts. She'll do 90-100 all day and ask for more. At 60 mpg, I'm game.