[gcmartin1]

I found not one but two grass bags for the HR17 in DFW area. I was just up there on Sunday! I wished I had talked to the guy sooner. He bought two of the HR17's at a storage liquidation. He sold them and the guy didn't get the bags! An ad in CL DFW might raise them from the dead?

I will have to get up there quick as I don't want them to disappear. 200 plus mile drive to get them. Now I need to get my hands on the plastic shield that hangs off the tail. The shield is like ten inches long. This one has a crack about two inches long.

With the tropical storm bringing a lot of rain so I only had enough time to do a little wiping of the mower. It is in very good shape. Deck is not flaking, shroud is clean with just a few small scuffs, the white part has a creamy color. It has strong spark(no expensive coil to buy). Has good compression for a 70cc engine! The carburetor is complete and the choke rod was disconnected: no wonder it doesn't start. I will do a good carburetor cleaning when the rain stops.

I have a concern though: the blade brake lever sticks when closed. It will snap back if moved a little. I will have to check it when it starts. Hopefully, it's only needing adjustment. If you have thoughts on this, please pipe in!

bryan1980, I will post some photos later if it clears up a little. It looks like night outside with this rain moving in. It looks like DFW will get it tomorrow. Central Texas needs it.

It cleared up enough to shoot some photos. Here you go although not detailed yet.

 

[Jason]

Woah. That's really weird, that single handle thing they have going on. Neat find.

 

[bryan1980]

Thanks, gc! What a unique mower, I can honestly say I've never seen one before now!

 

[gcmartin1]

I was calling California looking for the rear debris shield, and a dealer there has one new in the box: asking price $500!!

I think I will fix mine thank you. I will update as I progress on the cleanup. There is one running on Boobtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rax5G6VJePo

It's not a very long video, and the guy's yard is not a good example for mowing.

 

[Jason]

Thanks. I'd like to see more pictures of the upper handle area, the controls, etc. Very cool!

 

[gcmartin1]

Thanks. I'd like to see more pictures of the upper handle area, the controls, etc. Very cool!

Here you go Jason. The pushbar is offset at the bottom but is symmetric at the top. The recoil goes up the down tube and exits the Y where the kill switch is.

Other interesting items are the muffler is under the deck with a little exit above the deck. it also can be used for mulch mowing. The engine is a side valve as well.

 

[bryan1980]

I was calling California looking for the rear debris shield, and a dealer there has one new in the box: asking price $500!!

Isn't that amazing?! That part is going to do nothing but collect dust on that dealer's shelf, $500 price tag and all, and it'll probably get tossed in the dumpster when the shop goes out of business! Lets face facts, you're probably the first person in a decade to call looking for that part! He'd be money ahead to sell it to you for $30.

 

[Jason]

Here you go Jason. The pushbar is offset at the bottom but is symmetric at the top. The recoil goes up the down tube and exits the Y where the kill switch is.

Thanks for the pictures; that is a REALLY cool mower.

Other interesting items are the muffler is under the deck with a little exit above the deck. it also can be used for mulch mowing. The engine is a side valve as well.

A Honda side valve, isn't that interesting. And only 70cc you said earlier? Very cool indeed.

:thanku:

 

[FordTech]

Another space age idea from the history books at Honda! Great item!

 

[gcmartin1]

It runs. Starts very easy. Carburetor needed a thorough cleaning. The linkages were all disconnected. Both the throttle and choke butterflies were seized, and with a little liquid wrench they are now free and functioning well.

Sadly, I need a new airbox gasket and an o ring for the back of the carb. No one has them locally so I had to order them. No mowing yet!

May order wheels while I'm at it.

 

[gcmartin1]

Another space age idea from the history books at Honda! Great item!

I'll shoot some photos tomorrow of the sidevalve 70cc! motor. It sounds really cool when it's running. It seems to spin pretty fast. I wonder if it's hitting 3400RPM's. The governor is not racing and the choke is automatic.

I was worried about the blade brake sticking, but I cleaned it up and it is working smoothly.

Ordered the aircleaner gasket, muffler o-ring for aircleaner and the gasket kit for the carb. Spent $27 on a $40 mower. Should have the 2x grass bags tomorrow or Friday. They are obsoleted from Honda. I probably won't use the bag because I mulch. They cost me $20 each plus shipping from DFW.

 

[nickzom]

I almost bought one of those for $50 at the flea market a few days ago, but decided against it, I should have bought it.

 

[gcmartin1]

I almost bought one of those for $50 at the flea market a few days ago, but decided against it, I should have bought it.

Man, you could have had it for a lot less. Most people who have them don't don"t know what they've got.

Here's some photos of the 70cc side valve:

 

[nickzom]

it is a flathead then? i actually thought it was a 2 stroke when I first saw one.

 

[gcmartin1]

it is a flathead then? i actually thought it was a 2 stroke when I first saw one.

Here's some more photos:

 

[nickzom]

no pics?

 

[gcmartin1]

Refresh your screen.

I thinnk this is actually an L-Head engine. The valves are on the side of the cylinder. I can't find a schematic drawing of the motor so I can't say for sure.

 

[nickzom]

that is a flathead alright.

is it very quiet?

 

[gcmartin1]

Interestingly, Honda has a long history of single cylinder side valve engines. I just looked up the lineage, and most of their early engines were side valve.


Early models (all 1-cylinder, air-cooled)
type-H (1953 - ?) (2-st., 50cc)
type-T (1954 - ?) (4-st., side-valve, 130cc)
type-VN (1956 - ?) (4-st., side-valve, 172cc)
T10 (1962 - ?) (4-st., side-valve, 19.7cc) (training purpose only, not marketed)
G20 (1963- ?) (4-st., side-valve, 132cc)
G25 (1966 - 1969) (4-st., OHC, 59cc)
G40 (? - 1969) (4-st., side-valve, 170cc)
G45 (? - 1968)
G65 (? - 1979) (4-st., side-valve, 240cc)
G28 (1969 - 1977) (4-st., OHC, 67cc)
G50 (1970 - 1978) (4-st., side-valve, 187cc)
GT50 (? - ?) (4-st., side-valve, 187cc) (kerosene type)
G41 (1970) (4-st., side-valve, 171cc)
G42 (1972 - 1979) (4-st., side-valve, 170cc)
GS65 (1976 - 1977)
G35 (1976 - 1980) (4-st., side-valve, 144cc)
GV35 (1976 - 1979)
G80 (1979) (4-st., side-valve, 296cc)
G series (1-cylinder, air-cooled, side-valve)
Horizontal shaft
G100 (1981 - 2002) (97cc) This is wrong 76cc
G150 (1978 - 2003) (144cc)
G200 (1978 - 2003) (197cc)
G300 (1978 - ?) (272cc)
G400 (1978 - ?) (406cc)



Here's the same G100 mounted vertically, but you can see it's the same: carb out front exhaust on the bottom. Valves on either side of the cylinder.

It's pretty quiet. I wished my son would get in the garage and play with these with me! Cheeky little kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEaxGC4lK7k

 

[Jason]

Honda engines just purr, don't they. Neat engine. I had no idea Honda had such a history with side valves, even into the modern era, as late as 2003. I thought by then, everything they had was OHV.