1965 Honda S90 resurrected in the Georgia foothills…
Toby Jones and his wife — “the artists formerly known as OtC Custom Motorcycles”
“Actually a couple of vintage bike friends (one from Dahlonega and one from Suches) turned us on to it. It was love at first sight. Can’t wait for spring to do some serious riding. The roads and scenery are just fantastic.”
This area is simply incredible for riding. Says Toby:
“Two Wheels of Suches is about 30 miles from me and the ride up there is one of the coolest I’ve ever ridden. It’s a little like the Dragon with much less traffic.”
Enter this 1965 Honda S90 — the first build to come out of their new shop, which they’re calling “The Chattahoochee Skunkworks” in honor of the famed river nearby. The S90 — sometimes known as the Super 90 or Sport 90 — is one of the most nostalgic bikes from the 1960s, a 65-mph “mini superbike” on which thousands of lifelong motorcyclists learned to ride.
With this basket case, Toby and his wife decided to go with a near stock restoration. While we normally feature more custom builds, the incredible style and flair of these “tiddlers” in stock trim just begs for attention — as does the supreme execution of this restoration.
Honda S90 Restoration: In the Builder’s Words
My name is Toby Jones and my wife and I recently moved our hobby/shop (OtC Custom Motorcycles) from Vero Beach Florida to the foothills of northern Georgia. This little bike is the first one out of the new shop we call “The Chattahoochee Skunkworks” and represents a little different direction than we normally go with our builds.
This 1965 S90 Honda was acquired in a trade with several other Honda project bikes. The little bike was in pieces when we got it but after sorting it all out I was surprised that, unlike most basket cases, it was fairly complete. These bikes make sweet little café racers and I have seen a lot of cool ones, but I also dig the way they look in stock form. Since most of the parts were there and serviceable I decided to go with a stock restoration.
The S90 was sold in the US from ’64 thru ’69 as the street version of a series that also included the CT90 trail and the C200 Dream. Although folks today refer to them as “tiddlers” when we were 10 years old, with a claimed top speed of 65 mph, the S90 was a superbike to us.
This particular bike was stripped down to bare metal and received a new urethane paint job on the frame, tank and fenders. The rims were too far gone to be serviceable so a set of NOS rims from David Silver Spares were laced to the stock hubs. My wife and I installed an aftermarket cover on the stock seat pan.
The nonexistent exhaust was taken care of with a reproduction piece. Of course (like all of our builds) the brakes, battery and tires were replaced. With the odometer showing only 2100 miles, with the exception of a tune up, valve adjustment and carb rebuild, the engine was left as is. Like with most of our builds, everything was done right here in our shop.
The little red bike turned out really sweet and is a blast to ride. It’s amazing how many folks you meet that remember the S90 and learned to ride on one. It makes even the old kids smile. Although I can’t really classify this bike as a customer build, it was sold to a collector in Florida before it was completed. Time to move on to the next one.
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