I had the opportunity to buy a Honda Helix with a blown engine and decided to buy it because of its oddity factor and low price. I own several two stroke scooters but had never ridden a 4 stroke scooter for any length of time. A short ride on a 150 Elite had impressed me with its acceleration and I thought it was about time I tried out a 4 stroke. The rear bodywork was removed to replace the damaged Helix motor with an 85 Elite 250 motor. It wasn't quite a "bolt in" replacement but I managed to have it adapted after a week. I decided to take it out for a short spin before disassembling it again for the welding and some minor cosmetic work. The "short spin" evolved into a one year "spin" before I ended up finally selling it. The regular passengers still grouse about the fact that the Helix was much more comfortable than the Elite 80 or 150 I now use for ferrying passengers.Having driven a 74 Lambretta 175cc, an 84 Honda Aero 80 and a 91 Honda Elite 50 recently I thought the 250 was going to knock my socks off and establish itself as my main scooter. It didn't turn out quite that way. The suspension felt awfully soft and cornering hard seemed to reduce the ground clearance substantially. The resulting screech of metal grinding against road surface definitely made me not want to push it as hard in the corners as my other scooters. The positive side was that those bumps and dips in the road surface that used to make my rear teeth vibrate seemed to have disappeared and the ride was incredibly "smooth" compared to the other scooters. The Helix definitely responded to a much more relaxed riding style. Its smooth acceleration kept it ahead of city traffic and its quietness (even with a muffler whose insides have rusted out) led to a much more relaxing ride. Aside from all my grouching it does look good parked in the driveway and its the first scooter I've owned that my neighbours have expressed interest in owning. Its a scooter that seems to appeal to a much wider variety of people; I even took my mother-in-law for a short ride. She was quite surprised and said it was perfect for my wife and I going on long trips.
I did originally miss having a kickstart. Something about kick starting seems like the right way to start a two wheeled vehicle. The lack of a kick starter also necessitated having to buy a new battery as the old one just didn't keep a charge and the engine had a high enough compression that it needed to have battery with adequate "juice" to get it going. The Helix battery was $80 but I ended up buying another battery for $40 that was the same amperage although it needed a bit of rewiring to make it fit ( positive and negative terminals were reversed from the stock Helix). Now that I've gotten used to the electric start its wonderful and I'm thinking of adapting a "remote start".
The Helix carburetor, aircleaner assembly, muffler and rear axle/shock holder assembly, rear wheel and drum were all bolted up to the Elite CH250 motor. The Helix tire looks nice and fat but I may switch over to a 4.00-10 Bridgestone as the current tires tread only allows a moderate lean before the tread ends and the sidewall starts. Part of the relaxed Helix riding style I guess.
The shocks from the CH250 were used and the LH shock needed an adapter at the top mount so it would fit. The mounting nut was removed by hacksaw and file. The mild steel rectangular tubing was then shaped to fit the existing frame, then bolted into place as shown. The photo was taken before welding the adaptor to the frame. Use of the CH250 shock decreased the amount of room between the tire and shock but everything fits although the rear fender needed a bit of shaving. Unlike other Honda scooters, you'll find quite a few websites with info on the Helix/CN250/Fusion and I've included a few links at the bottom of the page. The Japanese seem the most smitten with the Helix and there seem to be more than a few custom accessories from exhausts to handlebars to body parts so don't be put off by the language as just looking at the pictures can yield a lot of ideas. My other webpages with info about the CH/CN250 motor are listed at the very bottom of the page.
I'm currently shopping for a used sportbike muffler to adapt to the Helix. The stock muffler exit pipe should stick out a bit further to the rear in my opinion. I don't want loudness like the Supertrapp mufflers on the Japanese Helixes and so I'm looking for a "takeoff"; a stock sportbike muffer someone replaced with an aftermarket "performance" system. Stock sportbikes are awfully quiet although somewhat "growlier" than the Helixes "Kerfuffler".
I've bought a 34mm mikuni roundslide carburetor to fit to the Helix . I had originally hoped to mount a Honda XL250 30mm carburetor with accelerator pump. The XL250s carburetor bowl was much deeper than the stock Helixes and would have rubbed against the engine swing mount so that idea was abandoned although I still feel it could be adapted with a bit of ingenuity. I'm also thinking of a way to slightly stiffen the rear suspension. The original adjustable Helix shocks came with "pre-load" adjusters which basically was an adjustable spacer that compressed the stock spring. My thought was I'd add a spacer that equalled the Helixes "stiffest" setting to see what difference it made.
Honda has brought back the Helix!!!!!
After discontinuing the Fusion (aka Helix/CN250) in Japan in the late 90s the Japanese enthusiast websites were pretty much unanaimous in stating what a big mistake it was. With a country full of the most modern "foot forward" scooters the prevailing opinion was that their predeccessor , the Helix, was still considered as a superior design in many respects. Starting with an announcement in February 2003, Honda now offers the Fusion for sale again but also in an "X" model shown at left featuring chrome handlebars, low windshield and a separate page listing accessories from several aftermarket suppliers. Accessories range from megaphone exhausts to rainbow tinted windshields to aluminum footboards to dual headlights to seats etc . The picture below shows a Fusion with some aftermarket accessories fitted.
Scooter Graphics galore at the MyScoot Design Shop with Tshirts, Coffee mugs, Clocks etc all with unique scooter designs from the "MyScoot workshop". Designs are changed constantly . Clicking on the picture will to take you to the Shop.
Helix links
