So I love most Honda mowers, but the OEM oil is a significant premium. So that leads me to a question!

So picked up a lovely 1994 Honda HR1950 with a 3-speed box at a good price. Owner complained that it was hard to start. Checked it over and indeed it took 10-15 pulls - it started and ran (badly) but wouldn't restart. Carb, coil? Then notice a slight snap back on the recoil! So after cleaning the carb, replacing a worn blade, changing a cracked tyre and respraying the recoil cover and air filter box, I decided to have a look at the flywheel key. And there's your dinner....sheared. Replaced it and she fired up magnificently. The big GXV140 purred to life... no smoke and strong drive. So just a decent service and there should be some margin in it come later this month or March.

So I've restored this 35 year old Honda HR21-5 and replace the damaged crank (oil leak due to multiple gouges in the shaft right where the seal sits). Sonic cleaned the carb and stripped it down, resprayed with OEM paint, etc. She started first pull after rebuild. Gotta love Hondas

But in typical fashion and before I get too big for my boots, i have to admit she hunted and surged a little bit. It happened when I took the revs down but calmed down when i got to idle. If I then slowly added thottle it was fine.

I first thought the fuel/air mixture was lean so I fettled with the pilot jet screw and set it to spec (all the way in and back it off 1 and 3/4 turns). This is not a two minute job as to access the screw you need to undo the intake manifold. Anyway made no difference. So I took the carb off and cleaned it again. That's an hours job as the fuel tank has to come off as do all the linkages. A right pain. Anyway got it back together. Started hunting again.

So I then thought about the spark. I had put a new one on and it was gapped fine. But i noticed i had used a BMR6A rather than a BM6A.....could a resistor really make all the difference? Well the answer is yes it can and it did. The resistor is for non-CDI models with points and condenser. Apparently the spark is less powerful.

So it just goes to show always use the exact spark plug!   

So Mick suggested I do a post on how I change tyres on Honda mowers. I've done a fair few HR194,214, HR21 and now this HRH. The HRH tyres from Honda are north of GBP50 but Skana and GHS do some good aftermarket alternatives for about GBP10-15.

So here's my approach:

1) Get the tyres in to some very hot water - give them 5 to 10mins
2) Meanwhile, get some grease on the top of half of the wheel.
3) Look carefully to see which way the tyre goes on (there were notches in the back of HRH wheels)
4) Remove tyre from water drain any water and dry off with a cloth.
5) get the tyre on the ground and get the bottom seated in on both sides
6) get this in a vice (the vice holding the bottom seat. Use a big flat screw driver and work the tyre over the top of the wheel. Go easy - it should not require huge force.
7) make sure all of the beads are seated correctly and remount.

Check out the video by Doublewidesix on youtube (though he goes a bit nuts with the screw driver).

Evening all. I bought a 2006 HRH536 for about GBP63 to restore and sell on. I'll document progress on here. She looked in a terrible state but I took a chance and a clean of the carb and she fired up straight away with no smoke. She was running at almost 4,000rpm so a new throttle governor spring and back in the right hole and she's back at the right 3,000rpm level (Manual says 2,800 but the GXV likes a little more).

So I started by giving the mower a good run picking up leaves. She was perfect but she tracks wrong as the previous owners/users obviously rammed it in to something and bent anc cracked the front wheel adjusters. After making sure the drive worked well, I cleaned the mower then took off the fan cover, recoil and exhaust cover and resprayed them. 400grit sand paper, a good degrease, primer and then a close paint match to Honda R280 power red. So far so good.

Then the BBC was removed. All in good order but the driven disk and spring were beyond service limits. I was feeling buoyant but then I tried to remove the engine from the deck. Some numpty had used a tube of loctite. Two of them snapped. Bang goes GBP130 on a new sump (I don't have the time to try and extract). But the good news is the engine is off the mower.

A parts delivery arrived earlier today with new tyres. So tomorrow I'll remove the handle bar and other bits ready to power wash, degrease and prepare the deck for respray.....pictures to follow.

Hi all,

Right, an admission. I am obsessed with the HR21 and HR21-5. I won't bore you with details but it has lovely childhood memories. Having restored a HR21 I came across a sad HR21-5 on FB Marketplace and managed to secure it. The engine is fine and doesn't smoke. However, looking at the blade and oil pan, there was more oil knocking about than a Thai massage. There was a leak from the lower crank shaft and the trochoidal oil pump gasket and cover. I replaced the gasket with a new one but unfortunately that did jack all good. So first question....you reckon Hondabond will sort this problem? Let's see!

Next up the crankshaft oil seal. When I remove the old one I found another one rammed in upside down. Both were removed and a new OEM one installed. So firstly the trochoidal gasket leaked and so did the crank shaft oil seal. It was weeping oil ever so slightly on the crankshaft. A new seal has been fitted with a little HB added for good measure. Let's see if the leaks stop.

All in all a brilliant mower and testament to Honda's total dominance of the mower market in the mid-80s.

 

Evening all and greeting from a Brit in Switzerland. I do a fair amount of restoration and selling mainly of used Honda mowers. Scanning FB Marketplace I came across a 2012 Izy 21"/53cm mower which from the photo looked in fair nick. So I fired in and paid GBP100 equivalent. As usual, the autochoke mechanism was problematic, but only because the springs and linkage was full of crap. A quick clean and that was sorted. So a new blade, air filter, NGK BPR5ES spark and fresh oil and I managed to sell it for GBP250 in 24hours.

Now about this mower. Frankly a lot of folks rate the Izy. I don't and its not for the reason you may think. Normally after some use, the 536 front wheels bow out a la John Wayne after too long in the saddle. The drive is slower than an Inland Revenue tax rebate. The decks usually rot unless they are kept meticulously clean and then we have the daft autochoke.

Me thinks Honda are trading on past glories with the Izy range. Give me a HR194 any day. These and the HR21/194/214/215 are the epitome of Honda quality. That there are so many knocking around today (albeit smokey) is testament to how they were designed. The Izy is a goood mower. But it absolutely should not command premium prices that Honda charge.