The Honda Pal is a simple, cheap two-stroke scooter. The Honda Pal AF17 is equipped with a vertical, indestructible AF05 engine; mileage of about 50 thousand before major overhaul is not uncommon for it.
At the front there is an inverted telescopic spring fork. Underseat capacity for a helmet; it will not be enough for an integral helmet. The scooter is single seater or for two children. The tidy is made in a classic style, in some ways even similar to a toy. The tank sensor is located at the rear of the scooter. In terms of dynamics, the scooter is quite playful and well stocked with spare parts. Very good as a budget means of transportation for short distances in the city and in the countryside.
Pros:
- simplicity of design,
- ease of maintenance,
- very high reliability
Minuses:
- outdated design,
- small size and weight (45 kg)
Honda Tact Family Review
The Honda Tact scooter series dates back to the distant 1980s with the Honda Tacty model. Much water has passed under the bridge since then, but these scooters are still considered the most reliable and unpretentious workhorses both in Japan and abroad. A distinctive feature of all models produced under the Honda Tact brand is the lever fork, which provides amazing comfort both on asphalt and on dirt roads. All scooters have a slightly derated engine, usually 5-6 horses, but they have good traction characteristics, which is good when riding together.
Honda Tact AF-16
Honda Tact AF16 is a budget model from Honda. A full-fledged double saddle will allow you to comfortably accommodate two adults, the scooter has a large seat capacity and a spacious glove compartment in the front (which is important - it can be locked with a key).
The vertical AF05 engine will allow you to confidently move around the city and over rough terrain, it is very easy to maintain and all the vital components of the scooter are at hand. Precision and maneuverability are not the same as on the Honda Dio due to the lever fork; nevertheless, it is characterized by some imposingness, although this disadvantage is compensated by the smoothness of the ride.
Honda Tact AF16 is the cheapest two-seater scooter. If you don't mind the archaic design, then buy it - it will never let you down. In terms of tuning, this model has not been spared by the manufacturers - a bunch of all kinds of kits; among the budget options, I recommend the CVT (can be purchased in our online store) and the modification of the muffler. The speed will be 70 km/h with a minimal investment of money (about 3000-4000 rubles including spare parts). When using outside the city, it is recommended to change the rear shock absorber to a reinforced one (available in our online store), which will allow you to force any obstacles, within reason.
Pros:
- lever fork – smooth ride, ability to ride on dirt roads,
- large saddle (for people of average build and height),
- very reliable, time-tested and road-tested design,
- high torque of the engine.
Minuses:
- archaic design
Fourth generation Honda Tact
The Honda Tact model with the factory designation AF-16 debuted in 1987. This is an excellent Japanese scooter that is still selling briskly on the secondary market. It is not considered a rarity and still has some margin of safety - so it can be bought for a reasonable 15-30 thousand rubles.
The fourth generation of the Takt is distinguished by a full-fledged double seat... although, in fact, it is full-fledged either for slender Asians or for teenagers. Two large men will definitely not fit on this scooter, no matter how hard they try.
Thanks to the relatively long seat, the Honda Tact AF-16 has a spacious underseat glove compartment. There is also a glove compartment in front that can be locked with a key.
The stock AF05E two-stroke engine produces 5.8 hp. – this is quite enough for dynamic movement in city traffic jams. The scooter is nimble and maneuverable, although in comparison with the Honda Dio it loses, since the fork on the Tact is lever.
The Honda Tact AF-16 is recommended for purchase by those who need a cheap and easy-to-use scooter that can be easily repaired with their own hands. The design, of course, is outdated, but the equipment has been tested for decades, if it has been serviced and repaired with high-quality consumables and spare parts, then there will be no problems.
If you wish, you can select tuning kits for the Honda Tact AF-16, after which the speed characteristics will increase to 70 km/h - this is with the most budget tuning. But you need to understand that any tuning leads to increased load on the engine.
If you plan to use this scooter in rural areas, then first of all you need to replace the rear shock absorber with a reinforced one, plus change the road tires to something more “toothy”.
Advantages and disadvantages of the model
Honda Tact AF-16 has a lot of advantages:
- The most important thing is the reliability of the engine and chassis.
- Thanks to the lever fork, the Honda Tact is better suited for use in rural areas (although for dirt roads any scooter is not the best choice; a moped or light motorcycle is more suitable here).
- The double seat allows a large person to sit comfortably on it (of course, there can be no question of any passenger in such cases).
- The two-stroke engine is characterized by high torque and efficiency.
Among the disadvantages of the Honda Tact AF-16 are:
- advanced years,
- outdated design,
- possible unscrupulous past owners (neglecting maintenance and repairing the scooter with ultra-cheap Chinese spare parts).
Specifications
- length: 1.655 m;
- width: 0.650 m;
- height: 1.010 m;
- dry weight: 60 kg;
- engine model: AF05E;
- engine type: 2-stroke air-cooled;
- working volume: 49 cm³;
- maximum power: 5.8 hp;
- fuel supply system: carburetor;
- starting method: electric starter, kickstarter;
- fuel tank capacity: 4.6 liters;
The Honda Tact AF-16 scooter is an excellent and reliable technology, but its time is already running out - in a few more years, there will be almost no copies left in good condition.
Tags
50 cc scooters
Honda Tact AF-24
Honda Tact AF24 is a continuation of the bestselling Honda Tact, the most popular Honda Tact model in Russia. Compared to its predecessor, the Honda Tact AF24 received a new engine (very similar to the Honda Dio AF18-28 engine, differing only in the power system; the Honda Tact AF24 has a 12 carburetor, the Honda Dio has a 14, and in some places 16) and a completely new design. On the road, the Honda Tact AF24 behaves well, confidently takes turns and forces curbs; thanks to its small dimensions, getting around a traffic jam will not be difficult. The scooter, like all models under the Tact label, has two glove compartments.
There are two varieties of the Honda Tact AF24 with and without an electric kickstand, which one you choose is up to you. But it’s still a very convenient option - you turn the key and the scooter independently lifts itself onto the stand. Tact will be indispensable for trips and outside the city. For country roads, it is better to change the rear shock absorber to a reinforced one. There are a huge number of spare parts for the Tact, it is comparable to a Zhiguli - everything is known about them and everything is available.
If you decide to drive not 55-60 km/h, but 70-90, or maybe 100 - with full tuning, this engine produces 110-115 km/h. It really doesn’t make sense to do it - the chassis won’t hold up. There are a lot of whales at your service, both in our online store and in any stores in the city. Budget option - pipe and variator - speed 75 km/h. An option for those who are willing to spend 10,000 rubles is a Takemori piston (65 cc), a Takemori variator, Takemori gearbox gears + modification of a standard pipe - a speed of 90 km/h, despite the fact that the service life of such a scooter will be approximately 10,000 km.
Pros:
- simplicity of design,
- availability of spare parts,
- indestructible engine,
- spacious trunk and glove compartment,
- relative double seating – for people of average build, traveling together will not be tiring.
Minuses:
- archaic design
Review of Honda Honda Tact DX, another name for Honda Sky (1985)
I bought this device just by accident. Friends from Vladivostok brought a truck, and to pay for the road, they filled the body with old scooters. This one was the most compact of all, which determined the choice.
It was a wonderful, red moped-scooter, ALMOST fully operational and even with a live battery (dated 1989!).
Its most important quality was that it weighed only 35 kg. and had a length of only 145 cm without the missing front basket. Thus, it easily fit across the UAZ trunk. This was very important for transporting the Scooter to riding areas in the summer (holiday villages and parks).
There was no information on this scooter on the Internet at that time, not only did they barely find one single creepy photo, from which they learned that it was a Honda Tact DX (later they saw the inscription Honda Sky , which is actually the same thing).
An unpleasant problem that bothered us was the complete lack of brakes. Hanging around at flea markets made it possible to buy new, similar pads and, after working with a file, install them in place. But still, the drum brakes of this moped were a weak point. Apparently the drums integrated into the wheels were already quite worn out and the ultra-precise adjustments led to the fact that the scooter either braked weakly or the wheels even began to bite. So, when driving on the roads, I always remembered that there was almost nothing to slow down from 60 km/h. If you are not driving fast, braking is acceptable; if you accelerate, the death ride begins. The scooter also had a severe drawback - it was simply impossible to transport a bottle of vodka with a snack purchased at a country store - there were no glove compartments, drawers or baskets. Initially, apparently, the Honda had a basket on it, of course, but it floated away somewhere before the purchase. It was necessary to transport the reason for the holiday in a shirt in the bosom or in a bag between the legs, but in the latter case the bottle always tried to jump out onto the road along with the bag, which happened once. Heartbroken by the loss he had suffered, he attached a hook for bags near the ignition switch. Not exactly aesthetically pleasing, but “cheap and practical” (c).
As the years passed, the children grew up and began to ride scooters, of which there are many video documents in the family archive.
From repairs:
We replaced the rear shock absorber strut with a longer and more elastic one, since my weight is about 100 kg. On bumps the suspension broke.
We installed new pads (the worst thing in China), after processing them with a file.
The broken rear light was restored in a special workshop. They literally cut out the missing pieces, glue them together, and polish them. Everything turned out in such a way that it was not visible that the stoplight was glued.
We replaced the original Lenin Head class tires (the scooter was almost 20 years old at the time!) with Russian ones of a higher profile, which improved comfort on the country roads, but the scooter did suffer in dynamics - the tires were larger in diameter. They did this because there were simply no similar shaky ones anywhere.
The original old battery was “optimized”, the electrolyte was drained, washed, charged and the operating density was set. A charged battery died only if you didn’t drive for a couple of weeks, otherwise it was always ready to start the engine from the starter. We fiddled with the battery because we couldn’t find a similar battery in size, and those from uninterruptible power supplies died from high currents during startup.
Loser thieves.
One day, when we returned from work in the evening, we found our scooter broken down in the garage at the dacha. Some (presumably juvenile) thieves tried to start it without a key and break off the locking mechanism holding the steering wheel turned. We used a nail puller to break the plastic for access, but we couldn’t do anything - the blocker wouldn’t budge and the engine wouldn’t start. They abandoned the scooter right in the garage. The whole joke was that the ignition key was hanging on the wall, on a nail right above the standing scooter. The bastards didn't notice. And thank God! The plastic was carefully glued together (it is of very high quality) so that no traces were visible, everything was put back in place and we continued driving. 
They sold this device not out of necessity, but out of stupidity, and fell for the new Chinese “Otaka” (a fake of Honda DIO). The Chinese no longer fit into the trunk and over the course of three years he blew all our brains out with breakdowns. But this is a completely different story...
Honda Tact AF-30
Honda Tact Af 30-31 is a continuation of the Tact series, a very modern and attractive scooter. Honda Tact AF30 during production in terms of engine and layout was unified with the Honda Dio AF27 model. The tank, instead of the seat tank, was moved under the floor of the scooter, which had a positive effect on weight distribution. The design of the scooter is very stylish and in the spirit of the times. Honda Tact AF30 is a conditionally double-seater for two adults of average build.
Otherwise, the Honda Tact AF30 has the characteristic features of this series - two glove compartments, a lever fork, a large and durable trunk. The Honda Tact AF30, like the Honda Tact AF24, has a modification with an electric footrest, and there is also a version with a front wheel disc brake (Honda Tact S AF31). In terms of further development, the Tact is similar to the Honda Dio AF27 scooter, i.e. You can drive 80-90 km/h without much expense.
Tuning Honda Tact, Dio scooter with AF24E engine
In this article I will tell you how, for a very reasonable amount of money, you can significantly increase the dynamics and power of a Honda Tact or Dio scooter equipped with an AF24E engine. By the way, tuning is a thing that knows no boundaries, rules and limits on the path to perfection. But the purpose of this article will not be to discuss tuning as such, but to talk about how you can significantly improve engine parameters while spending a minimum of effort and money.
For those who don't know, two-stroke engines, by their nature, are very responsive to increasing engine displacement. Unlike four-stroke engines. In four-stroke engines, engine power largely depends on the design and configuration of the cylinder head, but in two-stroke engines, the cylinder head does not have such a significant effect on engine power. Therefore, any, even small, increase in the volume of a two-stroke engine gives a significant increase in power over the entire engine speed range.
So, we go to the store and buy a piston with a volume of 72 cubic centimeters (47mm). I bought myself this one, it costs 1,300 rubles, but taking into account the discount, it cost me only 1,100 rubles.
For comparison: on the right is a piston (not original, the engine has already been removed from the farm, and quite “successfully”...) with a volume of 58 cubic centimeters (42mm), and on the left is a piston, which we will install with a volume of 72 cubic centimeters (47mm).
A few words about the piston: its manufacturer is Chinese a la noname, so you shouldn’t expect high service life and workmanship from it. There is no gasket for the cylinder head and cylinder in the box and they have to be purchased separately. There is no protective coating on the piston, and this is not good, although for a two-stroke engine the lack of a protective coating on the piston is not a critical point, but still...
The cylinder has a five-channel purge with a well-developed network of purge windows, which has a very positive effect on increasing power, especially in the high-speed zone.
The piston rings have clearly readable markings and their appearance inspires confidence. At the very least, it is difficult to make any complaints about the geometry and cleanliness of processing.
Now about the sad thing: it is not possible to install this piston engine without disassembling the engine and modifying the crankcase... But tuning, as we know, “requires sacrifices,” so if we want to significantly increase the power and dynamics of the scooter, then like it or not, we will have to disassemble the engine a little file the tides marked by arrows in the crank chamber.
The tides can be cut with a file, or they can be cut with a well-sharpened chisel. I cut it down with a chisel.
The second unpleasant point, and maybe not so much, is that the standard pump of the engine lubrication system will not be able to provide the proper level of lubrication for a piston of increased volume, and therefore with a larger working area. Therefore, when operating a scooter with a larger piston engine, you should add a little oil to the fuel tank of the scooter. In principle, this is where all the troubles associated with this piston engine end.
After modifying the crankcase, you should thoroughly wash all engine parts from any remaining metal shavings and abrasives, reassemble the engine in reverse order, and only then can you begin installation.
This piston is installed according to the same principles as any other piston for a two-stroke engine. The only difference, or most likely difficulty, is that there are no marks on the bottom of the piston that would allow the piston to be correctly positioned in the cylinder.
Therefore, when installing the piston on the crankshaft connecting rod, orient the piston so that the piston ring lock pins point strictly at the purge port located in the diametrically opposite direction from the exhaust port.
Now about the main thing
After installing a 72CC piston and proper running-in, the scooter significantly increases dynamics and power. Believe it or not, but with skillful handling of the throttle and at the same time playing along with the body, the scooter easily stands on the rear wheel while leaving Chinese garbage dumps of various kinds far behind...
Honda Tact AF-51
Honda Tact AF51 is the crown of the Tact series. The scooter model is completely new and is similar to its predecessors only with a lever fork; in appearance it is the same Honda Lead AF48, only smaller. High-power crystal optics (40 W), a combined brake system, an engine with a catalytic converter, an anti-theft system (locking the central step in the trunk) - these are just some of the features of the Honda Tact AF51. The saddle of this scooter is also conditionally double.
In terms of handling and ergonomics, the Honda Tact AF51 is not far from its brothers in the series. Everything is convenient, at hand, the scooter confidently holds the road, there is some rolliness at low speeds (features of the lever fork), when driving outside the city, the Honda Tact AF51 will come in handy. In terms of subsequent development capabilities, the Honda Tact AF51 copies the Honda Dio af27-28 series scooters, with the only difference being that it is necessary to remove the catalyst.
Based on the Honda Tact series, mopeds such as the Honda Giorno AF24 (Honda Tact AF24) and Honda Julio (Honda Tact AF51) were produced.
Sincerely, Vladimir aka Pooh
