Honda Camino

Honda Camino moped

The Honda Camino (from Spanish camino "way"), factory code PA50 , was a well-known and popular moped in Germany in the late 1970s and early 1980s . At that time, the design of the moped looked modern. Due to its price and its reliability, the Camino was also used as a company vehicle by the post office.

history

The mopeds were not manufactured in Japan, but in the Belgian plant in Aalst or in the Zellik sales office in the municipality of Asse (Belgium) . Depending on the country of sale, it was offered with slightly different equipment and different engine power, as a moped with a permissible speed of 25 km / h and as a moped with a top speed of 40 km / h and 45 km / h.

Nowadays the Camino has almost disappeared from the streets. Above all in Belgium, however, there is still a notable, solid group of fans who change the Camino with tuning parts and still move it in everyday life or in the context of moped races. The Camino is still used today in moped races because of its very low weight and good durability, but with the small drum brakes on the front and rear wheels and the narrow tires, the maximum braking deceleration is low for today's conditions.

From the spark plug to the spring under the saddle, almost all wear parts are currently available. In addition, even decades after production stopped, there are still tuning parts and new developments, whereby speeds of over 100 km / h can be achieved with a 65 to 70 cm³ tuning cylinder, larger carburettor and adapted transmission. Due to the widespread use at the time, a conversion kit with a water-cooled, larger tuning cylinder was also offered by the tuning company Malossi , the water cooler of which must be conspicuously installed under the fuel tank.

Years after the end of production of the Camino, an Asian replica came on the market under the name "DAYANG DY50 III A". This differs in details from the original. So he was with Kickstarter and an electronic ignition . CDI , instead of the usual contact breaker ignition.

Furnishing

Depending on the version and year of manufacture, it was available with spoked or composite rims, rectangular headlights made of plastic or chrome-plated round headlights made of metal, saddle or bench seat and also with direction indicators and brake lights.

Initially, the Camino was available in four different configurations (L, LC, VL, VLC). All variants have a saddle and a square headlight with plastic trim. The simplest equipment is L , which is only equipped with a centrifugal clutch and painted mudguards. The models with a “C” in the equipment name have direction indicators, brake lights and chrome mudguards. Caminos with “V” as equipment designation are the Variomatic models. This results in two comfort and transmission variants.

Further, later designations are DX , S and Custom, which denote more sophisticated equipment, compared to the Camino without additional abbreviations or also referred to as St. or Standard .

For the countries Germany, Belgium / Netherlands, France, Switzerland and England the Camino was built slightly differently, especially the electrical equipment differed slightly. The flasher system of the upscale equipment had 21 watt incandescent lamps for Germany, all other national equipment 10 watts. At 18 watts, the battery for the England model was more powerful than for all the others, where only 15 watts was intended, or only 6 watts for France.

technology

The Camino was available as an automatic moped with a centrifugal clutch with a fixed gear ratio or with a Variomatic ( called HondaVmatic ) that was modern at the time and is now used in almost all motor scooter models. The Variomatic models can be recognized by the bulge of the left swing arm cover in the area of ​​the rear wheel, under which part of the Variomatic technology is installed. Further technical details and types of construction can also be found in today's motor scooter models. The 2-stroke engine inlet was controlled by a diaphragm. Under the right swing arm cover is a conventional drive chain that is used to start the engine and to operate the pedal.

Technically, the Camino shares many engine components with the Honda PX (R) . However, this has an electric starter and separate lubrication, which the lighter and cheaper Camino lacks.

Like the moped itself, the entire drive was designed to be very compact, light and at the same time easy to maintain. The motor unit, including the main stand and rear wheel, can be disconnected within a few minutes by loosening a bolt, four screws on the running boards, two strut screws, unplugging the cable harness connector, the fuel line and two cables and set up separately or with compact dimensions (e.g. with a Defect in the trunk of a car to the workshop).

Technical specifications

As a moped for the Netherlands has 1.1 kW at 3800 min ^-1 and 3.05 Nm at 3000 min ^-1 , in the 40 km / h version 1.32 kW at 5000 min ^-1 and 3.3 Nm at 3000 min ⁻¹ , in the 45 km / h variant 1.39 kW at 5500 min ⁻¹ and 3.72 Nm at 3500 min ⁻¹ . The 40 km / h and 45 km / h variants have to fill up with a 1:25 mixture, the moped version is content with 1:50. The displacement of all models is 49 cm³, the compression of the moped 7.0: 1, of the others 6.7: 1.

Data of the Camino moped version:

• Engine type: Air-cooled single-cylinder 2-stroke engine (diaphragm-controlled)
• Power: 1.1 kW (1.5 hp) at 4000 min ^-1
• Displacement: 49 cm³
• Top speed: 25 km / h (factory specification)
• Standing noise: 59 dB
• Driving noise: 70 dB
• Carburetor: Keihin Seiki
• Type: BB20B
• Dry weight: 48 kg (L) to 59.7 kg (Custom)
• Fuel tank: 3 liters
• Brake system: drum brakes front and rear, 80–80.2 mm inner diameter
• Suspension: suspension fork with coil springs at the front, 2 shock absorbers with coil springs at the rear
• Consumption 2 L / 100 km

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Honda Motor Europe (North) - Honda in Belgium ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Images of a "DAYANG DY50 III A"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Haynes: "Honda PA50 Camino Mopeds" Owners Workshop Manual, built from 1976 to 1980
4. ↑ ^{a b} Honda Shop Manual: "PA50" , from 1983 by NV HONDA BENELUX.

Web links

Commons : Honda Camino  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Honda Camino brochure at Mofa-Museum.de, accessed on May 12, 2008
• hondacaminotuning.be , Belgian website about the Honda Camino (Dutch with an English sub-section).
• Honda-Camino-Club.com , website of the Honda Camino Club Belgique (French)