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Buying & restoring a 1998 Hero Honda Street: Giving it a new avatar

29th August 2024, 18:35 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of restoring the Yamaha RX100 so I was looking for a new project motorcycle.

BHPian v12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The year was 2021, the month was November. I had just sold the Tiger. The Yamaha RX100 was almost ready to come home. There was nothing else to do. An empty mind is the Devil's workshop. My mind was empty. The Workshop was empty.

I had to do something about it. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of restoring the Yamaha RX100. Going through the process of buying new parts or fixing old parts and then seeing your motorcycle being built in front of your eyes is nothing more than sheer pleasure.

I started to look out for a project motorcycle - anything else that would keep me occupied. OLX became my best friend until I came across this Hero Honda Street and it really piqued my interest. I remember reading about this clutchless step-through in Auto India when it was launched in 1997.

I came across a decently maintained, 2-owner, 1998 Hero Honda Street 100 Standard. It was in a very original condition. The papers were all clear - passing, fitness, insurance and PUC. The person who owned the Street was also into collecting old motorcycles, scooters and mopeds. Due to certain circumstances he could not Keep these motorcycles and had to sell them. We went and checked it out and were impressed with the condition. It was in original condition and without any modifications whatsoever. The documents were also intact and the Fitness was valid till 2023. We struck a deal and the Street was home in the first week of December.

Getting the bike home

Sounded very simple and easy right - well, it wasn't. This was the first time I was riding a step-through and my first time a clutchless one. I had read about the Street's gearbox and knew it was a rotary gearbox which meant you could continue tapping it till eternity. But damn, the gearbox was so hard - it shifted up very easily - but shifting down was a mammoth task. I had to literally stamp on the gear lever to shift down - sometimes even resorting to changing gears by hand. The worst part was that we were riding home during peak hours - and we held up traffic at every signal.

Other than the gearbox, the Street was in good mechanical condition - although it needed a thorough service and a change of brake pads. Cosmetically, it was in completely original condition - except for the fog light which I believe was a dealer fitment (seen on most HH Streets with different setups) and an ugly switch.

The front and rear wheels were a bit rusted.
The tyres were old and worn out and needed to be changed.
The front and rear suspension looked good.
A few of the panels had cracked - although they were otherwise in good shape.
The switch gear needed replacement since some switches were broken.
The lights (headlights, tail lights and indicators) were original and in good condition.
The silencer was also in good condition.

The Street was finally home - after what I felt was an eternity. The next dilemma was that my folks at home were not aware that their son was buying another 2-wheeler (at that time the Street was my 3rd - after the RX and the Access). So I had to hide it at a friend's place - until I had figured things out and convinced them about it. And mind you, it took me a long time to figure things out.

So until then, let us take a break and get to know the Hero Honda Street in detail.

History of the Hero Honda Street

The Street 100 was launched by Hero Honda in 1997 - a time when Bajaj ruled the step-through segment with the popular Bajaj M80 since the mid-80s. The Bajaj M80 was the best-selling moped across India - more so in rural areas - due to its price, reliability and its ruggedness. Hero Honda wanted a piece of this segment too - and the only thing they could think of back then was introducing the Street to compete with the M80.

The Hero Honda Street was not a new product - it was not even designed in India or for India. In fact, the Hero Honda Street goes back to 1983 when it was launched as the Honda Astrea (a derivative of the Honda Cub). It was primarily built and sold in the South East Asian markets. From 1983 to 1997, the Honda Astrea went through a lot of changes - but the 7th Generation Astrea Grand Elegant was the version that made it to India as the Hero Honda Street.

Photo credits to the above YouTube video by Danis Motomedia