Can this run without a battery?
Yes, a CT90 or CT110 can be operated without a battery. However, you don't want to do this for very long. The reason is, the CT series does not have a conventional voltage regulator. The battery performs most of this function. If you have no battery in place (or the battery is badly shorted) when you goose the bike's engine, the voltage will spike, too, generally blowing out every light bulb that happens to be on at the time, and occasionally trashing the rectifier.

This gets expensive. The headlight is expensive. The lights on the instrument panel are weird and somewhat expensive. The taillight is a pain to change. The rectifier is over $100 through Honda.

If you must run a CT without a battery in place, the first thing you have to do is jumper the positive and negative battery leads to each other. Different years, the wires looked a little different, but on many years it's quite simple to figure out. Just plug one into the other, or stick a piece of wire between them. The bike will be hard to start, but it should start. Make sure all bulbs are either off or disconnected, lest you rev too high and blow them. If you must drive it, keep the speed low and do not turn on any lights or operate the horn.

Batteries aren't that expensive. The battery is a 6-volt, 5.5-amp-hour Yuasa that can be found pretty easily on the net or ordered at any motorcycle dealer for less than $40 and sometimes less than $30. Do not consider running without a battery as a permanent proposition. This isn't a minibike.

Last updated: 08/04/2001