Great progress!
i'd recommend against coating the tank though.... it's in great shape and as long as you don't let it sit for a year/years, it will continue to be.
If your coating fails, you're going to have anywhere from an inconvenience to a tow to a disaster.
just my $.02
jfryjfry said:Great progress!
i'd recommend against coating the tank though.... it's in great shape and as long as you don't let it sit for a year/years, it will continue to be.
If your coating fails, you're going to have anywhere from an inconvenience to a tow to a disaster.
just my $.02
I agree in most cases because I've had a subpar Indian repro coating fail on a Triumph tank and it was annoying but RedKote I've used for years and it has been indestructible. It has sealed leaking tanks with pinholes you can't see. Once lined there is no guesswork and it never corrodes. Store it wet/dry it doesn't matter. We don't have ethanol fuel here so nothing really attacks the coating (though apparently ethanol doesn't bother the coating until really high percentages).
A little surprise came in the mail this week when new replacement decals came for my tail piece. I had forgotten the seller of the tail piece mentioned the scratches in the stripe and Honda logo and sent them separately. Pretty solid dude.
I stopped on the original rear master and decided to shelf it for now. In other news, mid 90s EBay CBR600RR rear master seems to fit pretty decent. I just had to use another reservoir that went straight down instead of an angle. I ran out of time to adjust the rod and add fluid but this is the closest I've gotten so far and I'm only into this setup $17. Hoping it works out.
Edit: The rod in the EBay master is way too long and no adjustment would be enough so I disassembled it and cut the rod down to the stock length on the left. Swap over only the cut down rod as the stock washer is too thick for the eBay master. Fluid added and bled and we have brakes! Sure the pads are old but at least this should be good enough to stop me in neighborhood test rides eventually.
The CBX is getting slimmed down even more with the front fairing off:
Oh look, I can see things directly in front of me now:
A new H4 8" headlight and bracket has been on the way for 3 weeks so any day now for that and visually, it will be wrapped up for now.
Changed the oil and plugs and everything is looking dandy. Air filter time....goodness. In 3700 miles and 40 years, this filter put in some work.
I shoved the phone in the air box and it's clean in there. I love the stacks built in. I'm not going to be changing this for pod filters.
Fresh filters, oil, plugs, and carbs have been sitting with Seafoam/fresh fuel for a few weeks now so just for fun lets hit the button again. I confirmed it ran on all 6 last month on a huff of starting fluid just to make sure there were no terrible noises but I left it at that. I sort of wanted to put off knowing I for sure have to dissemble the carbs immediately. Regardless, I hit the button and it ran super rich on the choke then half choke it settled down and after a minute it was doing fine.
Disregard the smoke from the liberal WD40 cleaning I gave the front of the motor burning off and the revving is after several minutes of running, not stone cold:
Had I gotten even more temp in it, it may have idled on its own with no choke and without helping it with the throttle. But it was running and I was excited. So 40 year old OEM Bridgestones and a leaking oil cooler line kept the ride to probably 5 minutes and 10 mph.....but I actually rode it. I'm sure the carbs will need help and they may just get better with putting some more fuel through them but besides helping it slightly with idle off choke, it's incredibly smooth.
I haven't pulled the tank yet to confirm 100% if the oil leak is from the cooler lines but I don't think anything else would be above this:
Valve cover gasket is also crispy from sitting. That will get replaced with the valve adjustment anyway.
If it was May, I'd order a chain and tires today and try to rally to have this going down the road in two weeks but it's late September and temps are at freezing in the morning here already. Highs in the mid 40s-low 50s and losing daylight every day. I'm not going to rush it and just keep slowly plugging away over the winter. I really did not plan on even moving it around under it's own power this year but that has definitely given me some motivation.
Today was the first time in almost 7 years that I haven't been able to make it off the mountain due to 12" of snow and a layer of ice underneath and it's fn September.
This was my commute this morning before turning around in the neighborhood.
Back home working from the iPad and tucking the wiring to get ready for the 8" headlight up front.
Side note: I picked up a lightly used Goldwing cover from a local guy on Craigslist a few days ago. He started talking Goldwings and I said “oh no this is going on my 40 year old CBX”. He honestly and sympathetically replied “That’s nice maybe you can trade up one day”. It was hard not to laugh as I was leaving.
No use busting my ass shooting for Fall. We aren't getting a Fall this year apparently.
Single 8" H4 headlight on with no fairing and now the exterior "look" is complete.
Now the harder stuff comes: oil cooler line replacement, wiring harness repair, etc but until that comes it finally looks cool in the garage.
Is that the "Train Light" the Suzuki guys seem to love?
Looks good on there.
ShawnG said:Is that the "Train Light" the Suzuki guys seem to love?
Looks good on there.
Very similar but with a more modern reflector. Those also have an 8" lens and they seem to fit well on any old school bike. Single 5 or 6 inch headlights look tiny on these things since the rest of the proportions are so big.
Every time I hear a CBX I just say "berkeley, that sound". So awesome.
I like to read updates. I click on your update. Snow? Where the heck does this guy live?
(click on his name)
Wait, this is the sweet green 240z guy?
Dang, this guy is cool X2.
Datsun310Guy said:I like to read updates. I click on your update. Snow? Where the heck does this guy live?
(click on his name)
Wait, this is the sweet green 240z guy?
Dang, this guy is cool X2.
Ha! Yeah I'm sure motorcycle/Alaska guy and green 240z/Georgia guy don't seem like the same person but alas I live a double life.
This December, I'm going to try to get back to GA to redo my exhaust on the Z and do a couple other little things I ran out of time on last April. I miss the quieter exhaust so you really hear the THWOMP from the triple Webers.
Love the big round headlight. My preferred look vs. the smaller ones that seem to be more commonly seen.
And this is why I wanted to get all the body pieces on and get my pictures because the bike is about to look like this for a little while:
Exhaust dropped to get to the bottom oil cooler line fittings on the oil pan. Now that this stock exhaust is off it's going to be hard putting it back on. It's so quiet. It's too quiet. I'm on the fence about getting it down the road with the stock exhaust but I know I want a 6-1 pipe later. We will see.
Fittings going out in the mail for new lines to be made up shortly.
Got the oil lines back from Terry in the CBX club. I had him leave off the fittings on the oil cooler side so I could snake it through the frame. Lots of folks lower the engine a few inches to pull it through since it's that tight. Rather than having the oil cooler side crimped on, I pushed it through and added my own Earls fitting once it was by everything. I have the crimp on fittings here in case my setup leaks and I need to redo it. I just don't want to lower the motor until it's carb rebuild time and I'm not looking to completely dismantle this thing right now. I still want the possibility of riding this around a little bit and see how the carbs are as they sit.
As I was putting the bike up last time it was running, I noticed it dropped down to 4 cylinders then back up. I knew what it was. The wiring that was chewed up from either mice in storage or being rubbed through with the seat movement. I'm thinking mice.
When it started running on 4, I was down on the 1 and 6 cyl. That's the coil with the blue wires and....yeah I see why.
Everything is color coded except for three pink wires. Break out the masking tape:
Cut out all the old stuff:
This is where the book comes in handy:
New stuff spliced in:
I never had rear turn signals so I know the electricity is making it back there:
Wrapping up the wiring with a little overkill on the sleeving just in case it was wearing through on the seat:
The moment of truth and I hit the starter button and the bike runs off the fuel in the bowls for about 15 seconds and I'm getting spark on all six. I got all the pinks right I suppose. I didn't want to run it longer than that anyway with no exhaust on but I wanted to make sure I had spark and oil didn't spray everywhere. So far no leaks but the real test will be when the oil gets hot and thin. I added the new non-asbestos gaskets and I couldn't bring myself to put the factory exhaust back on.
For nothing besides sound and ease of maintenance, the 6-1 would make things a little easier to access stuff but I'll lose the center stand depending on the brand. I'll think about it for a bit and do some shopping before I fit this heavy, quiet, yet perfectly presentable and functional factory exhaust back on. 
I couldn't bring myself to put the stock pipes back on so off they come for a clean up and then packed away with the rest of the stock parts:
Doing a little old school shopping:
Ebay had a used DG 6-1 in great shape for less than half of a new one which is important because it was $200 to ship it to Alaska. Pardon the crappy eBay photos:
\
This one had the baffle removed and shortened to half the length so it's just barely muffled.
Nothing can make it to or from AK in one piece so of course it arrives with the collector having a couple pipes out of round so a little heat and I can round them back out.
I wrestle it on and surprisingly gives plenty of room for the oil filter and the center stand:
I ran it just long enough to make sure my oil lines didn't leak (they didn't) and then shut it off. I couldn't run it long because we are having a bit of a windstorm right now and everything was getting blown around in the garage.
Not wanting to asphyxiate myself, I couldn't run it long (no video clip!) I knew I was going to end up with this exhaust before I bought the bike. These 6-1s actually lose power in the mid range and gain over stock just slightly up top. BUT it's not about that. The 6-1s make that sound. I just love the design of the header and how they showcase the motor. So now with the 6-1, I have that insane shriek that made me want to get one of these in the first place.
It needs the pilot jets cleaned (minimum) as it's pretty gross and inconsistent delivery at idle with the choke until warm .I know I'll have to go through the entire carburetor assembly soon but until then, I'm going to keep it all in one piece for a little bit to appreciate this visual:
In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
That's one amazing exhaust, I used to have a complete yoshi set up on a cb750f2 , had to drop it every time I changed the oil . It also sat very low and would scrape. This looks like a much nicer piece.
I love the CBX, it's an awesome bike. It sounds awesome with that exhaust but...
The Benelli Sei sounds like this:
In reply to ShawnG :
Meh it's missing a camshaft, a bunch of valves, and some displacement.
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to ShawnG :
Meh it's missing a camshaft, a bunch of valves, and some displacement.
But it plays the intro from Hot For Teacher..
The factory vacuum "auto valve" that delivers fuel to all 6 carbs .......well...it wasn't. Preaching to the choir but it's a safety in case you leave your fuel on and it doesn't overrun your carbs and give you a hydrolock situation. The problem is CBX carb bowl are wide and shallow so after a couple days, your bowl is dry and you have to crank forever to make enough vacuum to pull fuel. In a rarely ridden bike like mine that goes weeks (and about to be months) between starts, it can be a minute or two of cranking on and off.
So we are ditching that and just promise to remember to turn off the fuel. It's not hard because I do that with everything religiously.
Capped off:
Just running 5/16" lines with a filter and a brass T to feed the fuel rail:
And sounds were made. At 8 AM on a Saturday. I'm not normally that guy but today I'm that guy. Who wouldn't rather hear this than a Briggs & Stratton cutting grass at that hour?
Hilariously, the little bit of packing that was in the already shortened baffle immediately blew out and it sounds even better to me.
I'll still need to do some carb work eventually but it runs WAY better without that vacuum fuel valve keeping 4-5-6 low on fuel delivery. Before I pull the carbs, I think it's getting a chain and tires and I'm gonna just roll with it for a little bit because why take it immediately back apart when it can make that racket?
That sounds f'ing delicious.
Yay for 6-1! It sounds spectacular! Yeah-yeah, first-world-problems, but the 6-6 looks cool but only sounds pretty good. 6-1 still looks pretty good, but is one of the most amazing sounds ever. 
Sounds awesome. The carbs seem to hold rpm a bit. I think there is an adjustment to make them return to idle more quickly. I just did the carbs on my Mule and read about it. I'll look it up.
What carb does it run?
hobiercr said:Sounds awesome. The carbs seem to hold rpm a bit. I think there is an adjustment to make them return to idle more quickly. I just did the carbs on my Mule and read about it. I'll look it up.
What carb does it run?
They hold rpm a bit because the choke was on 1/4 of the way since it was 17 degrees the morning that video was taken. With no choke they come down pretty fast.
Looks great with that exhaust!
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