Kent restores an '81

[daves79x]

There are two versions of the lower mounts for the '81. The parts manual shows this very clearly as to which one you might have. You really need a shop manual and parts manual for the reassembly process. Parts manuals are available to look at on-line lots of places - Bike Bandit is a good one. We may even have one here on the website-don't know for sure.

Dave

[kbart1]

thanks dave. now it makes a little more sense knowing there are 2 versions. i do have the manuals and looked at bike bandit as well. the 2 different versions is what was mixing me up.

thanks
kent

[kbart1]

finally had a not so rainy day that i could pull the bike up out of the garage and take some pics for our insurance coverage up here. need 4 pictures, left and right side front and rear. these are what i'll submit but i thought i'd share some progress. lots of little things left still like getting some chroming done (note chain guard and some engine covers) and a crash bar. almost ready to hit the open road!

thanks
kent

[daves79x]

Nice - could those still be the original tires? They certainly are the type. If so, do you trust them? Good luck sorting the rest!

Dave

[kbart1]

yup! they look pretty old. S11 on the rear and a 110 from someone else on the front. taking your advice dave and already have the 100 S11 for the front and sourcing a 130 S11 for the rear. wheels will be coming off next, rubber removed and wheels cleaned/polished up and fresh rubber mounted. once fairing and lights mounted now showing less than 12V at idle but i THINK/HOPE once i get out on the road and turn some revs the volts will bump up if not looks like either an alt rebuild or conversion. think were getting close though

kent

[EMS]

once fairing and lights mounted now showing less than 12V at idle but i THINK/HOPE once i get out on the road and turn some revs the volts will bump up if not looks like either an alt rebuild or conversion. think were getting close though

kent

Less than 12V at idle is normal. You should see the needle going up to around 13 at 3,500 rpm. Having the spades in the connector clean is really important.

[NobleHops]

Alternator service (if you get bored) including bearings, brushes, lapping the plates (and shimming thereafter) is easy and fast. You ought to inspect the brushes at least, and you only need to remove the outer cover to do so.

Looking good!

N.

[kbart1]

hello all

well it's almost a year to the day that i brought this cbx home on a trailer and started this journey. i have my collector plate and insurance now and logged a little over 300km in the last 2 weekends. i am still missing a couple key items (right hand mirror and air filter setting spring) but overall it is pretty much done. just had a whole bunch of chrome done and will post some pics soon. rebuilding alternator next. i am amazed at how many people stop you to ask about the bike or give you the thumbs up etc. when you go past them, it really is quite amusing. i have been running the bike up a little bit but as a guy that normally rides a goldwing and hates abusing motors i am struggling with the way the cbx apparently should be ridden. i met up with a friend of mine who is a licensed honda mechanic and rides an rc51 and he was telling my to rev the bike hard, his advice was to "wring its neck!" he said if you don't you can have oiling problems up in the head and cams. this all makes sense but i still am having a hard time pushing the revs up past 6-7K. keeping in mind the motor in this bike was not rebuilt however it feels very strong (thanks terry!) in the real world where would you suggest shift points should be? i tried today to keep the revs around 5-6k on the freeway for example however i am assuming i should maybe be pushing the engine even harder still??? i would be curious to know your thoughts on rpm ranges. i think this bike is gonna take a little getting used to after climbing off a wing!

kent

[kbart1]

hey guys

been away from the site for a bit riding my bike! its running great so far, had a long time honda mechanic adjust and sync carbs and give it a once over and he said it ran great. still having a hard time bring revs up on it as i am fearfull i am going to "blow it up" this bike is a lot different then my wing to ride around on but it sure gets attention wherever i go. the funniest question i get asked is how did i get collector plates for a "new" bike? people find it hard to believe its 31ish years old. still have a few things to do like the wheels and several little bits like the brake pedal plug etc to do but as it is summer here finally i've been riding it more than working on it. gonna start into my original "spare" motor soon so i'm sure i'll have some more questions soon enough. funny thing happened the other day here as i was standing at the top of my driveway looking down the road a bike was approaching, as it got closer i thought i saw 6 header pipes? sure enough the guy rode right by and i was so dumb founded i just stared at the bike as it went by! a nice '79, i wish i had the sense to flag him down as cbx's in my parts seem to be pretty rare. just watched him ride off down the road..........

here are a few pics of my almost finished project:

[daves79x]

Mighty fine-looking '81.

Dave

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

I can see why people would not believe it is 31 years old. It looks great.
Kent you better not get on the gas too hard, you might slide right off the back with that shiny seat.

[Jeff Bennetts]

That's a beauty.

[NobleHops]

Awesome - good to see you here if only for a moment Kent.

N.

[Kool_Biker]

Fantastic work Kent!

Well done.

Aris

[kbart1]

hey guys

here's a fast one. my tach cable was weeping a bit of oil at the tach drive gear cover end. i went and bought a new cable and put it on finger tight but it still weeped a bit. question is just how tight do you screw the cable onto the cover? at finger tight there was still some slop in the cable to cover. i put some channel locks on it and tightened it a little more. do you crank it down pretty good to take out that slop? fyi. i also have already changed the seals / o-rings etc. in the tach drive cover. any thoughts?

thanks a lot!
kent