CBX Racing

CBXs, new bikes, old bikes, cars, trucks, general chat, off topic, this is the place to post it.
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Warwick Biggs
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Rick you win the cupie doll! (What the hell is a cupie anyway???) Even the alloy engine hangars are heavy but that is not why I left them off. The truth is I simply forgot them until I was packing up and there they were, still sitting on the bench.

The big news is that I have finally found out why it was running so rich and missing. The CR Specials have an unusual fuel bypass mechanism for the choke. There is an emulsion tube that runs down into the float bowl and the choke works a plunger valve that seals it off when in the down (off) position. The same fuel residue problem that affects the jets can affect the valve at the bottom of the plunger so that altho' all 6 plungers appear to be in the down position they are not necessarily sealing off those emulsion tubes.

There are many CBX's out there with TIMS CR Specials so this choke mechanism will undoubtedly cause other owners trouble with fuel residue too, especially if the bike is left to sit for any length of time without draining the fuel from the float bowls.

I was able to fix it without removing the carbs by liberally spraying the plunger mechanism with carb cleaner while repeatedly working the choke lever up and down. I could feel it becoming easier to operate and was delighted when It started without the usual accompaniment of unburnt fuel smoke.

So there it is folks. After 18 months of replacing jets, throat nozzles, an entire ignition system from plugs to sender to CPU, it turns out to be a simple sticky choke mechanism. This would have been spotted immediately if we still ran carbs with ticklers. On older Pommy bikes that was how we started them and if they kept flooding that was obvious because you could see where the fuel was flooding from.

But I'm very much looking forward to the modern EFI on my GSXR and a bike that I can just get on and ride without having to fix something new each time I start it.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Is it the case that old bikes only appeal to old fellas? There is a PhD thesis in that.

Rick Pope
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Rick Pope »

Well, old cars seem to be that way. For the most part, people want what they couldn't get in their youth. Hemi Cudas are hot, Plymouth Satellites, not so much. We want what was hot when we were in school, but had no money. Younger folks desire later models. The exception is the "classic". The Brough will always be in demand, while other models languish. CBXs will always retain value, while the more common bikes may not.
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Either garage is too small or we have too many bikes. Or Momma's car needs to go outside.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by EMS »

There are quite a few people interested in vehicles that were made before their time, e.g.: not something they lusted after in their youth. Even in the CBX community you will find younger owners that were born in the early 90s, long after the CBX ceased production. This is even more prevalent in the car market. Especially European marques are in great demand by even Millenials (28-38yrs), and it is not only Porsches and Ferraris.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Rick Pope »

True. I guess I wasn't clear. That's why I stated that the examples of the Brough and CBX would retain value. And that's why I bought the Henderson.

My dad said one time that every guy wants the car he first had sex in. Little brother asked if that's why he wanted a a '49 Chev....... Dad got real quiet.
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Warwick Biggs
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

That could be a bit tricky on a m/c Rick, even a Henderson.

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Syscrush
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Syscrush »

Warwick Biggs wrote:Is it the case that old bikes only appeal to old fellas? There is a PhD thesis in that.
Definitely not! I mean, I have an old bike and I'm not an old fella! Right? I'm a cool, vibrant, youthful dude - who works at a bank, takes heart pills, has a grey beard, and falls asleep by 9PM most nights...

Uh-oh.

:laughing-rolling:
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Of course, I can't relax and think 'the lump' will behave itself like any normal machine. It has developed a new oil leak. I still run the OEM tacho only because I can't afford a Scitsu and I'm not convinced that any of the cheap Chinese electronic tachos will work on a wasted spark 6 cylinder. If anybody has any suggestions in this regard I would be happy to hear them because the new oil leak is from the tacho drive on the cam cover and I would love to blank it off and get rid of the mechanical tacho.

I made sure the neoprene seal was properly bedded and did it up a bit tighter with the result that the leak migrated a bit further up the cable to a spot where the outer cable was a bit crimped with age. I've siliconed it but am not confident it will fix the problem because why is oil that in the cams is just a splash feed being forced an inch up the cable? Perhaps I am suffering CBX PTSD (this condition should be recorded in the psychiatric disorders Manual) but is the cam box being pressured by a gas leak from the combustion chamber and if so, why is it not blowing blue oil smoke? There is a question for the CBX Brains Trust.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by EMS »

The 1983 CB1100R has an electric tach and the tach drive plugged. The instrument looks exactly like the CBX unit and fits into the instrument housing. Unfortunately, it is rarer than hens teeth... :roll: :roll:

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

I was thinking of a cheap universal tacho EMS, not a "rarer than hens teeth" historical collectible. But thanks for the info just the same.

If I plug my new ignition into my computer it displays amongst other things, a tacho so I just need to transfer the same information up to my rudimentary dash panel where I can see it without having to cart around a computer to do so.

It also shows the ignition advance curve that can be re-set using the mouse pushing it around at any number of degrees at different revs while the bike is on the dyno to see how it affects hp and torque. Not only advance but also dwell so a useful tuning tool. Plus an ignition cut out to prevent over revving the motor and a heap of other possible functions.

But I just want a tacho on the dash.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

In any event I don't think it would work with the Ignitech. This is what they say:-

"Revolution indicator output TACHO
The RPM indicator output is compatible with most on-board devices used on motorbikes. Number of pulses per one revolution and possible corrections are set using TCIP4.EXE software.
TACHO is supplied by 12 V voltage GND. TACHO output will be connected to connector (15).
The revolution indicator output is not compatible with on-board devices used on old Honda motorcycles from the 1990s."
So I know what won't work but I'm trying to work out what will.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Ringnalda »

You can run most digital tacho's. Set the number of sparks per revolution to 1, connect into one of the coils, and you're all set sir. Because of the wasted spark design of the ignition circuit, every coil fires once every rev.

Hope this helps, 8)

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Warwick Biggs
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

Thanks Jan. You would think it would be easy but there is really not much to choose from that isn't made to look like it fits a Harley, is made from stainless steel and weighs over 250 grams. Lots of different brands but most ae identical from the same manufacturer in China.

It has to look period, read to 12K, be light weight and not cost a motza. Looks like its time to visit the wreckers again. This is why I've persevered with the original for so long.

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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Syscrush »

What's your actual budget? SpeedHut has 5 different 4" tachs priced from 130-360 USD. You can pick the font, needle color, etc. and could even provide OEM-looking graphics to be added to the gauge face if you want. It would be easy to get something that looks period-correct and at home in the OEM cluster.

https://www.speedhut.com/gauges/Tachome ... |f255|f173
Phil in Toronto
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Re: CBX Racing

Post by Warwick Biggs »

They look good and are cheaper than Scitsu but that is still a bit exx'y for me Phil. The Oz $ is hovering around 67-8 US cents because of the US war on trade and if I add another $50 for shipping it works out at over AUD$300, just for a gauge that I can probably do without, if need be. The Chinese versions while not really what I want are around $15 with free shipping. Of course, they may not be worth that and I'm willing to pay up to $150. Just to buy a tacho cable from TIMS it works out to around $100 landed.

Going back to my observations about Jack Brabham winning a World Championship in a machine of his own making, I am reminded of another extraordinary result by a virtually forgotten Anzac. Well, he was a New Zealander but at any one time a large proportion of Kiwis are living in Oz and vice versa. His name was Kim Newcombe and he traveled from Melbourne to Europe in 1968 with the intention of getting a job with Maico in sunny Spain and doing some motocross racing.

Somehow he ended up getting a job with Konig in dreary grey West Germany working on outboard marine engines of all things but he saw another potential for the flat 4 two stroke for use in a motorcycle, originally soehorned into a BSA frame. Working virtually alone he cobbled together a Norton clutch and gearbox (never the best choice) and asked Colin Seeley to build a frame of Newcombe's own design out of 531 Reynolds tubing. He convinced Oz privateer John Dodds to ride it as he developed it but Doddsy decided there were too many DNF's and he joined Jarno Saarinen on one of the new TZ 500 Yamahas. So, with bugger all budget, Kim acquired a German road race licence and rode the by now 80 hp Konig himself.

His very first international road race in 1972 was on a circuit he had never ridden at the notorious Nurburgring and with no road racing experience, he scored a podium. Thereafter, if he didn't break down or crash he was always in the top 10. He won the Yugoslav GP beating Read and Agostini, scored podiums at Assen and Anderstorp to finish second in the Championship on a machine largely of his own design and with an insignificant budget compared to the might of MV and Yamaha. In the next race at Silverstone he was leading when his brakes failed and he hit a solid wall and was killed dead finish. Saarinen died shortly afterwards as did my old Phoenix clubman and another great Oz racer from my era, Kenny Blake who died at the TT.

Of course, safety standards were fairly rudimentary in those days and altho' the bikes were fast their preparation was pretty rough and grotty compared to modern MotoGP machines. In any event Kim Newcombe's achievement deserves to be better known than some of the Oz riders who followed him. Not to take anything away from Wayne Gardner on those diabolically difficult NSR Hondas, Mick Doohan with his 5 World Championships, or Troy Bayliss with his numerous World Supers and all the others.

Somehow, their successes make Newcombe's against the odds rides on a machine he designed and built himself with little money, even more impressive. That was the era of push starts on over powered, under braked evil handling back lane specials getting up to 180 mph on bicycle tyres over cobblestones for beer money. Not many survived to become old fellas'.

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