Modern Rarities - page 5

RUNNING A CBX

GRAHAM Spiller from Portsmouth bought his CBX1000B In February 1984. It was one year old with 7,400 miles on the clock and was bought from D&H Autos, Acton, London for £2250. "I had originally intended buying a CB900F2 but realised that for not much more money I could get this six," said Graham, who has always loved the CBX. "I had always thought It was a fantastic looking machine, so I decided to go totally mad and buy one."

The bike now has 48,000 miles on the clock and is still pretty much as he bought It. The Krauser panniers were fitted when he bought it. Graham reckons they are better than the Honda items which were very small. Only parts missing are the mirrors. "I broke one and took the other off as it made the bike look unbalanced. And I've only got one pannier since one frame collapsed," he said.

Only modification made to the bike is the introduction of a Gold Wing battery. The original 12 volt battery (of only 14AH) went flat very quickly. "There's a huge compartment for the standard tiddly battery and a great big plastic spacer to stop it rattling around. On the advice of my Honda dealer, who said it was an approved modification, I fitted the Gold Wing battery and since then (two years) have had no further problem with flat batteries," said Graham.

PROBLEM AREAS

GRAHAM'S main complaint about the CBX concerns the exhaust system. "When I bought it, there was just a touch of rust around the joint between the collector and the silencer. Only three months later, on my way to the BMF Rally, that blew and I arrived with a great big hole and lots of noise. That was patched up with exhaust bandages and bits of scrap alloy until the other side blew a month later, at which point the system (with the exception of the central two downpipes) was renewed."

The six-into-two exhaust system comes in three parts - the middle two down pipes and the outside two with silencers. Not surprisingly, the nuts had corroded on the studs when the system needed replacing.

Standard front discs are ventilated.

The system only comes in three pieces - the two central pipes and the outer two pipes, collector and silencer each side. The first set of pipes cost £200, the second (in 1988) cost £300.

The last set caused the most problem as the nuts had corroded onto the studs. A month-long concerted effort with copious amounts of penetrating oil and heat didn't shift them so Graham had to resort to a dealer who, with better hearing equipment, managed to get the nuts undone.

The worst feature is that it rots through inside a couple of years. The problem is caused by a low point in the system where all the moisture collects and it rots from the inside out. "I've always replaced the system with the standard Honda item. I've sought advice on the matter and no one has recommended the six-into-one systems; they create problems with carburetion. It’s so annoying when 90% of the system is intact that you have to buy another complete piece.

"I have been told that you can hacksaw the silencer off and fit CB900 silencers. I might try that next time. In the meantime, if anyone makes a decent stainless steel exhaust system for the CBX, you’ve got a customer!", says Graham.

   

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