Propav8r's Dream Bike Resurrection

[propav8r]

Looks like the calipers are going to be salvageable, which is great news for the budget. I got a cheap master from ebay and clamped it up in the vise, and used it to press out the caliper pistons that were too stuck to use the air gun.

I think the rear master will be fine too, it's not corroded in the bore, there was just some rust holding the endplate on.

Working on the front brakes now, chooching right along.

[propav8r]

Also, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this already, but are the aftermarket K&L caliper seals good quality or should I be shelling out for the oem Honda seals?

[JoeInTUS]

K&L caliper and master cylinder kits are fine. I have used them many times.

I recently used a K&S (Taiwan) kit on a rear caliper. It also seems fine. The K&S kits only have the dust and piston seals. The boots for the pins are not included. K&S kits are about half the price of K&L.

Also Parts Unlimited sells master cylinder kits under their house brand. These kits are made by Nissin and are a little cheaper than the K&L kits.

You need OEM for the master cylinder reservoir o-rings since brake fluid will eventually eat orings not made of epdm.

[propav8r]

K&L caliper and master cylinder kits are fine. I have used them many times.

I recently used a K&S (Taiwan) kit on a rear caliper. It also seems fine. The K&S kits only have the dust and piston seals. The boots for the pins are not included. K&S kits are about half the price of K&L.

Also Parts Unlimited sells master cylinder kits under their house brand. These kits are made by Nissin and are a little cheaper than the K&L kits.

You need OEM for the master cylinder reservoir o-rings since brake fluid will eventually eat orings not made of epdm.

Good to hear. That's a fair savings that can be put to use elsewhere.

Just got the front brakes torn down and run through the ultrasonic. All looks good there too, just gunky from sitting.

[propav8r]

After closer inspection, my pistons were corroded to the point that I though they'd probably leak with new seals, so I went ahead and ordered all the seals, pistons, and pads for the bike from Brakecrafters. Dropped the calipers and master cylinders off to be powder coated today. My brake parts also showed up today and look pretty nice. I'll be happy to get all that back together.

I'm still further stripping the bike down, pulled the instrument cluster off tonight and got it disassembled so I can have the bezel powdercoated as well, along with the handlebars, triple trees, fork legs, etc.

Carbs also went off in the mail today to David McMunn. Mike Nixon mentioned he was pretty backed up, and David seems to have good reviews as well.

In the next couple of weekends I'm going to try and get the motor soda blasted. I have everything I need to do that at least.

Once all that's done, it's a fairly straightforward affair to repaint the motor, check valve clearances while it's apart, and basically reassemble the bike.

I say that now, but I'm sure I'll have some sort of problem or distraction that takes me away from it for another year.

[propav8r]

Got it down to the frame, off to the powdercoat shop tomorrow or Friday.

[daves79x]

I don't know if you have experience with powder coating frames, but there is a LOT of prep needed on your end to get a good result. Both frame tags need removed, new tap-in rivets are available. You need to plug or be sure your guy plugs all threaded holes, obviously. Just as important is insuring your guy goes easy on the powder at the frame stamping, and especially at the engine mount points. You don't want to try to tighten engine mount bolts and brackets down on 1/8 inch of powder coat. Obviously knock the steering bearing races out, you'll likely be replacing them anyway. Be very careful at the swingarm pivot as well.

Perhaps you know all this, sorry to be redundant if so, but I've seen more crappy powder coated frames than I've seen good ones.

BTW, I got your carbs yesterday. I'll be messaging you about them.

Dave

[Jeff Bennetts]

A good powder coater will offer several levels of gloss, a CBX frame is in the 95% gloss range, 100% is too much gloss and will not match the OEM finish!

[propav8r]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I've had frames done before. My guy is pretty good, but I'm also not going to be entering any concours events with this thing so I'm not super concerned about an exact match to the factory finish or anything.

I've had a couple frames done by the guy I'm using for this and always been satisfied. I've also skipped doing a couple frames on builds in the past and always regretted it when it comes time to put the bike back together.

I guess the big question that remains now is the fuel tank. I actually have two, one in slightly better cosmetic condition than the other but I think both are leaky. I need to get those off the shelf and decide what I'm going to do with them.

[Jeff Bennetts]

I’ve used Por-15 for years but these two are really excellent also!

http://damonq.com/red-kote.html

https://caswellplating.com/caswell-epox ... quart.html

[propav8r]

Forks are apart and ready to be cleaned up/resealed. Someone had put these back together wrong at one point. The right slider was missing the lower backer ring below the seal and had the wrong size copper sealing washer in the bottom bolt.



Seals are on order, I'm going to have to track down some new backer rings and circlips.

[NobleHops]

Prop, consider having the posts for the rear grab rail reinforced before you powdercoat, I’ve heard tale of these busting loose and causing headaches removing the seat. Hoping someone will chime in, but I think it was just a matter of putting a bit of weld around the base where circled.

60D2AAAD-9A6E-4397-8D63-E2FF08CC92BC.jpeg

[daves79x]

Nils is correct, I tack weld every one I get. In addition, I would not powder coat those - just rattle-can flat or satin.

Dave

[Larry Zimmer]

Side note, of sorts: When you rebuild the forks, consider $150 USD for Race Tech emulators. They do wonders for ride and handling.

[NobleHops]

JUST did that very thing on the Prolink fork for my Bitsa Bike project.

2DB68E7C-A915-4194-8B64-420941691395.jpeg

Can anyone spot what’s different about this Prolink fork? (NOT the silver drain bolts - I’ll fix that)

N.