Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Hey, what projects are you planning or preparing for? CBX, other motos, workshop, WHATEVAH!
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NobleHops
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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by NobleHops »

Did another project - getting a few sets of footpegs refurbed, two full sets for me and Joe, plus a couple of front sets for my friend Jim, who kindly windowed a set of footrest plates for me. I had been successfully using 3M super weatherstripping adhesive for my peg projects, and if the prep was followed to the letter, I had very good results with that. However, many guys were not so successful and had adhesion failures with that. Our pal Terry (Tevan), who sells the rubbers, researched a different adhesive process that I used on this set, and so far so good, and it was WAY WAY faster and easier and less messy. Thanks as always for sharing your learnings, Terry. In short, this uses an industrial CA glue (CA = cyanoacrylate - think "Krazy Glue"). The footrests are prepped as normal: Skin the old rubber, blast and refinish however you prefer (I vapor blast them). Then the rubber is cleaned - I use denatured alcohol. Terry's vendor specifies the use of a product they call "poly prep", not sure what that is, but I didn't have it. I had my own industrial CA glue on hand and so used that. The cleaned rubbers and prepped, degreased bases are heated in a warm 120-degree oven, the gel CA glue is applied to the rubber only, and then a spray activator that is compatible with the industrial CA glue is applied to the bases. Squeeze the two together for 15 seconds and then give them 24 hours to set up fully. So far, so good, they survived a hard pull a couple of days later and as above, it was tons faster and easier and less messy too.

Disassembling and cleaning up a very good set of rear footpegs:

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These were disassembled, cleaned, vapor blasted, and then reassembled with a bit of fresh grease. Looking good, working perfectly again.

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Ditto the fronts, except these also had the new rubbers installed.

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New feeler bolts and washers and a touch of grease at the pivot. You can see a skosh of excess CA glue, that is easily tidied up with a small pick if it bugs you at ankle height. :teasing-poke:

Now they are installed and looking good!

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Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by NobleHops »

This is what your oring on your front cam chain adjuster probably looks like, and why it is leaking :-)

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We replaced it :-).
Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

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Onto the valve adjustment. 24 valves, 24 shims need to be measured. Not a bad job when you're in the right frame of mind, but it needs focus and is a little fiddly. This is made slightly easier with the sparkplugs removed, but just be certain that area is free of any debris before you do that.

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This is also a good time to do a cam chain tensioner adjustment. We like to bounce the tensioners with a tool to make certain they are freed up and then the crank is tensioned to take up the slack on the front side, the cam chain tensioner nuts are loosened, and we watch the adjuster move for the satisfaction of knowing it needed to be done and that the tensioner is working properly. Snug the nut back up while you hold that crank tension, done.

24 valves needed 10 swapped shims, and none were at the terrible level. We found a few at .002 or less (almost scary) and a few at 007 (a little noisy). Good to go now, they are all at .005 or close to it, but we will revisit this after a couple of hundred miles of running, as the valves find their way back into their seats after the long layoff.

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It's a good idea to put a socket on each of the cam cap bolts, and just tension them to test them, don't try to move them. Sometimes you may find that one or two are busted, from an overzealous predecessor. These were all perfect.

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...so we can now button this up, with a new valve cover gasket and our freshly vapor blasted valve cover. We like to put a teeny bead of Hondabond in the channel before installing the gasket, to lightly glue it into place, which makes future service just a little bit easier. A little is enough, you don't want it squeezing out. NEVER use silicone sealants (including RTV) in an engine where they can be in contact with hot oil. Hondabond only. A pea-sized dot goes onto the 90-degree corners at the cam caps just before installation to prevent leaks there.

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Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

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Reassembling the clutch cover, with (too much) fresh grease on the actuator pivot bearings.

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On to the ignition. These are advancer shafts, before getting cleaned up for installation. These need a new oring before installation where they engage in the primary shaft, and if you look closely you will notice that one is missing the little 3mm drive pin. That's weird, but Honda does sell that part separately, and so we ordered up some spares for our other parts. That drive pin is what engages with the ignition rotor and advancer combo. Gotta have it, obviously.

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This is your ignition rotor, incorporating the advancer mechanism. There were three models of this used in the CBX - the 422 that was found in the 79s. and the 469A that SHOULD be found in the 80-82s. There is an infamous story about the 469 advancer that you can read in the club archives here:

http://www.cbxclub.com/unorganized/dave ... c80-1.html

...but the short and sweet is that Honda made a big booboo with the 469 advancer that cost the first few 80 bikes 15 or so HP. Honda quickly corrected it and issued the 469A advancer with instructions to install them in all the 80 bikes the dealers had sold or on hand, but a few slipped through to the street, including my other 80 CBX. Look sharp at yours when you service it, and if its a 469, you'll want to swap it out for either of the others.

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These were lightly lubricated at the factory and that was usually the last time they got any attention. And so they are frequently really gummy/gooey. If you hold the base in your hand and twist the rotor, it should revolve about 20 degrees, smoothly and easily against the tension of those small springs, and snap back crisply. If it's gummy-feeling and slow to snap back, it's causing weird running/tuning issues and needs disassembly, cleaning, lubrication and reassembly. This one was about as bad as they get - not frozen up or anything, but super sluggish to actuate.

First-up, note the orientation of the little nub on the rotor in relation to the base plate. This will happily install 180-degrees out and cause some real adventures in timing when you try to start the bike. Have earplugs. Then you need to remove those teeny Jesus clips and washers, and hold your hand over them as you release them because if they go flying, you may never find them and you will know why they are named as such.

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Remove the spring ends from the posts and then free up the rotor from the two sets of weights, and lift it off. Presto, this is the shaft of the advancer, and that old grease is now sticky glue. That's your culprit. Clean it up.

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There's a groove down the rotor shaft, that has the rest of the ancient lube, get that cleaned out too.

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Lube that groove up, then reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. Install in the ignition well atop the advancer shaft, making certain it engages positively with that drive pin on the shaft. There's a bolt and washer that installs at the end there to hold the rotor on the shaft, not pictured.

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With the crank indexed to the cases at the F mark under the right crank cap, the ignition plate is rotated till the nub on the rotor lines up exactly with the corresponding nub on the ignition pickup, then the three screws are snugged up and the ignition has been static timed to the crank.

We did a small project on the ignition pickup plate, cleaning the wire and sheath, replacing the connector, and then the ends of the sheath were sealed up with a little shink tube. The OEM grommet that ought to be here is NLA and a little scarce to find, so we used an Ace Hardware rubber wire grommet instead, slipped on before the new connector was installed, and that worked fine.

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Nils Menten
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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by NobleHops »

Did replace this shifter shaft oil seal, while it was empty and easy to access. It was not leaking but it was 42 years old and owed us nothing, so it seemed like a prudent move. Take note before you remove this of how deep it does or does not sit in the recess.

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Stab it, taking care not to nick the soft aluminum (magnesium, in this case), and then pop it out with an angled pick.

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Clean up the pocket and the shaft, so we're not dragging dust or debris into the seal pocket when we install the new one:

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One lap of electrical tape will just give you peace of mind that you're not going to damage your new seal on sharp splines. I then lubed it with a little oil, lightly.

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Lightly lube the new seal with oil and work it carefully over the shaft and then press it home. This particular seal is all soft rubber, no metal backing or reinforcement, so a driver was not needed. Sometimes you'll be installing a reinforced seal, and then you'll need a driver. I raided a home improvement store for cut-off ends of PVC pipe of a few small sizes and cut the ends square and sanded them smooth. Those will do the trick on a seal that needs to be driven over a shaft, sometimes with the addition of a washer.

And done.

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Nils Menten
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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by NobleHops »

Nice new oil line there, right?

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Opinions vary on this subject, and ours is that you are a little soft in the head if you reinstall 40+-year-old flimsy rubber oil lines in your bike during a deep service or restoration. We've had a few of these original lines let go before we swore them off, with predictable results, the best of which was a huge mess. Terry Schmitt (aka "Tevan" here) will restore these for you and for a very reasonable fee. We do these ourselves, but if we didn't we'd use Terry's. These had their ends vapor blasted, then the upper ends were powdercoated black, the new line was installed into new ferrules, installed on the ends, clocked, and our nearby Parker shop crimped them for us.

Don't forget to use a new oring!

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Yes, those are a lot of the wrong bolts, we'll fix it. 5 row oil cooler, a nice stealthy upgrade to a 79, was stock on the 80-82 bikes. Powdercoated brackets.

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Nils Menten
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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by steve murdoch icoa #5322 »

Another thanks for the tutorial, Nils.
Shifter shaft seal is on the agenda.

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by Syscrush »

I think that the crimped oil lines look great - probably better than my A/N converted setup. Very clean and tidy, kinda OEM+ looking.

And I also think that your tireless advocacy for LED conversions is finally working on me. I kinda feel like it doesn't look right on a vintage bike, but it just makes so much sense from a performance and safety point of view that I'm gonna pull the trigger. Thanks for all of the info you've shared on this over the years.
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Pics of Perry, my '79.

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by NobleHops »

Thanks fellas, much appreciated! Re LEDs, it’s been my pal Joe that blazed that trail. I definitely like reducing the current draw on the harness and alternator though, even with the alternators tip-top, but the super kicker bonus is the increased conspicuity in traffic. It is a dramatic improvement.

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by 512tr »

Very detailed and good instructions with sharp pictures, like an instruction manual.

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by Syscrush »

512tr wrote:
Tue May 31, 2022 1:50 am
Very detailed and good instructions with sharp pictures, like an instruction manual.
We call that "The Nils Special". :lol: :lol: :lol:
Phil in Toronto
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Pics of Perry, my '79.

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by AshishNJ »

Looking at the oem oil cooler and lines, I am tempted to go back and remove the larger cooler on my otherwise fully original (at least looks like :) ) red 79.

Great progress Nils !!
1979 CBX (faster Red)
1981 CBX Streetfighter
2017 Aprilia Tuono.
Past rides : FZ1, BMWS100rr,S1000r,k1300S,YAMA RD350,Enfield 350

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by NobleHops »

:laughing-rollingyellow:

“Nils Special”. Thanks Phil, I’m flattered.

Ash, if you need a 4-row cooler, I’m sure I have one for the price of postage, but wont be able to send it for a solid month. LMK.
Nils Menten
Tucson, Arizona, USA '80 CBX, sort-of restored :-)

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by AshishNJ »

Appreciate it Nils. I may have one somewhere . Just too lazy to dig it out of stash :D
1979 CBX (faster Red)
1981 CBX Streetfighter
2017 Aprilia Tuono.
Past rides : FZ1, BMWS100rr,S1000r,k1300S,YAMA RD350,Enfield 350

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Re: Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

Post by Irishman1 »

I haven’t been online for some time and I missed this post! Great to see you back with a CBX again Nils!
Great work as always, very informative and inspiring
ICOA # 6786
Retired, now my job is restoring old hondas!
Bike in the garage right now:
1979 CBX1000 red
1980 CBX1000 red
1981 CBX1000 prolink
1975 gl1000 blue
1975 gl1000 red
1975 gl1000 sulfur yellow
1975 gl1000 red
1976 gl1000 sulfur yellow
1977 gl1000 black
1977 gl1000 blue
1977 gl1000 black
1978 cb750f super sport
1979 cb750f super sport

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